Insights

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has applied to the EUIPO for a sound mark: a recording of about four seconds in which she says "Io sono Giorgia Meloni" twice, reportedly to counter AI voice cloning (news). Days earlier, the Tokyo District Court recognised that a voice is protected by the right of publicity in a case brought by voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda against an AI-dubbed account (news). The two stories raise different questions: can a sound be registered as a trademark, and what can be done when a voice is cloned by AI? This guide answers both under Chinese law and sets out practical steps for brand owners.

Two recent news items point the same way: online anti-counterfeiting increasingly depends on cooperation between IP offices and marketplaces. Mexico's IMPI signed a memorandum with AliExpress to speed up removal of suspected infringing listings and said it wants to extend the approach to Mercado Libre, Amazon and Coppel (news). The Philippines' IPOPHL and WIPO expanded their partnership and plan to explore cooperation with online platforms to protect merchants' brands (news). Both reports end with the same advice: get the rights basis right, then use each platform's complaint channel. This guide explains what foreign brand owners need to take down counterfeits on Chinese marketplaces such as Tmall, Taobao and JD.com, and on cross-border platforms.

Three recent Madrid System updates are all about money. Since 1 October, US-based Madrid applications go through WIPO's platform and fees are paid in Swiss francs directly to WIPO (news). WIPO renamed its deposit account WIPO Wallet and cut the opening deposit from CHF 2,000 to CHF 200 (news). And Saudi Arabia can be designated from 8 October, with a per-class individual fee (news). Budgets often quote "the cost of a Madrid application" as one number, but the fee is built up country by country and class by class. This guide explains how Madrid fees are calculated, using China and Saudi Arabia as examples.

In ZARA v ZORA, the Delhi High Court held that a brand owner claiming cross-class protection for a well-known mark does not need a prior formal "well-known" declaration; reputation can be proved with evidence in the case itself. Our news report covers the ruling. China takes a similar approach: well-known status is decided case by case, when a dispute needs it, and there is no title a brand owner can apply for in advance. This guide explains how well-known marks are protected and recognised in China, when the route is worth using, and what foreign brand owners should prepare.

Indonesia's Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DJKI) at the Ministry of Law hosted the Global Dialogue on Cross-Border Copyright Royalty Governance in the Digital Era in Bali, framed as a voluntary and non-normative international discussion with three streams: transparency in royalty administration, accountability in governance systems, and interoperability of rights and metadata. According to a summary published on 9 October, Director General Hermansyah Siregar said the greatest challenge in cross-border royalties lies not in differences in substantive rights but in incomplete or conflicting data. Participants noted that rights holders have limited access to information on the use of works, deductions and how royalties are calculated, and that inaccurate metadata, misused identification codes, missing contracts and disconnected systems can break the chain from creation to payment, so that holding rights does not always mean receiving royalties.

According to Ghanaian media, Mohammed Adams Sukparu, Deputy Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, said at the launch of a digital content platform in Accra that the government would support the creative industry through improved digital infrastructure, skills development and a GH¢20 million seed-funded development initiative, and would prepare the industry to use artificial intelligence without compromising creators' rights. According to the local technology outlet TechFocus24, he said technology must empower the creator, not erase the creator, and that as AI tools become increasingly able to generate and modify digital content, the image, voice, identity and intellectual property of artists need stronger protection against unauthorised use of their work or personal identities.