expect law firms to start selling "identity portfolios" that bundle trademarks on a client's voice, face and catchphrases, much as they bundle brand protection for companies today.

Italy's PM, Giorgia Meloni has applied to trademark her voice to curb AI deepfakes before Italy's election.

The application went to the EU Intellectual Property today and contains a recording of the Italian prime minister saying "Io sono Giorgia Meloni" ("I am Giorgia Meloni").

Meloni is seeking a sound mark, a category that EU rules let applicants file as an audio recording reproducing the sound instead of musical notation.
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That format aims to protect the acoustic combination, inflection and frequencies that make a voice identifiable, so an AI clone copying those traits could count as infringement.

Platforms act faster on trademark complaints than on claims that a cloned voice misuses personal data, said Guido Scorza, an Italian technology lawyer.

Italian social media already carries deepfake videos of her promoting investment schemes, and political ads urging voters to oust her have used her cloned voice as well.