Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT is the coolest thing in the town right now. It is a thing that every celebrity wants and the price of which can surely topple your brain.
However, there are certain entities that intend to derive benefit from such a popular and growing brand. The meteoric rise of the Ape NFTs attracted fraudsters to copy and resell them again. What’s interesting here, is that the poachers here aren’t shying away from their theft, rather they brand it as ‘Satire’.
Yuga labs, the maker of popular BAYC NFTs has filed a trademark lawsuit against a group of individuals that were selling RR/BAYC NFTs or Ryder Ripps Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs. Even their name is a rip off of BAYC.
The Defendants here sell the same BAYC NFTs after reminting them. During the purchase of NFTs, the buyers agree that the token is a reminted BAYC NFT. The name contains the same terms as the Plaintiff product, with RR the only difference.
The Defendants have also been very vocal about the Plaintiff, sometimes unnecessarily and often extravagantly. The Plaintiff has been called Racist by the Defendants with the criticism rising to the Plaintiff being termed a Nazi as well.
All these criticisms were for only one thing. To spur hatred against the Plaintiff and thus push demand for the counterfeit NFTs. The lawsuit is still ongoing and hasn’t been decided yet. However, the lawsuit is vital as it can provide a guide to future legislations regarding NFTs.
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