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 started to be 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, The most famous NFTfrom the series Bored Ape Yacht ClubHe is accused of illegally licensing the skull drawing, which is the logo of 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 logoFollowing the emergence of the easy drawing guide, the company received reactions from Twitter. Crypto Twitter member and NFT artist Jdotcolombo on April 5, 2021 Easy Drawing GuidesShe came across a post promoting an “easy step-by-step drawing tutorial” for a wolf skull.
Bro @BoredApeYC @yugalabs what a fucking joke bahahahahaha you got some explaining to do. 4/5/21 and your kennels came out 6/21 and you went and trademarked this skull. Are you guys ok or have you bumped your heads? https://t.co/HiLFdbnFL5 pic.twitter.com/FJigzJgBr8
— COLOMBO (@Jdotcolombo) February 17, 2023
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:
“The intellectual property rights of the drawing belong to Easy Drawing Guides as it is protected by our terms and conditions as it is our original drawing.”
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, appealed against 10 trademark applications from Yuga Labs.
The course of the case will be determined in the coming days.
