Yuga Labs Settles Bored Ape NFT Copycat Case, Ending Trademark Lawsuit

Yuga Labs launched 10,000 BAYC NFTs in 2021, and the collection quickly became a market benchmark. Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen released RR/BAYC in May 2022 using the same images and identifiers, describing it as satire. Yuga Labs sued for trademark infringement that June in a case that also tested whether NFTs qualify as goods protected under the U.S. Lanham Act.

The parties notified a California federal court of a confidential settlement on April 7, 2026. A proposed order would permanently bar Ripps and Cahen from using Yuga Labs’ images and trademarks and require them to transfer the RR/BAYC smart contracts, domains and remaining NFTs within 10 days. A district court initially awarded $1.5 million in 2023, with attorneys’ fees and other costs bringing the total to more than $8.8 million, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the judgment on July 23, 2025.