The U.S. Court of Appeal on Wednesday overturned a $8.8 million verdict against the boring APE Yacht Club (BAYC) in a legal dispute with artist Ryder Ripps and his business partner Jeremy Cahen, a crime against their alleged NFTS.
On July 23, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit said that Yuga Labs has not yet proved Ripps and Cahen’s tokens, which they described as confusing NFT buyers. Ripps and Cahen said their NFTs were “a satirical work of satirical art.” Reutersthe first thing to report this news.
Yuga Labs filed a lawsuit against Ripps in federal court in June 2022, accusing Los Angeles-based concept artist and creative director of false advertising, trademark infringement and cyber issues, among others. The complaint is also called Cahen, the founder of the NFT market, not the larvae laboratory.
Artnews Previously reported: “Ripps believes that Bayc has gone from its logo to ape accessories, such as the Japanese kanji “sushi chef headband” engraved with “kamikaze” and nailed racist images with spiked Prussian pickelhaube helmets and paired with racist images with online alternatives. Ripps said the NFT is to satirize the series (Yuga Labs and Bayc have previously denied allegations of racism.)
In October 2023, the central California District Judge John F. increased the amount to $8.8 million, including attorney fees and other fees.
The Court of Appeals ruled on July 23 that Walter’s ruling will now return to the federal court in California to trial the trademark infringement and network proposals of Yuga Labs, which are “a necessary condition to determine the infringement of the Yuga trademark by counterfeit tokens.” Reuters.
Reuters It also reported that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with Judge Walter and said that Rips and Kahn could not exempt Euca Lab from claims based on First Amendment protections for art.
Rips told Reuters In a statement, the decision “emphasized that grants are a vital tool for artists to hold powerful entities to explain.” Yuga said the court’s ruling was “winning the industry”, “verified the battle we were engaged in and confirmed that BAYC is a powerful and recognizable brand”.
