Meloni files her own voice as a sound trademark with the EUIPO

On Monday 5 October 2026, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni filed an application with the EUIPO (the European Union Intellectual Property Office) to register her own voice as a sound mark (Reuters, Fortune Italia, ThePrint). The sign filed is an audio recording of about four seconds in which the phrase "Io sono Giorgia Meloni" ("I am Giorgia Meloni") is repeated twice (Fortune Italia, ThePrint). According to Reuters, Palazzo Chigi confirmed the application, which covers three areas: downloadable multimedia content, cultural activities and the organisation of political events (Fortune Italia, AI4Business). According to AI4Business, the consultancy Praxi Intellectual Property handled the filing. I was unable to consult the file in the EUIPO's eSearch database, which is a dynamic page, so the application number and the Nice class numbers are left out of this piece. The filing date rests on the outlets cited.

It is worth being precise about what a sound mark does and does not do. It protects the registered sign only in the classes specified and does not grant exclusive rights over the voice in general (AI4Business). Reuters, citing Italian media, writes that even if approved, the registration would not by itself stop the voice from being used in AI-generated deepfakes, though it could add legal hurdles for anyone trying to replicate it. Approval is not a given either. A mark consisting of a name spoken by a voice has to pass the EUIPO's distinctiveness examination, and the outcome cannot be predicted. Meanwhile, Italy already has a criminal-law tool. Law 132/2025, in force since 10 October 2025, added Article 612-quater to the Criminal Code. It covers the unlawful dissemination of content generated or altered with AI systems and carries a prison sentence of one to five years (AI4Business).

The route is not new, but the person taking it is. Voice actor Luca Ward filed a similar application with the EUIPO on 12 February 2026 ("Mi chiamo Luca Ward"), and singer Giusy Ferreri did the same on 23 April 2026 ("Sono Giusy Ferreri"). The dates and details of those applications come from a single source, AI4Business. According to ThePrint, the Prime Minister's filing would be the first by a leading politician, with Italy's general election expected in 2027. The chosen phrase has its own history: "Io sono Giorgia" comes from a 2019 rally speech and is the title of her 2021 autobiography (Reuters, ThePrint). There is also a legal precedent. In 2024 Meloni brought a civil lawsuit against a man accused of creating deepfake pornographic images with her face, and the case is still pending (Reuters).

What strikes me is the direction protection is moving in. Trademarks were created to tell products apart on the market. Here one is being given a different job: an extra barrier against the reproduction of a voice, at a time when voice cloning makes it ever harder to tell authentic audio from fake. In a May 2026 statement reported by Fortune Italia (I have not verified the original wording), the Prime Minister said that deepfakes can deceive, manipulate and hurt anyone, and that she can defend herself while many others cannot. That is the most interesting part of the story. The tool under examination went through a specialised consultancy, and if protection is granted, it covers the sign in only three areas of goods and services. Anyone without the consultancy or the trademark is left with Article 612-quater. — Olya