this is susceptible to virtuous developments on the competitive level, because there is not “one” single Blockchain, but there are a number of alternative chains, with different levels of reliability and complexity and also of cost and sustainability, both economic and environmental, also depending on the energy consumption that this technology entails and that today is a more critical issue than ever. In this respect, the regulatory intervention operated in Italy with the recent law on Made in Italy3 deserves to be acknowledged. It is an extremely articulated text, which, among the many heterogeneous interventions contained therein, also includes a rule (article 47) exactly aimes at promoting the use of “Blockchain technology for the traceability of supply chains”4. Indeed, some Italian consortia for the protection of PDO/PGI products have already integrated Blockchain into their control mechanisms: to cite a few examples, Grana Padano PDO, Aceto Balsamico di Modena PGI and Cioccolato di Modica PGI. Perhaps less intuitive, but equally important, is the role that can be played on this topic by trademarks, which today are the fundamental tool for communicating with all those who interface with the products and services they identify. In fact, the messages conveyed by trademarks are not limited to the attractive and aesthetic values of fashion and design (which are in any way appreciated by the public and therefore fully deserving of protection), but range across the board and can therefore be used to make consumers recognize a product or service that has peculiar and innovative aspects (and therefore also, specifically, a more sustainable product), transforming these aspects in an “added value” on the market and orienting toward those products or services the choices of consumers who desire said value. It is precisely the exclusive right to their trademarks that allows companies that operate more sustainably to gain visibility and thus an economic return on their investments in this field, once again incentivizing them to produce in a more environmentally conscious way, thus putting the market and competition at the service of the ecological transition. technology and traceability in the agrifood industry, in Journal of Food Science, 2020, 3670 et seq. 3 On this new law see C. Galli, The ‘Made in Italy State Seal’ to promote Italian excellences, in Food for Future News, available at https://www.foodforfuture.unipr.it/news-en/nasce-il-contrassegno-per-il-made-in-italy- per-la-valorizzazione-delle-eccellenze-italiane. 4 Legge 27 dicembre 2023, n. 206, entitled “Disposizioni organiche per la valorizzazione, la promozione e la tutela del Made in Italy”. 110 CESARE GALLI
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