“Nike Socks”

• 1. The established case law of the Superior Court of Justice supports the compensation for moral damages incurred by a legal person whose trade mark was counterfeited. These damages may result from the depreciation of its image, identity or credibility.

• 2. For the purposes of compensation, Arts. 207 to 210 of Law No. 9279/1996 do not require any evidence that the counterfeit products were put on the market.

• 3. The moral damage results from the infringement of the legally protected right of exclusive use of a registered trade mark.

• 4. These damages do not have to be proven, since they arise from the violation of the law as such, deriving therefore from the very nature of the perpetrated conduct. The demonstration of the damage occurs with the demonstration of the existence of the fact (counterfeiting).

• 5. Thus, the importation of products containing the counterfeit trade mark, even if not put on the domestic consumer market, is a case of damage in re ipsa.