Pop Mart sues Bambu Lab in Shanghai over Labubu 3D print files

Pop Mart International Group Ltd. filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in early March 2026 at the People’s Court of Pudong New Area in Shanghai, naming Shenzhen Bambu Technology Co., Ltd., its Bambu Lab brand and related subsidiaries, and alleging MakerWorld hosted thousands of user-uploaded 3D model files reproducing the company’s Labubu character and enabling low-cost home printing. A hearing is scheduled for April 2, 2026.

The defendants listed in reporting include Bambu Lab, formally Shenzhen Bambu Technology Co., Ltd., and subsidiaries Shenzhen Maker World Technology and Shanghai Contour Technology. MakerWorld, launched in 2023, has reportedly grown into a model‑sharing community hosting over one million models and nearly 10 million monthly active users, a scale Aminsightasia cites as central to Pop Mart’s complaint that uploads circulated widely without Pop Mart’s authorization.

Legal questions center on platform liability for user-uploaded copyrighted content and the applicability of safe harbour protections to model‑sharing sites. Sixth Tone quoted Yang Weixin of He&Partners Law Firm saying Bambu Lab could face liability if it is found to have “facilitated the spread of infringing content while benefiting from the resulting traffic.” Aminsightasia further argued that Bambu Lab should have acted before Pop Mart filed suit, calling out a perceived double standard in enforcement: “Bambu Lab should have acted before the lawsuit: Perhaps the most damaging aspect of Bambu Lab’s position is not the lawsuit itself, but the sequence of events that led to it... At that scale, claiming ignorance is not a viable defense. Bambu Lab only acted after Pop Mart filed suit — not before. Meanwhile, the company had no hesitation in pursuing legal action against competing platforms for hosting unauthorized versions of content from its own creator community. This double standard — aggressively protecting its own ecosystem while allowing other IP holders’ rights to go unenforced — may prove to be Bambu Lab’s most difficult argument to answer in court on April 2.”

After news of the filing, specialist outlets and users reported widespread removals of Labubu-related templates on MakerWorld, and searches for Pop Mart IP such as “Labubu” returned no results, while third-party uptime dashboards indicated MakerWorld itself remained operational. All3DP reported community concern about unpredictable takedowns, and forum threads documented branded-keyword moderation complaints dating to 2025.

The filing follows prior IP friction involving both sides: Bambu Lab has been linked to a separate 2025 copyright dispute over The Legend of Luo Xiaohei, and MakerWorld previously lodged complaints against rival platforms Creality Cloud, Nexprint and MakerOnline for reposting exclusive models. Sixth Tone also reported Bambu Lab generated more than 10 billion yuan in revenue in 2025 and now accounts for about one-third of the global consumer 3D‑printer market, framing the case within rapid market growth.

Some background numbers tied to Pop Mart in reporting come from a Caixin entry flagged as AI generated: that entry said Labubu accounted for over 30 percent of Pop Mart’s sales and that Chinese customs seized 1.83 million counterfeit Labubu products in 2025; those figures are noted as AI generated in the material provided. As the April 2 hearing approaches, the Shanghai court will test whether a large 3D‑model community with nearly 10 million monthly users can be held responsible for thousands of user-uploaded files reproducing a blockbuster collectible character.