Yuga Labs Case in Deadlock

Yuga Labs is accused of registering the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) logo.

When NFTs were initially introduced, they were on the lookout for resolving their intellectual property rights. In the following period, it was seen that NFTs had conflicts in terms of intellectual property, and courts stepped in for a solution.

Yuga Labs Accused of Illegal Licensing of BAYC

Yuga Labs is accused of illegally licensing the skull drawing, the logo of one of the most famous NFT series, the Bored Ape Yatch Club (BAYC).

The iconic wolf skull logo of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), Yuga Labs’ premier NFT collection, was allegedly illegally trademarked without proper licenses. It turns out that the logo was originally published by a company specializing in drawing tutorials for kids and beginners.

The previously published easy drawing guide is as follows:

Easy drawing guide of BAYC’s iconic logo

Following the emergence of the easy drawing guide, the company received reactions from Twitter. Crypto Twitter member and NFT artist Jdotcolombo came across a post on April 5, 2021 by Easy Drawing Guides promoting an “easy step-by-step drawing tutorial” for a wolf skull.

Easy Drawing Guides responded to the confusion to confirm that Yuga Labs does not have a license to use the wolf skull drawing. Taking things one step further, Yuga Labs registered the unlicensed logo as its own trademark. In retaliation, Easy Drawing Guides said:

On the one hand, BAYC supporters believe that no intellectual property has been infringed by the use of the logo, but most agree that Easy Drawing Guides is entitled to substantial compensation. RR/BAYC, one of the founders of the BAYC copycat NFT collection, has appealed against 10 trademark applications from Yuga Labs.

The course of the case will be determined in the coming days.