Solicitor for Intellectual Property Law in Paola

I run a small creative business in Malta and I produce a lot of original content, photos, written material, and designs, myself. I want to understand whether I automatically own the copyright to everything I personally create, or whether I need to formally register something for this protection to actually exist.

I registered a trademark in Malta a few years ago and I vaguely recall something about needing to renew it periodically, but I’m not entirely sure of the timeline or what would actually happen to my protection if I simply forgot or missed a renewal deadline.

I’m considering applying for a patent in Malta for a genuine technical invention I’ve developed. I want to understand how long the resulting protection would actually last, and whether I can simply keep renewing it indefinitely to maintain protection long-term.

A former employee of my company in Malta was involved in developing some proprietary processes and technical documentation as part of their role, and they’ve now left to join a direct competitor. I’m concerned they might use or share what they developed while working for me. What are my rights here?

I sell an accessory product in Malta that is specifically designed to be compatible with a well-known, trademarked brand of device, and I want to clearly communicate this compatibility to customers by referencing that brand name on my packaging, along the lines of ‘compatible with’ the trademarked product. Is this kind of reference to another company’s trademark actually permitted?

I run a business in Malta and I’m considering creating advertising that directly compares my product to a well-known competitor’s product by name, to highlight what I believe are genuine advantages of mine. Is referencing a competitor’s registered trademark in my own advertising like this actually legal?

I’m in the process of preparing a trademark application in Malta, but I’m now concerned that a different, unrelated business might file a very similar application around the same time. I want to understand how this kind of overlapping claim would actually be resolved under Maltese trademark law.

I’ve started a small business in Malta with a distinctive brand name and logo, and I want to properly protect it before a competitor potentially copies it. What’s actually involved in registering a trademark here, and roughly how long does the process take?