Innovators and patent holders will soon be able to register their ideas and inventions at a one-stop-shop that will validate them throughout the EU.
Parliament on Tuesday approved a motion moved by Parliamentary Secretary Owen Bonnici, and seconded by Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi, which would boost the protection of patents, in a continuation of measures initiated by the previous government.
Dr Bonnici said that in 2013 Malta signed an agreement for a Unified Patent Court in which a majority of EU states are involved. This was a significant agreement which would ensure uniformity for industrial patents and intellectual property within the EU and which, once ratified, would represent the biggest change in this area in the last 40 years.
He said this would bring about two significant changes relevant to Malta: first, the possibility of registering one’s patent or innovation in one centralised EU office. Secondly, it would give the patent holder a means of enforcing the registration through an ad hoc court, with exclusive jurisdiction, in case his rights were breached, allowing him to seek legal remedies.
It would give the patent holder the same legal right throughout the EU
It would give the patent holder the same legal right over his patent or intellectual property throughout the EU member states.
Dr Bonnici pointed out that if a Maltese person invented something or came up with an idea which revolutionised a particular industry it could have an impact on other industries as well and this meant his idea would be protected throughout the EU. He gave the example of Maltese doctors who have been the in vanguard of new scientific breakthroughs in various specialisations.
London and Munich would be the main offices of the court, while the court of appeal would be in Luxembourg. He added that Malta could even choose to enter into a regional office with Italy, for example, if this was more convenient.
The advantage of this court would be more uniformity and more speed in the handing down of decisions regarding patents. It also meant that one’s intellectual property had the possibility of spreading further on to a worldwide platform.
Dr Bonnici thanked Mr Justice Emeritus Geoffrey Valenzia for immediately accepting to serve the country in the preparatory committee to ensure that this court started to operate as soon as possible.
Dr Azzopardi said that the concept of protecting intellectual property represented a quantum leap which would have a positive effect on the competitiveness of the country. Without this unified patent court, if one invented something, one had to register it in every single European member state, incurring considerable costs.
For this reason, many Europeans were registering their patents in the US for one sixth of the cost which meant that Europe was losing money. Thus, Europe was falling behind the United States in its competitiveness.
The setting up of this uni-fied court would mean more security because prior to this, the Italian court might give a different ruling to a French court, for example, and investment would be affected.
This centralised method would help SMEs to have more peace of mind. The more efficient and specialised court system would help create a better climate for investment in Europe. He called on the government to take intellectual property seriously.
Winding up the debate Dr Bonnici said the government intended to carry on with the judicial reform aimed at having cases settled more quickly while giving the best service possible, with legal expenses being competitive especially in the commercial law sector.
With regard to legal expenses for intellectual property cases in commercial law, the local expenses were quite competitive and the two judges in control were doing excellent work, he said. However, the local system was not fast enough.
He said pharmaceutical companies had much to gain from this new measure and he agreed with Dr Azzopardi that this was a sector that needed to be further delved into.