In the first ruling of its kind, the Administrative Court in Jeddah on Thursday found a businessman guilty of selling fake products with the Al-Ittihad Football Club logo and fined him SR50,000 for the offense.
The ruling is likely to open a floodgate of litigations for other clubs, which have been caught in a financial quagmire in recent months and have not been able to meet basic costs. The ruling stipulates that offenders can be fined up to SR300,000 for such illegal practices.
The Court imposed the fine for selling products owned by a renowned sports company whose brand is trademarked.
The ruling was issued after the company filed a lawsuit with the Ministry of Commerce’s branch in Makkah Province. The company demanded that its commercial rights to sell Al-Ittihad products be protected.
A commission was set up at the Commercial Fraud Department to draft a report before approaching the court.
The businessman claimed that he had bought products with the Al-Ittihad logo from the market and that he had not manufactured replicas. “I did not know that purchasing branded goods without the company's consent is considered an abuse of regulations,” he contended.
The defendant failed to provide invoices that prove that he had purchased the clothes from the market. “I bought the clothes from a wholesale shop after being assured that this shop is the exclusive agent for that sportswear company,” he said.
Saad Al-Maliki, the administrative court judge, said the absence of purchase invoices indicated that the defendant intentionally replicated the brand and that this was considered a case of fraud and an unfair trade practice.
Shop fined for selling fake Al-Ittihad T-shirts
