Giorgia Meloni Files EU Sound-Mark Application to Counter Deepfakes

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has applied for an EU sound mark covering a roughly four-second recording in which she says “Io sono Giorgia Meloni” twice. The filing is being presented as an additional tool against AI-enabled voice cloning and deepfakes.

The European Union Intellectual Property Office was still examining application 019431219 when it was checked on October 6, so no registration had been granted. The filing seeks protection for specified goods and services—not ownership of Meloni’s voice or a general ban on imitations.

Three Nice classes set the requested scope. Class 9 includes downloadable electronic publications and multimedia recordings; class 41 covers education, online electronic publications, and cultural or artistic events; and class 45 includes political meetings and legal research in public policy. Those selections do not reach every possible use of a similar voice.

Under the EU trade mark regulation, registration confers exclusive rights. Article 9 addresses use in the course of trade, including an identical sign used for identical covered goods or services, or a similar sign used for identical or similar goods or services when confusion is likely. Article 11 provides that those rights prevail against third parties from publication of the registration.

If granted, the sound mark could therefore support action in some unauthorized commercial-use cases. It would not automatically block every AI-generated imitation or every false statement produced in Meloni’s voice.

The regulation also allows reasonable compensation for certain acts after an application is published if those acts would later be prohibited following registration. A court cannot decide the merits on that basis until the registration has been published.