Meloni registers voice as EU trade mark to counter deepfakes
The Italian prime minister has filed an application with EUIPO for a sound mark featuring her spoken name.
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Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has filed an application with the European Union Intellectual Property Office, EUIPO, to register her voice. The measure is intended to make it harder to imitate her voice without permission in media generated by artificial intelligence.
The application contains a four-second recording in which Meloni says “Io sono Giorgia Meloni” twice. According to the Italian news agency ANSA, the application is linked to downloadable multimedia content, cultural activities and the organisation of political events, among other things.
The application is still under examination. It concerns a sound mark, not ownership of every recording or imitation of Meloni’s voice. Registration could offer legal avenues in cases of commercial use that causes confusion, but it does not automatically prohibit every parody, journalistic use or form of political criticism.
The move comes at a time when it is becoming increasingly easy to create synthetic audio and video. The European Commission says that the transparency obligations under Article 50 of the AI Act have applied since 2 August 2026. Providers must technically mark synthetic content and users must make deepfakes clearly recognisable.
Those rules do not fully solve the problem of deception. A label can be ignored or removed, or become visible only after a clip has already been widely shared. Moreover, not every imitation is a deepfake in the legal sense of the term; context, intent and the likelihood that the material will be regarded as genuine all matter.
Meloni has previously warned the public about AI-generated images and urged people to check online material before sharing it. Her new application makes voice imitation primarily a trade mark issue, while the broader approach also involves platform policies, copyright, privacy and election rules.
For political communication, the boundary between protection and restriction is sensitive. A real voice should not be used without permission to attribute an invented message to a politician, but rules must not be so broad that satire, news reporting or opposition campaigns become impossible.
One story, several perspectives
What is established
- Meloni has filed an application for a sound mark with EUIPO.
- The application has not yet been definitively approved.
- Since August 2026, the EU has required certain providers and users to be transparent about deepfakes.
Left
Arguments Individual politicians and citizens should not have to conduct the entire legal battle against deepfakes themselves. Platforms and AI companies should act more quickly against deception and non-consensual imitation.
Values Protection of human dignity, equality of power and democratic reliability.
Consequences Stricter platform obligations could help victims more quickly, but would increase companies’ responsibility to assess context and legitimate criticism properly.
Centre
Arguments A combination of trade mark law, clear labels, rapid removal procedures and independent review offers the most workable route. Not every imitation is harmful, and not every political parody should be banned.
Values Legal certainty, proportionality and protection of both citizens and freedom of expression.
Consequences A layered approach is less straightforward, but prevents a single instrument from being used for every case.
Right
Arguments Public figures must be able to defend themselves against deception and identity misuse. At the same time, the approach must not turn into censorship or a ban on satire; users and distributors must take responsibility for what they share.
Values Freedom of expression, property rights and personal responsibility.
Consequences Limited legal protection could curb misuse without criminalising political criticism, but victims may remain dependent on costly proceedings.
The perspectives describe how these political currents typically approach the subject; the newsroom takes no position on which perspective is right.
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The application, the content of the recording and its examination status have been confirmed by ANSA. The description of the European transparency rules comes from official European Commission guidance.
- confirmed Meloni filed an application with EUIPO for a sound mark. — ANSA describes the application and refers to the EUIPO registration. source
- confirmed The recording lasts four seconds and contains the sentence “Io sono Giorgia Meloni” twice. — Mentioned by ANSA and Alanews. source
- confirmed The application is still under examination. — ANSA states that the application is listed as “under examination”. source
- confirmed Article 50 of the AI Act contains transparency obligations for deepfakes and has applied since 2 August 2026. — Official guidance from the European Commission. source
- confirmed A sound mark does not automatically mean that every voice imitation is prohibited. — The source analysis distinguishes between registration of a specific mark and ownership of a voice as a whole. source
Editor's note
The application and its status have been well confirmed. The precise legal effect of a future sound mark has not yet been established, as long as EUIPO has not assessed the application.Sources
More on this in Dutch media
- AD — „giorgia meloni”
- de Volkskrant — „giorgia meloni”
- RTL Nieuws — „giorgia meloni”