Puma’s “adventures” in Moldovan justice
International company Puma has been in court for three years with a Moldovan trading company in an attempt to stop the sale of counterfeit footwear. In early June, the court ruled in favour of the international manufacturer and ordered the defendant to remove products sold with the Puma logo from the shelves. At the same time, the Moldovan trader was ordered to destroy the existing batches and to pay the cost of the control purchase, which was used as evidence in court. The judgment is subject to appeal.
The court application was filed by the lawyer The PUMA SE company in March 2020, against SC “C & Genius Corporation” SRL. The international company sought “a declaration that the goods bearing the identical/similar signs to the trademarks of the plaintiff companies infringe the exclusive rights to the company’s trademarks, i.e. are infringing, prohibition of unauthorized use through acts of trade, import, export, distribution, offering the goods for sale, marketing or stocking them for these purposes and any other commercial act of goods with The PUMA SE trademarks, destruction of the stored, marketed or seized goods, compensation for material, moral damage and an order to publish in the press the operative part of the judgment”.
“It is found that the goods bearing the marks identical to the marks of The PUMA SE company, which are marketed by SC “C & Genius Corporation” SRL, in the shops “KAMPUS”, located in mun. Chisinau, str. Tudor Vladimirescu 12/1, bd. Negruzzi 5 and Zelinschi 5/2 streets, infringe the exclusive rights of The PUMA SE company’s trademarks, being counterfeit. The unauthorised use by SC “C & Genius Corporation” SRL of goods bearing the trademarks of The PUMA SE company, including import, export, distribution and any other commercial act, is prohibited. SC “C & Genius Corporation” SRL is ordered to destroy at its own expense the stored, traded or seized goods,” reads the judgment of the court of first instance announced anticoruptie.md on 15.06.2023.
At the same time, the Moldovan company was ordered to pay the international manufacturer the amount of 20 thousand lei as compensation for moral damage, as well as the cost of the control purchase in the amount of 315 lei. The company is to publish, at its own expense, the operative part of the judgment in two national periodicals.
