Registered trademark and freedom of artistic expression: the use of the trademark “Miss Italia”
30 Jul 2026
Court of Rome, 9th April 2026
In a recent decision, the specialized business section of the Court of Rome addressed the issue of the balance between the protection of registered trademarks and the freedom of artistic expression.
The dispute arose from an application for an urgent injunction filed by two companies (respectively, the owner and the exclusive licensee of the registered trademarks “Miss Italia” and “Concorso Nazionale Miss Italia”) against the Italian singer Ditonellapiaga and her record label. Specifically, the applicants alleged that defendant had unlawfully reproduced the sign “Miss Italia” as title of the artist’s album (as well as title of a song included therein).
Whilst the Court acknowledged the renown of the “Miss Italia” trademarks, at the same time it ruled out that the defendants had gained an unfair advantage or caused detriment to the applicants’ trademarks. On the contrary, the use of the sign “Miss Italia” by Ditonellapiaga and her record label was held lawful due to the existence of a “due cause” (“giusto motivo”) under Article 20, paragraph 1, letter c) of the Italian industrial property code, consisting specifically in the so called artistic exemption (“esimente artistica”).
The decision is noteworthy because, relying on Recital 27 of EU Directive 2015/2436, Article 11 of the EU charter of fundamental rights, as well as on established case law concerning album and song titles, the Court confirmed that the title of an album is not comparable to a trademark. Notably, the Court held that the purpose of the name of the album is to merely describe the theme of the musical works, therefore serving a different function from that of a trademark.
Furthermore, the Court clarified that the defendants’ reference to “Miss Italia” was not intended to exploit the applicants’ trademarks for commercial or promotional purposes. Rather, it constituted an expression of the artist’s freedom of artistic creation; in the case at issue, according to the Court, the “Miss Italia” sign was used to ironically refer to the beauty pageant winner.
Edoardo Cesarini
