Bambu Lab vs Pop Mart: Labubu Settlement, Takedown, and Limits

The Bambu Lab and Pop Mart Labubu settlement, announced on March 16, 2026, ended a copyright infringement lawsuit in Shanghai just weeks before trial. Bambu Lab removed every Labubu-related 3D model file from its MakerWorld platform, issued a public apology on Weibo, and pledged to maintain a “healthy creative ecosystem.” No financial terms were disclosed.¹²

What Pop Mart Accused Bambu Lab of Doing

MakerWorld is Bambu Lab’s 3D model-sharing platform, with roughly 10 million monthly active users and about 2.6 million models as of 2025.³ In mid-2025, a Chinese social media trend framed as “achieving Labubu freedom with a 3D printer” pushed users to print their own copies instead of buying Pop Mart’s official collectible. By June 2025, thousands of Labubu-related models were live on MakerWorld, and the single most popular file had passed 50,000 downloads.⁴

Labubu, designed by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung as part of The Monsters IP, is Pop Mart’s bestselling character. The Monsters IP alone generated about 3 billion yuan (roughly $419 million) in 2024, a year-over-year increase of more than 726%.⁵ Pop Mart’s legal team sent formal warning letters to Bambu Lab’s parent, Tuozhu Technology, in May 2025 and again in October 2025. The models stayed up.⁶

Pop Mart filed suit at the end of February 2026, with the filing surfacing publicly around March 4 through the Chinese corporate database Qichacha.⁷ The People’s Court of Pudong New Area in Shanghai accepted the case and set trial for April 2, 2026.⁸ Three defendants were named: Shenzhen Bambu Technology Co., Ltd. and two subsidiaries, Shenzhen Maker World Technology Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Outline Technology Co., Ltd.⁹ Pop Mart alleged violations of its reproduction rights, distribution rights, and information network dissemination rights under Chinese copyright law.

The core question was platform liability. Bambu Lab was expected to argue a “safe harbor” defense, on the theory that a platform operator shouldn’t be liable for content it didn’t create. Legal commentators considered that defense weak on these facts. You Yunting of Shanghai Dabang Law Firm noted that platforms run by hardware manufacturers carry a “high duty of care” for user-uploaded infringing content, and that Bambu Lab faced a “relatively high legal risk” of contributory infringement liability given how visible and voluminous the Labubu files were.⁴ There was also an awkward fact for the defense: in October 2025, Bambu Lab had begun its own legal proceedings against rival platforms for reuploading MakerWorld community content, while letting Labubu circulate on its own site.⁸

How the Case Was Resolved

The companies settled through what Bambu Lab described as “friendly consultations.” According to 36Kr, Bambu Lab founder Tao Ye contacted Pop Mart founder Wang Ning directly in early March 2026 to seek reconciliation and explore potential cooperation.⁶

On March 16, 2026, Bambu Lab posted the settlement statement on its Weibo account: “Issues related to intellectual property rights between MakerWorld, a platform under Tuozhu Technology, and Pop Mart have attracted widespread public attention and discussion, causing impact and inconvenience to Pop Mart and to a large number of users. We hereby express our most sincere apology to everyone.”¹ The company confirmed that all infringing content had been removed.² The removals covered files based on Labubu and on another Pop Mart character, Xingxingren.⁶ Whether any monetary payment changed hands was not disclosed, and none of the reporting confirmed a financial component.

What the Takedown Looked Like on MakerWorld

The cleanup was aggressive and, by some accounts, imprecise. Searches for “Labubu” returned no results, and removals extended beyond obvious Pop Mart content.³ All3DP reported that MakerWorld forums documented “odd takedowns” hitting innocuous models unrelated to Pop Mart IP, and the unpredictable enforcement drew community complaints.¹⁰ Industry analysts expected the false-positive problem to worsen as platforms lean more heavily on automated content filtering to keep up with the volume.¹

What the Settlement Does Not Decide

Because the case settled, no court ruled on the merits, and the outcome sets no binding legal precedent. Bambu Lab is also not out of court on IP claims generally. Luo Xiaohei Studio, formally Beijing Hanmu Chunhua Animation Technology Co., Ltd., which produces the animated series The Legend of Luo Xiaohei, has a separate lawsuit alleging infringement of the right of information network dissemination. That case was originally filed at the end of 2025, was reopened on March 20, 2026, and remained active as of mid-2026.⁴¹¹

Industry observers read the Pop Mart settlement as a signal that rights holders will pursue 3D model-sharing platforms over user-uploaded copies of popular characters. MakerWorld, Creality Cloud, Nexprint, and MakerOnline all host user-generated models based on well-known IPs from companies including Disney, Marvel, and Pokémon, and the legal exposure is comparable across them.¹ You Yunting characterized the shift as the 3D printing industry moving from hardware competition to content competition, with the gray area platforms had exploited by tolerating copyrighted fan art to drive engagement now shrinking as the market grows and IP holders pay attention.⁴

1
Fabbaloo. Implications of the Bambu Lab vs Pop Mart Settlement
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Tom’s Hardware. Bambu Lab Settles With Pop Mart Over Labubu IP Theft
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Asia IP Law. Pop Mart Sues Bambu Lab in 3D Printing IP Dispute
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36Kr. Bambu Lab and Pop Mart Settlement
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Time. Pop Mart China Blindbox Labubu Designer Toys
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36Kr. TuoZhu Technology and Pop Mart Settlement
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Sixth Tone. Pop Mart Sues Chinese 3D Printer Company Over Labubu Copies
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AM Insight Asia. Pop Mart Files Bambu Lab MakerWorld Labubu Copyright Lawsuit
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3D Printing Industry. New IP Case Against Bambu Lab Heads to Shanghai Court
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All3DP. Pop Mart to Take MakerWorld to Court, Random Takedowns and the Disappearance of Labubu
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Mission Media Asia. Pop Mart Bambu Lab 3D Printing Copyright Lawsuit