Blow To Yuga Labs, As US Court Overturns Bored Ape NFT Case

Yuga Labs, a digital asset incubation studio and the company behind the globally acknowledged Bored Ape Yacht Club and Mutant Ape Yacht Club non-fungible token series, has suffered a mild blow this week after a United States Court of Appeal overturned its initial court ruling against the digital artist Ryder Ripps and his business partner Jeremy Cahen over their alleged counterfeits trading of NFTs.

US Judge Overturns Yuga Labs’ $8.8M NFT Case

In a July 23 publication, Reuters confirmed that the United States Court of Appeals has overturned the initial court ruling against the Bored Ape Yacht Club non-fungible token series maker Yuga Labs and the digital artist Ryder Ripps and his business partner Jeremy Cahen. In response to the court ruling, the Bored Ape Yacht Club floor price has slightly plunged, falling by 1.3% from the past day.

Founded in 2021, Yuga Labs is a renowned blockchain technology company, focusing on digital collectibles, metaverse development, and the intersection of technology and creativity. Yuga Labs is home to many non-fungible token collections, including Bored Ape Kennel Club, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, Otherdeed for Otherside, Koda, HV-MTL, Sewer Pass, and Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs. The digital asset firm previously held the intellectual property (IP) for CryptoPunks, before selling it to the Infinite Node Foundation.

Yuga Labs filed its first lawsuit against the digital artist and investor Ryder Ripps and his team in 2023, accusing them of trademark infringement. Yuga Labs accused Ryder Ripps and his team of selling a parallel NFT collection, “RR/BAYC,” that seemed identical to its Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs. Launched in 2022, RR/BAYC was an NFT collection featuring a limited edition of 10,000 NFTs hosted on the Ethereum network. The NFT collection featured dog skull-themed NFTs, similar to Bored Ape Yacht Club.

In July 2023, John F. Walter, the U.S. District Judge of Central California, ruled in Yuga’s favour on its first cause of action for “false designation of origin” and its third lawsuit of action for “cybersquatting.” In his ruling, His Lordship, Walter, ruled that Ryder Ripps and his fellow founder, Cahen, violated the Lenham Act of 1946, which clearly stipulates the primary federal trademark statute in the United States.

In his ruling, His Lordship, Judge Walter, maintained that the federal law forbids any trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and false advertising. In his defense, Ryder Ripps claimed that the RR/BAYC NFT collections were a form of appropriation art meant not to undermine BAYC, adding that he believed them to be threaded with alt-right, Neo-Nazi dog whistles and imagery.

In his final decision, the Judge ruled that the defendants knew that their RR/BAYC NFTs were likely to be confused with Yuga’s BAYC NFTs and that at least some purchasers of their RR/BAYC NFTs would have difficulty identifying the RR/BAYC NFTs as a different and distinct product from Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collections. He awarded Yuga $1.5 million in damages, which later ballooned to more than $8.8 million with attorneys’ fees and other costs.

What Next In Yuga Labs vs Ryder Ripps NFT Case?

On July 23, 2025, the 9th United States Circuit Court of Appeals overturned an $8.8 million judgment for Bored Ape Yacht Club non-fungible token maker Yuga Labs in its dispute with artist Ryder Ripps and his business partner Jeremy Cahen over their alleged counterfeits of the NFTs. The Judge said that Yuga Labs had not yet proven its case, sending the case back to California federal court for a trial on Yuga’s trademark infringement and cybersquatting claims.

The 9th Circuit Court has overturned Walter’s decision, noting that this NFT trial was necessary to determine whether the fake tokens infringed Yuga’s trademarks. Nonetheless, the appeals court has agreed with Walter’s NFT ruling, maintaining that Ripps and Cahen were not immune from Yuga’s claims based on First Amendment protections for works of art. The InsideBitcoins NFT team will continue following the proceedings of this case.

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