Counterfeiting investigations in Italy

When products imitating yours appear in Italy, with your trademark or with technical solutions protected by a patent, DDS traces who makes, imports and sells them and gathers the evidence your Italian counsel needs to stop them.

The most common cases

We most often deal with products bearing your trademark without authorisation, imitations that copy shape, packaging or appearance closely enough to mislead buyers, components and machinery that reproduce solutions protected by a patent or a registered design, and genuine goods reaching the Italian market through unauthorised channels. These problems affect manufacturing above all, but also fashion, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and spare parts, and today much of the trade runs through marketplaces, online shops and social networks.

Italian law punishes counterfeiting and the use of false trademarks, patents and designs under art. 473 of the Criminal Code and the import and sale of goods bearing counterfeit marks under art. 474, while the Industrial Property Code and art. 2598 of the Civil Code give the rights holder civil remedies such as injunctions, seizure, withdrawal from the market and damages.

What we establish

The first goal is to trace the supply chain. Through research on companies, roles, premises and commercial relationships we identify manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and retailers, and through field work we document warehouses, shops, trade fairs and markets where the goods are handled. Test purchases, in shops or online, put the product, the sales document and the seller's details in your hands, and these become the starting point for legal action.

Marketplace listings, websites and social media profiles offering the goods are captured with a certified date and a forensic copy, because such content can disappear within hours once the seller realises they are being watched. When the copy may have originated from information leaked from the company, the investigation extends to industrial espionage and unfair competition, to establish whether a former employee, a supplier or a competitor is behind it.

Evidence for your Italian counsel

We deliver a report with a chronology of events, photographs, samples purchased with their documents and a map of the links between people and companies, set up together with your Italian IP lawyer to support a cease-and-desist letter, a criminal complaint, a request for description or seizure and proceedings on the merits. Our investigators remain available to confirm their findings in court.

Frequently asked questions

What should we do if we find counterfeits of our products in Italy?

Avoid contacting the seller straight away and gather the evidence first, namely where and by whom the goods are sold, in what quantities and through which channels, capturing online pages with a certified date and, where useful, buying a sample with its sales document. Your Italian counsel can then choose between a warning letter, a criminal complaint and urgent proceedings.

Can you trace the manufacturer?

Often yes, starting from the sellers and reconstructing supplies, related companies, warehouses and shipments through lawful sources and field work. When goods come from abroad we may stop at the importer or wholesaler, which is still enough to interrupt distribution in Italy.