ATLANTA -- A federal judge in Atlanta sided Tuesday with a Conyers man whose satirical Web site likens Wal-Mart to the Holocaust.

U.S. District Judge Timothy C. Batten Sr. rejected Wal-Mart's claims that Charles Smith's Web site and satirical products violated the company's trademark. In an 87-page order, Batten said Smith's products qualified as protected noncommercial speech.

The 50-year-old computer store owner from Conyers, Ga., said Wal-Mart is "taking over the world." He set up the Walocaust Web site, and later a Wal-Qaeda Web site, to make his point.

On the site, Smith said: "When I came up with the word (Walocaust), I was thinking of all of the destruction that has been taking place in the world in the last few years. Massive layoffs, jobs and investment capital going over seas, record bankruptcies, lost pensions, millions of uninsured, and wars. Behind most of this destruction lurk giant corporations."

In late 2005 and early 2006, Wal-Mart sent letters demanding that he stop. Smith sued Wal-Mart, seeking to continue marketing his satirical logos and designs, and Wal-Mart countersued.

A Wal-Mart spokeswoman said the company is debating whether to appeal the ruling, which was issued March 20.