A patent is considered as giving extensive rights to its holder, particularly since it grants 20 years of protection from the filing of the application, preventing third parties from making, using or offering in the market a product or process incorporating the subject-matter of the patent.
At GTG we advice clients with regards to their patent portfolio management. This includes consultation on registration matters and assistance in the application, maintenance, assignment and licensing of patents, as well as in contingent matters regarding due diligence, patent enforcement, and overall intellectual property strategy.
Domestic Patent Protection
The Patents and Designs Act, Chapter 417 of the Laws of Malta, provides for the registration of patents. This permits persons and companies to protect their inventions, provided certain conditions are satisfied. A patent is only awarded if the invention satisfies the novelty and the inventive step tests which respectively entail that the invention does not form part of a prior art and that, having regard to the prior art, the invention is not obvious to a person skilled in the art.
The registration of a patent is a relatively simply procedure and is completed by filing the prescribed form with the Office of the Comptroller, which must contain the following:
- a request for the grant of a patent;
- a description of the invention;
- one or more claims;
- any drawings referred to in the description or the claims;
- an abstract of the invention;
- the inventor.
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