Strategic
IP & Commercial Advice
In today’s
environment of economic competition, accentuated by what is referred to as
globalisation, the stature of Intellectual Property - in its various aspects
(patents, trademarks, designs, secrets, licensing agreements, etc.) is becoming
more and more important for developed countries.
At the
national level, IP is a crucial economic factor, contributing to the
safeguarding of jobs and playing its part in wealth creation.
In fact, the
challenges of IP for a company, even just in protecting the development of its
activities for conserving or indeed improving its market positioning amongst
partners or competitors, are very real and are inevitably expressed in terms of
market share and jobs.
Business
Advisory Services
The new
launch of Malta Enterprise’s Business Advisory Services in January 2011 is good
news for Maltese enterprises engaged in any business. The services are
particularly aimed at micro, small and medium sized businesses to assist them
in their efforts to be more competitive.
Improving a
business’ competitive edge is an ongoing process. In line with government
strategy to assist businesses in their development, these services can be
beneficial to businesses recognising the need for innovation throughout the
enterprise to improve performance.
With the
appointment of an advisor, the enterprises will undergo an assessment and
assistance to clients will include:
- start-up
support
- business
planning and modelling
- international
competitiveness and export readiness
- market
development
- human
resources management
- product
and service development
- intellectual
property protection and management
- information
management
- business
process reengineering
Importantly
the advisory team have practical, hands-on experience in a wide range of
business sectors.
While no
business is excluded from receiving support, the sectors that particularly fall
within Malta Enterprise’s economic development strategy are:
- manufacturing
- ICT
- creative
- film/entertainment/fashion/arts and culture
- tourism
- transportation
(including marine and aviation)
- life
sciences (including pharmaceutical and health care)
- financial
services
- research
and development
- innovation
Benefits to
businesses include the opportunity to “think tank” their ideas and explore ways
to optimise their business. The business model can be upgraded to address
a specific area such as liquidity difficulties despite good
profitability. Marketing expertise can assist with a strategy to build
the business while ensuring that each euro spent delivers economic
results. Product and Service Development takes the business through the
whole product cycle and shows how to carry out research, development &
innovation. Specialist expertise will guide on how to research, apply and
register Patents. Intellectual Property can also lend itself to the
creative development of a business. Advisory services in Business Process
Reengineering can help bring about change to assist companies improve
performance and profit.
For
companies or entrepreneurs, including those that have already undergone the
Commerce Department's IP Check-Up ServiceTM,
as well as others who might not have previously considered using advisory
services because of costs, this service is provided free of charge for the
first 10 hours. If requested, further hours can be made available by
agreement at a subsidised rate.
Moreover, a
number of other Support Measures are provided by the
Malta Enterprise for local SMEs, including Tax Credits for Industrial
Research and Tax Exemption on Patent Royalties
For further information contact Business Advisory (+356)
2542 0000 or advisory@maltaenterprise.com
List of individuals, firms,
and entities wishing to act as Representatives or Attorneys in relation to IP
matters.
The
Commerce Department provides non-exhaustive list of individuals, firms, and
entities who have informed this office that they wish to act as Advisors,
Consultants, Representatives, Agents or Attorneys in relation to IP
matters.
List
of individuals, firms, and entities with a place of business in Malta, who
have informed this office that they wish to act as Advisors, Consultants,
Representatives, Agents or Attorneys in relation to IP
matters. List of local IP Attorneys
List
of individuals, firms, and entities with a place of business outside Malta, who
have informed this office that they wish to act as Advisors, Consultants,
Representatives, Agents or Attorneys in relation to IP matters. List of foreign IP Attorneys
Such lists are made available by the Commerce Department purely for reference
purposes only and do not confer any special status to anyone included in these
lists. These lists which are provided by the Commerce Department for
information purposes only, serve solely in assisting users of the IP system in
contacting a representative in relation to IP matters, should they require to
do so, and therefore should not be understood as any official recognition
to act as an Attorney or Representative before this or any other IP office or
related institution.
In order to be included in the above mentioned
lists please send an email including all contact details to ipoffice@gov.mt
Professional
Representation before the EPO
The
following is a list of persons fulfilling the conditions contained in the European
Patent Convention (EPC) and who have been entered on the list of
professional representatives authorised to act before the European Patent
Office.
List of Professional
Representatives before the EPO
You may
obtain additional information on how to become a Professional Representative
before the EPO by sitting for the European Qualifying Examination.
Click on the
following link for additional information about the EQE: http://www.epo.org/patents/learning/qualifying-examination.html
IP
Litigation Cases
The current law on
Trademarks in Malta is contained primarily in the Trademarks
Act, Act XII of 2019, Chapter 597 of the Laws of Malta, which entered
into force on the 14th May 2019.
This Act was
intended primarily to bring domestic law in line with the rules on Trademarks
prevalent in the European Union, and particularly to incorporate the provisions
of the EU Trademarks Directive into Maltese law.
Nevertheless,
Malta has a long tradition of regulating trademarks, going as far back as the
start of the 20th century when in the year 1900 the Industrial Property
Protection Ordinance, Chapter 29, was adopted.
Since the
introduction of this first law on trademarks in Malta, Maltese courts have
faced all sorts of actions dealing with trademarks instituted by Maltese as
well as foreign trademark holders.
Post
a Litigation Summary
If you have
been involved in an IP Litigation case and would like to post a summary of this
case, please fill in the form provided below:
Post a Litigation Summary