Yuga Labs and Ryder Ripps Reach Final Settlement in Bored Ape Trademark Dispute

The multi-year legal saga between Yuga Labs and conceptual artists Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen has officially concluded. Following a protracted battle over trademark infringement, the parties have finalized a settlement that requires Ripps and Cahen to surrender all RR/BAYC smart contracts, domain names, and associated social media accounts to the Bored Ape Yacht Club creators. This resolution follows an appeals court decision that had recently vacated a previous $9 million judgment in favor of a jury trial. While Ripps and Cahen initially framed the RR/BAYC project as a satirical critique of the NFT market and its underlying culture, the courts largely viewed the venture through the lens of intellectual property law rather than artistic expression. The settlement effectively erases the RR/BAYC footprint from the blockchain, marking a significant victory for Yuga Labs in defining the boundaries of brand protection within the digital asset space. It signals a definitive end to one of the most visible collisions between conceptual art provocation and corporate Web3 interests.