Court Orders Vibram Counterfeits to Be Arrested and Destroyed

Sojuzpatent Lawyers successfully represented our client – Vibram S.p.A. (Italy) – in a case related to importation of counterfeit goods before the Saratov Customs and the Octyabrskiy District Court in Penza. 

A delivery of allegedly counterfeit shoes imported through Kyrgyzstan was stopped at a customs post by the Saratov customs. The outsoles of the shoes were marked by the Vibram trademark. Sojuzpatent lawyers filed a petition in the interests of Vibram S.p.A. to prevent the release of the goods and to bring the infringer to administrative liability. The customs officers arrested the good and initiated an administrative case. During the administrative investigation, the recipient of the counterfeits denied ownership of the goods in order to avoid administrative liability. The materials of the case were transferred to the Octyabrskiy District Court in Penza  for further consideration.

Having considered the case, the court satisfied the claims, found the goods infringing the Vibram trademark rights, declared them ownerless and ordered them to be transferred to the Federal Agency for State Property Management (Rosimushchestvo) for further destruction.    

Vibram S.p.A. is a world-famous Italian company manufacturing Vibram branded rubber outsoles for footwear. The company’s founder is credited with inventing the first rubber lug soles.