Staff from the European Patent Office and patent experts are addressing a three-day seminar, organised by Paragon Europe of Mosta, at the Victoria Hotel, Sliema, on November 28-30.
The seminar aims to increase awareness of the EU patent and its role in the EU, now that Malta is a paid member of the EPO, a signatory of the EU Patent Convention and has joined the international Patent Co-operation Treaty.
Paragon works on EU funding consultancy and, according to CEO Michael Debono, the seminar is relevant since international property rights are essential for any EU-funded project. It also offers research, technology, development and innovation (RTDI) consultancy.
Mr Debono said he has identified a gap in the market, since there are no patent attorneys in Malta, in the main scientists or engineers who specialise in patent law and would write patent applications.
The seminar, for a maximum of 20 participants, will include both theoretical and practical content. There will be sessions on patent terminology, the important of sources, intellectual property on the Internet, esp@cenet®, the database of ideas, legal status data, ESPACE® products and practical exercise.
The speakers are Davide Lingua, Dr Nigel Clarke and Dr Roland Feinäugle. Mr Lingua graduated in Petroleum Engineering at the Technical University of Turin. He joined the EPO in 1990 working as an examiner before moving to patent information in 1994.
He has been active in various patent information-related activities, from co-operation with EPO member states to product distribution. He joined the Publications Department this year and is currently responsible for the INPADOC Services team.
Dr Feinäugle has a doctorate in physics from the Technical University of Berlin, and holds a postgraduate degree in law. He spent some years in research and technical training in the human spaceflight programme before joining the EPO in 2002.
Since then he has been the training co-ordinator for patent information for external users. He is responsible for training programmes with a special focus on the development and implementation of new training technologies, such as distance learning, Web-based training and the virtual classroom.
Paragon Europe is a Maltese company providing a variety of services geared towards the development of knowledge economy tools and business services to both local and foreign clients. Following Malta's entry in the EU in May 2004, Paragon has been successful in sourcing funds for EU projects submitted under a number of programmes, including the Sixth Framework Programme for Research and Development (FP6), Leonardo da Vinci, Youth, Interreg III and EuroMed.
Paragon Europe provides a wide range of innovative business solutions for any type of organisation and co-ordinates information dissemination and valorisation activities, together with delegate visits for the promotion of Maltese enterprise.
The closing date for registration for this seminar is next Tuesday. For more information contact Charlo Seychell at Paragon Europe, tel: 2141-8756, fax 2141-8702 or e-mail: charlo@paragoneurope.eu.