Patent applicants in Malta stand to benefit from WIPO-EPO cooperation agreement
Companies in Malta stand to benefit from a technical co-operation agreement has been signed between the European Patent Organisation (EPO) and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). The three-year cooperation scheme is aimed at improving the procedural framework of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) to generate increasing use by patent applicants.
Deemed as a first of its kind, the agreement focuses on enhancing the efficiency of the patent application process. To attain this, the WIPO and EPO shall be adopting a comprehensive electronic exchange of PCT documents and an enhanced digital exchange of documents on patent information.
Malta has been a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and the European Patent Convention (EPC) with effect from 1 March 2007. While contributing significantly to the increasing presence of pharmaceutical companies in Malta which can obtain international protection of their invention via Malta, it has also contributed to further strengthen Malta’s position as a lucrative jurisdiction offering a stable legal regime that is coupled with fiscal and financial incentives that the Government of Malta offers to companies that generate IP.
