Patents do not only protect inventions but also instigate further innovation and provide a valuable source of technical information, said Competitiveness and Communications Minister Censu Galea yesterday.

Addressing a seminar discussing Malta’s accession to the European Patent Convention, which will occur on 1 March, Mr Galea said patent applications filed at the European Patent Office (EPO) undergo several investigations. He explained that each application was subjected to a search and examination procedure and was only deemed eligible for a patent if it was new, had an inventive step and was industrially applicable. The minister said the EPO employed over 3,000 examiners specialised in different fields of technology to investigate new applications.

The EPO provides public access to a database of 56 million patent documents from 76 countries that contain invaluable information to users and innovators. To this end, said Minister Galea, the Commerce Division was negotiating with the EPO with a view to provide training and assistance aimed at encouraging the use of the database.

The division, Mr Galea said, last year used EU funds to conduct an intensive awareness campaign through the media as well as by organising workshops. The campaign is to be extended over the current year, while workshops would also continue with special reference being made to patents.

Malta will be the 32nd country to join the European Patent Organisation, which was established in March 1973. Thanks to the convention, any legal person can file with the EPO a single patent application and thereby obtain a patent with effect in one, several or all of the contracting states as well as five other extension states.

Mr Galea reminded his audience that in March, Malta would also accede to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). The treaty enables a national of a PCT contracting state to file an international application in one language with the national office designating in which of the 136 member states he desires a patent.