The highly publicized case involving Yuga Labs and creators Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen provides an important signal that courts are willing to apply established legal doctrines to the dynamic and still-maturing marketplace for blockchain-enabled collectibles.

The decision, holding that Ripps’ and Cahen’s controversial NFT project infringed Yuga Labs’ trademarks, develops the precedent set by the MetaBirkins case: namely, that use of another party’s trademark as part of an NFT is not necessarily protected by the First Amendment.