| |
 |
N. 32, March - April 2007
|
|
|
 | IP & RTD: Articles
 |
|
|
|
Malta accedes to the Patent Cooperation Treaty and the European
Patent Convention.
Neville Micallef
Industrial Property Office of Malta - Commerce Division
|
|
|
Malta became the 134th
contracting state of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) when it filed its
instrument of accession with WIPO on 1st December 2006. The Treaty has entered into
force for Malta on 1st March
2007.
The accession by Malta means that, in any international application
filed on or after 1st March 2007,
Malta (country code: MT) will automatically be designated. And, as it will be
bound by Chapter II of the Treaty, it will automatically be elected in any
demand for international preliminary examination filed with respect to an
international application filed on or after 1st March 2007. Also, as of that date, nationals
and residents of Malta will themselves be able to file PCT applications.
On 1st December 2006,
Malta (MT) also filed its instrument of accession to the European Patent
Convention (EPC) and to the Act revising the EPC of 29th November 2000 (Revision Act). The EPC has
thus entered into force for Malta on 1st March 2007. The European Patent Organisation
thus comprises 32 member states as from 1st March 2007.
European patent applications filed on or after 1st March 2007 will include the designation of
the new contracting state1. It will not be possible to designate Malta
retroactively on applications filed before that date.
To allow the new contracting state to be designated, however, the
EPO will accord European patent applications filed in February 2007 the filing
date of 1st March 2007 if the
applicant expressly requests that filing date when filing the
application.
The Maltese Industrial Property Directorate, which is part of the
Commerce Division, is mainly responsible for the registration of trade marks
and designs and the patenting of inventions. This office also offers a search
service with regards to trade marks. In addition, this Directorate also firmly
believes in the importance of creating and maintaining an awareness and
understanding of IP amongst the general public, particularly where SMEs are
concerned. In this regard, in January 2006, this Directorate launched a series
of workshops on IP. Due to the success and the positive feedback of this
workshop, another three workshops were held. This office has also given
presentations on IP to students and to members of the national Chambers of
Commerce
The Commerce Division also organised a picture competition to
celebrate the World Intellectual Property Day 2006. Children between the ages
of 8 and 10 attending school in Malta and Gozo were invited to participate in
this competition. The children were encouraged to depict their understanding of
how innovative and creative ideas have helped to create the everyday objects we
see around us and use on a daily basis, sometimes without thinking about the
fact that this object is someone’s creation. In this way, the concept of
intellectual property was introduced not only to the children who participated
in this competition but also to their parents and teachers.The winners were
awarded with a bicycle, an ideal example of a product that is constantly being
improved through man’s creativity and innovative ideas.
During the last four months of 2006, an intensive IP information
campaign was carried out as a result of the implementation of an EU project
under Transitional Facility funds. This campaign made use of different media,
such as TV commercials, adverts in local magazines and newspapers, advertising
on billboards, bus-shelters and bus-wraps. As part of this campaign, four short
videos on IP were created, as well as promotional material such as a bookmark
and a 2007 desk calendar. During 2006, the office was also actively involved in
the NPO Network, helping to set-up and create the
www.InnovAccess.eu website.
Awareness activities will also be organised in 2007. In addition to
repeating the IP workshops, the information campaign will be extended
throughout the current year where one of our primary targets will be
post-secondary and University students.
The Industrial Property Directorate may be contacted by telephone:
00356 21226688 or e-mail:
ipoffice@gov.mtº1 74.
|
| |
|
|
