Services to the public

CONTACT CENTER

From June 2025, the Directorate made new contact channels available to citizens, businesses, professionals and practitioners.

In addition to the existing webchat and e-mail options, new communication tools were introduced for administrative and procedural matters relating to the filing of Industrial Property applications and the maintenance of existing rights – including the ability to book a telephone appointment and send a certified e-mail (PEC) to a new dedicated address.

In 2025, the Contact Center received and handled more than 40,000 requests for assistance. Activities primarily concerned information and support on the administrative procedures relating to the filing of applications and the maintenance of Industrial Property rights. Users contacted the Directorate mainly via e-mail and webchat, the latter proving to be the most widely used channel, with 29,508 contacts received. In addition, almost 24,000 requests for support with the online filing portal were received and handled by the Help Desk service, of which 19,427 were submitted via webchat and 4,473 by e-mail.

“L’ESPERTO RISPONDE”

In 2025, 1,854 appointments were organised to handle requests submitted to the "L'Esperto Risponde" service, which is designed to provide direct assistance and detailed information on real-world cases relating to Industrial Property protection. Appointment requests were submitted via webchat in 80% of cases, with the remainder received by e-mail.

SALA PUBBLICO

In 2025, the "Sala Pubblico" provided 448 informational meetings aimed at assisting users with procedures managed by the Directorate, including the filing of applications, database searches, access to document archives, documents reproduction and the issuing of certified copies, as well as the filing of replies to the Office's findings.

ANTI-COUNTERFEITING DIRECT LINE

In 2025, the Anti-Counterfeiting Direct Line (Linea Diretta Anticontraffazione – LAC) continued to operate in collaboration with specialised officers from the Italian Guardia di Finanza working at MIMIT offices. Over the course of the year, the LAC handled 978 reports of suspected Industrial Property rights infringements — a 45% increase compared to the 675 reports received in 2024.

75% of reports were submitted by e-mail/certified e-mail (PEC), with the remaining 25% received by telephone.

Citizens and consumers ranked first as the largest category of reporters to the LAC in 2025, accounting for 75% of all reports. Businesses represented the second largest category, with 15% of reports, followed by law enforcement authorities in third place, accounting for 10% of reports submitted in 2025.

The majority of reports came from reporters located in Southern Italy and the Islands (60%).

97% of the reports received concerned the possible counterfeiting of trademarks, followed by 2.5% relating to patents, with a residual 0.5% concerning possible infringements of designs and models.

With 50% of the total, the perfume sector was the most frequently reported, followed by footwear and bags (35%). Reports relating to possible counterfeiting in the clothing sector (10%) and the watchmaking sector (5%) were significantly lower.

93% of the reports concerned possible online IP rights infringements, of which 58% involved social media platforms and 35% websites.