Yuga Labs, the creators of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), won a significant legal battle against Ryder Ripps, co-creator of the RR/BAYC, a copycat NFT project. Yuga Labs initially filed a complaint against Ryder Ripps and co-founder Jeremy Cahen, accusing them of trademark infringement, intentional misrepresentation, and unfair competition, among other charges.

The U.S. District Court in central California ruled in a pre-trial summary judgment that Ripps and Cahen had infringed Yuga Labs' trademarks with their RR/BAYC NFT collection. The court also determined that Yuga Labs is entitled to an injunction and damages, with the amount to be decided at trial. The RR/BAYC collection, created by Ripps and Cahen, was intended as satire and protest against Yuga Labs, using the same imagery as the BAYC NFTs.

Ripps has propagated a conspiracy theory alleging that Yuga Labs intentionally designed the BAYC NFT artwork to convey racist caricatures. He also claims that the project's logo and branding contain references to Nazi symbolism and language.

In other news, Polkadot's parachain Astar Network will host Mandala Metaverse, a new cross-chain augmented reality (AR) game. Mandala Metaverse is a story-based project that includes TV, graphic novels, gaming, and AR elements. Its gaming components are developed using Epic Games' Unreal Engine, known for its high-quality graphics. The project features an NFT drop called "Cryptonauts," depicting symbols that serve as playable characters in the game. The artwork for these NFTs was created by comic artist Bruce Zick, who has previously worked with Disney and Marvel.