IP Law Daily, WORTH NOTING—Other IP law developments, (Jan 30, 2026)

By WK Editorial Staff

A periodic roundup of other items of interest to the Intellectual Property community.

COPYRIGHT—D.S.C.: Artist Todd Atkinson has been awarded damages of $158,400 under the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA) and the Copyright Act after another artist painted over Atkinson’s commissioned mural on a building in Clover, South Carolina. The other artist substantially replicated the mural but replaced Atkinson’s name with his own. The other artist never appeared in court and had default judgment entered against him in a previous order. The federal district court in Columbia, South Carolina, noted that an award of damages for copyright infringement did not preclude a separate award for a violation of VARA. The court determined that Atkinson was entitled to actual damages of $8,400 for copyright infringement and statutory damages of $150,000 for violations of VARA—the maximum statutory penalty available. The court agreed with Atkinson that the other artist “willfully destroyed a work of art authored by a fellow artist” and then “did not deign to appear and defend himself” in this action, warranting the high figure (Atkinson v. Shepherd, No. 0:24-cv-01545-SAL (D.S.C. Jan. 6, 2026)).

PATENT—Fed. Cir.: Google LLC has been denied a writ of mandamus directing the USPTO to vacate a decision denying Google’s petitions for inter partes review under the agency’s recently adopted “settled expectations” rule. The patents at issue had been in force for more than 14 years, and the USPTO determined that Google did not show that instituting review would be an appropriate use of agency resources. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit noted that it had denied mandamus relief in similar cases, citing In re Cambridge Industries USA. Inc., No. 26-101 (Fed. Cir. Dec. 9, 2025); In re Sandisk Technologies, Inc., No. 2025-152 (Fed. Cir. Dec. 9, 2025)). The Federal Circuit rejected arguments in those cases that use of “settled expectations” as a factor in denying institution of review violates separation of powers, exceeds statutory authority, and is arbitrary and capricious (In re Google LLC, No. 26-111 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 27, 2026)).

TRADEMARK—TTAB: The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board has designated as “precedential” a decision in which it dismissed an opposition filed by August Storck KG against Florend Indústria e Comércio de Chocolates LTDA's application to register a stylized DANKE mark for chocolates. The Board held that August Storck had not shown that registration of DANKE was likely to cause confusion with its registered MERCI marks, despite both words translated to "thank you" in different languages and thus were to be treated as similar under the doctrine of foreign equivalents. The Board found significant differences in appearance, sound, and commercial impression between the marks. It concluded that "thank you" is a commonly used expression in the chocolate industry, and the conceptual weakness shared terms weighed against the opposer (August Storck KG v. Florend Indústria e Comércio de Chocolates LTDA, No. 91277224 (T.T.A.B. Nov. 14, 2025; re-designated as precedential January 27, 2026)).

COPYRIGHT NEWS: The U.S. government, working with Bulgarian authorities, has seized three major piracy websites allegedly operated from Bulgaria, the Department of Justice announced on January 30. According to the DOJ, the sites offered thousands of unauthorized movies, TV shows, video games, software, e-books, and other copyrighted works, many belonging to U.S. companies and individuals. The piracy sites allegedly generated tens of millions of visits and substantial ad revenue. Federal seizure warrants were executed against the U.S.-registered domains, which now display a banner notifying users that willful copyright infringement is a crime.

PUBLICITY RIGHTS NEWS: The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) announced that its Representative Council has approved an expansion of personal branding activities (PBA) that will allow student-athletes at MHSAA member schools to further capitalize on their name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights. The MHSAA previously allowed some PBA opportunities, including the abilities for student-athletes to conduct camps, clinics and private lessons. The MHSAA said that its expanded policy—which is effective immediately—allows student-athletes to capitalize on PBA through several more options as long as those activities are individual opportunities for individual students. The new PBA policy permits social media endorsements and promotions; personal appearances, photo sessions, and autograph signings; modeling, advertising, merchandise, sports cards, and apparel sales; and the use of a student’s NIL in marketing materials, the announcement said. More details are available at the MHSAA Name, Image, Likeness website.

Attorneys: Lucas David Garber (Shumaker Loop and Kendrick LLP) for Todd Atkinson. Nathan R. Speed (Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks, P.C.) for Google LLC. Peter John Sawert, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, for John A. Squires. Joseph F. Schmidt (Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP) for August Storck KG. Samuel F. Pamias (Hoglund & Pamias, PSC) for Florend Indústria e Comércio de Chocolates LTDA.

Companies: Google LLC; August Storck KG; Florend Indústria e Comércio de Chocolates LTDA; Michigan High School Athletic Association

News: Copyright Patent TechnologyInternet Trademark FedCirNews MichiganNews SouthCarolinaNews USPTO