2025 laid critical groundwork in AI-IP law. With key 2026 rulings and deadlines weeks away, the landscape for brand owners, developers, and innovators is rapidly evolving.
1. Early Settlements Set a Precedent for More
The Bartz v. Anthropic $1.5B class-action settlement (preliminarily approved 2025) heads to final fairness hearing May 14, 2026. Claims closed March 30; objections are public. When evidence of illicit training data surfaces, AI companies continue opting for resolution over jury risk. Expect this pattern to accelerate. Read more
2. Copyright Litigation Against AI Developers Exceeds 85 Active Cases (and Climbing)
OpenAI has warned that building top-quality models without copyrighted materials would be “impossible.” As cases grow into 2026, internal communications revealing willful infringement could trigger company-threatening statutory damages if fair use fails. Landmark rulings loom. Read more
3. Fair Use Remains Unsettled—But the Tide May Be Turning
Thomson Reuters v. Ross Intelligence delivered the first significant anti-fair-use ruling (Feb. 2025). The Third Circuit oral argument is set for June 11, 2026—the first appellate test of AI training fair use. Summary-judgment decisions in cases against Google, Anthropic, Suno, and others remain expected mid-2026. This issue will shape the industry’s legal future. Read more
4. Deepfakes Have Become a Federal vs. State Battleground
The TAKE IT DOWN Act (enacted May 2025, Pub. L. 119-12) addresses nonconsensual intimate deepfakes nationwide; platform notice-and-removal obligations take effect May 19, 2026. With the NO FAKES Act still pending and the Trump Administration’s March 2026 AI policy framework pushing federal preemption, multi-state operators face an imminent shift from patchwork rules to national standards. Read more
5. Effects of the USPTO’s Revised AI Inventorship Guidance
Issued November 2025, the USPTO shifted to a pure conception-focused framework: AI as a tool no longer triggers joint-inventor scrutiny. This simplifies prosecution for AI-assisted inventions—but courts may diverge, creating a compliance gap that 2026 litigation will test. Read more
Courts and agencies are converging (or clashing) in real time. Practitioners who track both—and help companies with proactive licensing, human-conception documentation, and compliance roadmaps—will turn uncertainty into strategic advantage.
Thomas Long’s February Law.com recap of 2025 remains essential reading for anyone advising clients at the AI-IP intersection: Read the full recap