A court ordered the destruction of 7,200 items of sports apparel after it ruled that the manufacturers had violated the intellectual property rights of two major sports wear companies.

In two separate judgments, Mr Justice Raymond Pace ordered that 2,520 pairs of counterfeit sandals be destroyed on the basis that their importation, the intellectual property rights of Nike International Ltd had been violated.

The company filed a case against Al Zwetina Shipping A/C North Africa Shipping Sanna Mehidly before Mr Justice Raymond Pace sitting in the First Hall of the Civil Court.

Nike complained that the sandals had been imported by sea and were destined for trans-shipment. The Comptroller of Customs suspected they were counterfeit and confiscated them.

The company said it owned the trademark Nike and Swoosh Design. The counterfeit sandal bore these distinctive marks.

Mr Justice Pace ruled in favour of Nike International Ltd and ordered the Comptroller of Customs to destroy the sandals within three months. In the second judgment, the same judge ordered the destruction of 4,680 trousers bearing the Adidas trademark.

Adidas International Marketing BV and Adidas Salomon AG said that Algerian company Natixis Algerie had imported the sports trousers. This action, they said, was in violation of their rights as the owners of the trademark and its distinctive mark.

Mr Justice Pace found in favour of the trademark owners and ordered the Comptroller of Customs to destroy the trousers within three months.

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