Beneath the speculative non-fungible trading frenzy that erupted in 2021 was a deeper fight over digital ownership and intellectual property.
Now, that battle is heading back to court.
The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday revived Yuga Labs’ high-profile trademark lawsuit against conceptual artist Ryder Ripps and developer Jeremy Cahen.
The court ruled that a jury must decide whether the duo’s parody NFT collection misled consumers.
The ruling reversed a $9 million judgment issued last year in favour of Yuga Labs, the creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club. The appeals panel said the trial judge had improperly decided on disputed facts without a jury.
The judges stopped short of siding with Ripps and Cahen, but made clear that questions over source confusion and domain name misuse must go before a fact-finder.
“Some factors indicated a likelihood of confusion, some did not, and some were neutral,” the court wrote, concluding that a trial is required. In a wink to the NFTs in question, the panel added: “Yuga’s NFTs are not merely monkey business.”
The court also affirmed that NFTs can be protected under the Lanham Act as “goods,” rejecting arguments that they’re too intangible to qualify for trademark protection under US law.
“The Ninth Circuit confirmed: BAYC NFTs are protectable trademarks,” Yuga Labs co-founder Greg Solano wrote on X, calling it “an important win for every NFT holder.”
He added: “We’ll win in the district just like we won before. Onward.”
The court also upheld the dismissal of Ripps and Cahen’s counterclaims, including a failed attempt to argue that Yuga had misrepresented copyright ownership when filing takedown requests.
The case stems from a 2022 spoof collection called RR/BAYC, which mimicked the Bored Ape NFTs while claiming to criticise the project’s alleged connections to hate symbols — accusations Yuga has denied.
The original court ruling had ordered the defendants to hand over any infringing NFTs and IP and pay millions in legal fees.
The ruling lands just as the NFT market is showing signs of life after a multi-year slump.
Top collections like CryptoPunks, Bored Apes, and Pudgy Penguins have seen a resurgence in trading activity, and the total NFT market cap has nearly doubled over the past month to more than $6 billion.
