Yuga Labs Inc. v. Ripps et al.
Yuga Labs Inc. was awarded nearly $1.6 million in damages after a bench trial.
Retained by Fenwick & West
Yuga Labs Inc., the creators of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) non-fungible token (NFT) collection, alleged that Ryder Ripps’ and Jeremy Cahen’s copycat NFT collection infringed on Yuga Labs’ marks. Yuga Labs alleged that this created confusion in the NFT market and harmed the BAYC brand.
Yuga Labs retained Cornerstone Research to support Jonah Berger of The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Professor Berger opined on:
- Brand equity, how brand equity is derived, and how brand equity can be harmed.
- The high-end symbolic nature of the BAYC NFT collection, with value derived from the artwork, endowed features of each NFT, and associations with the BAYC brand.
- The harm to the BAYC brand value caused by the minting and sales of the copycat collection.
- The change in market sentiment after the copycat NFTs entered the market.
In a pretrial summary judgment, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California judge granted many of Yuga Labs’ claims, including that Mr. Ripps and Mr. Cahen infringed on Yuga Labs’ marks and intentionally profited off the confusion in the marketplace. Damages were awarded to Yuga Labs after a one-day bench trial, consisting of nearly $1.4 million in profits that Mr. Ripps and Mr. Cahen made on the sales of the copycat NFTs, alongside $200k in statutory damages and attorney fees.