No Need of Evidence for Moral Damages Compensation after a Trademark Infringement – An Appropriate Development of the Brazilian Case Law?

On 8 September 2020, the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice (STJ)1 determined that the infringement of a trademark of a corporate entity gives rise to a claim for compensation not only for material damages but also for moral damages, since the personal identity of this entity is negatively affected by the tort. Following the trend applicable to other cases of infringement of personality rights, the STJ further determined that moral damages in cases of trademark infringement do not need to be proven, as they directly result from the illegal act itself (in re ipsa).2 Although this extension of the scope of moral damages to the field of intellectual property law is not surprising in view of the current development of the STJ case law, the dogmatic pillars of this decision are questionable. After presenting a brief summary of the decision and its contextualization in light...