As from last month, Malta became party to the to the European Patent Convention. This historic event will be the latest significant milestone to be added to Malta’s intellectual property landscape.

The European Patent Organisation which has 32 member states, including Malta, was established by the Convention on the Grant of European Patents signed in March in 1973. This convention is now known as the European Patent Convention or the EPC. The European Patent Organisation is made up of the legislative body, i.e. the Administrative Council and the executive body i.e. the European Patent Office.

Under the system of intergovernmental cooperation introduced by the European Patent Convention, it is possible for any legal person to file with the EPO a single patent application in one of three official languages (English, French and German), and thereby obtain a patent with effect in one, several or all of the contracting states as well as five other extension states.

The European Patent Convention has the following advantages for the applicant:

• it provides a cost-effective and time-saving way of applying for patent protection in several countries;

• the term, scope of protection and grounds for revocation are the same for all the contracting states;

• every European patent is a strong patent having undergone substantive examination vis-à-vis prior art (all that has been invented prior to the filing of the patent); and

• it encourages registration in countries otherwise not considered for registration.

The European Patent Office is receiving approximately 200,000 applications annually. Here it is important to stress that patent applications filed at the European Patent Office are subjected to a search-and-examination procedure. This means that every application is compared vis-à-vis the prior art i.e. all that has been invented (not just patented) anywhere in the world since the dawn of time. An invention is deemed eligible for a patent by the EPO only if it is determined that it is new, has an inventive step and is industrially applicable, apart from having to fulfil other conditions outlined in the convention. For this task, the European Patent Office employs over 3,000 examiners specialised in different fields of technology.

Having mentioned the advantages of acceding to the European Patent Convention and that patents granted by EPO are quality patents, it is worth noting that patents do not only protect inventions but also instigate further innovation by others as well as provide a valuable source of technical information. It is worth noting that one of the conditions which an applicant must comply with to secure a patent for his invention is that he must disclose it in a manner sufficiently clear and complete for it to be carried out by a person skilled in the art. In addition, both the national office and the EPO are obliged to publish the application and the relevant claims information within 18 months from date of filing (when priority is claimed from the priority date). The EPO provides free public access to 56 million patent documents from 76 countries.

Such documents contain technical information which is invaluable to users and innovators alike.

The Commerce Division within my ministry is also in negotiations with the EPO with a view to provide training and assistance aimed at encouraging the use of the database in question.

Such an initiative is part of a wider exercise to demystify the concept of intellectual property rights.

Last year with assistance of EU funds, the division carried out an intensive awareness campaign through the local media complemented by ad hoc workshops.

It is intended to extend this campaign this year.

The workshops will also continue with special reference being made to patents.

Malta’s accession to the Patent Cooperation Treaty enables a national/resident 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.

Both applicants and patent offices of PCT member states benefit from the uniform formality requirements, the international search and preliminary examination reports, and the centralised international publication provided by the PCT system.

The national patent granting procedure and the related expenses are postponed, in the majority of cases, by up to 18 months (or even longer in the case of some offices) as compared with the traditional patent system.

By this time, the applicant will have received important value-added information concerning the likelihood of obtaining patent protection as well as potential commercial interest in that invention.

The PCT system established in 1978 last year experienced 145,300 filings.

It is worth noting that Malta will be benefiting from the Euro-PCT arrangement whereby a PCT patent application designating Malta will automatically be forwarded to the EPO where it will be processed on Malta’s behalf.

Hence any application designating Malta under the PCT system will be actually forwarded to the European Patent Office and subjected to its search and examination procedure.

I would also like to point out that accession to the European Patent Convention will also provide Malta with the opportunity to participate in high-level policy-making of the second largest European organisation though its membership in its Administrative Council and other bodies.

This means that Malta will be actively involved in the decision-making process of this very important sector of the European economy.

Censu Galea is Competitiveness and Communications Minister