On February 23, 2000, the Supreme Court issued a decision with respect to the sale of infringing goods bearing, inter alia, such well-known trademarks as VUITTON, CARTIER and TIMBERLAND.

The District Court of Rome had rendered a decision that found the defendants guilty under Article 474 of the Italian Penal Code for selling counterfeit goods bearing the above-mentioned trademarks and the Regional Court of Rome affirmed this decision.

However, the Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Regional Court and held that, since the average consumer should have been aware that the goods sold were not genuine, the crime of selling counterfeit goods could not exist. The Court pointed out that it should have been obvious to the average consumer that the goods were counterfeit, in view of, inter alia, the colors and placement of the marks on the products, the shapes and sewing of the goods and the materials used to produce them. The Court stressed that, under Italian Law, in order for the crime of counterfeiting to exist, the average consumer would have to be misled into believing that the products were authentic and thus induced to buy them. The Court did not appear to consider this to be a realistic possibility in this case.