Intellectual Property,
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Jul. 24, 2025
Federal appeals court recognizes NFTs as trademarkable goods
In the high-profile Bored Ape case, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the creator failed to prove consumer confusion and overturned an $8 million award.
Mixing colorful language with sober IP analysis, a federal appellate judge wrote for a three-judge panel on Wednesday to hold for the first time that nonfungible tokens can be trademarked--even as she and her colleagues concluded that the creator of the Bored Ape NFTs has not established that a rival's virtually duplicate product is likely to cause consumer confusion.
The case centered on the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection and claims by its creator, Yuga Labs Inc....
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