Meloni's voice trademark application: a lost voice
Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, has a prominent presence in the media as a public figure. She is also a popular target of deepfakes, which AI tools make ever easier to produce. She has taken legal action against such deepfakes before.
Recently, she filed an application of her voice as a trademark in the European Union. The sound mark consists of Meloni saying, twice in a row and in Italian, “I am Giorgia Meloni”. She is reportedly filing the mark as an additional weapon against deepfakes. This immediately brings to mind Taylor Swift's voice mark in the United States. The big question, however, is whether it makes sense.
Sound marks can be registered with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). The idea that such a mark could be a tool against misuse is therefore not so far-fetched. The real question is what such a registration protects in practice. The answer is: the sound, with the text, as registered. Anyone who registers a voice therefore records a concrete recording, namely a voice speaking a particular text. The protection extends to that sound and to sounds that are sufficiently similar to it, but not to the voice as such. So if a deepfake uses Meloni's voice with a different text, you already run up against the limits of this sound mark.
Incidentally, we are assuming here that the EUIPO accepts the voice as a trademark. And that is a major stumbling block: her voice may well be very well known, but that does not make it distinctive. In other words, it remains to be seen whether her voice will be accepted as a trademark at all.
It is to be welcomed that Meloni is fuelling a debate on the admissibility of deepfakes. We fear, however, that the sound mark will not do much for her.
Author: Arnaud Bos
Bio: Arnaud is trademark attorney and within Knijff responsible for the marketing & communication. Arnaud is specialist in the metaverse and music sectors and his client portfolio includes many upcoming and renowned bands. He keeps a close eye on the latest case law in the EU and will let you know when he sees remarkable applications.