Berlin ? A court ruled Thursday that Nazi symbols may be used to protest extremism, overturning a verdict against a man who sold paraphernalia with crossed-out and smashed swastikas – a decision hailed as a victory in the fight against the far right.

Juergen Kamm’s mail-order company, Nix Gut, did not violate the spirit of a law banning the distribution of symbols used by Adolf Hitler’s party by producing and selling anti-Nazi stickers, buttons and T-shirts over the Internet, the Federal Court of Justice said.

Presiding Judge Walter Winkler rejected a ruling by a lower court in Stuttgart that Kamm’s productions could be misused by neo-Nazis.

Kamm, 32, was convicted in September of violating laws enacted after World War II that make it illegal to display or distribute symbols used by the Nazis, unless for scientific or educational purposes. He was fined $4,750.