23/10/2026
On 5th October 2026, Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni filed an EU trade mark application 019431219 to register the sound of her voice. The application is a four second recording of Meloni repeating the following sentence in Italian: “Io sono Giorgia Meloni“, which translates in English to “I am Giorgia Meloni“. It is too soon to see if the EUIPO will grant this. We are watching with interest.
There is increasing concern about AI-generated videos, images or audio clips that convincingly mimic a real person’s face, voice or movements and make a person appear to say or do things they never actually did. As explored in the BBC series, The Capture, the real-word implications of deep fakes and AI video manipulation can be alarming, particularly when they involve people in positions of political power.
Whilst trade marks are most commonly associated with words and logos, registered protection can, in some circumstances, extend to non-traditional marks, including sounds, motion and multimedia. We have blogged recently on footballer celebrations. We have seen celebrities applying to register their images.
For example, both Luke Littler and Cole Palmer successfully registered UK trade marks for black and white images of their face. Cole Palmer also registered a motion mark to protect his famous goal celebration. In the US, we have also seen Matthew McConaughey successfully register a set of motion trade marks to protect his gestures, voice, and movements.
This read-my-name style voice recording is taking it in another direction.
We question how an infringement test would be applied when we consider the scope of protection offered by sound marks. It would seem that Georgia Meloni could only enforce rights relating to her voice if the infringing content used the exact phrase “Io sono Giorgia Meloni” or one very similar and that unauthorised use interfered with her trade mark, not just her personality. We have no personality rights in the UK or EUIPO (yet).
This content is for general information only. Its content is not a statement of the law on any subject and does not constitute advice. Please contact Reddie & Grose LLP for advice before taking any action in reliance on it.
