How do I register a trademark for my small business in Malta?

Trademark registration in Malta is governed by the Trademarks Act, Chapter 416 of the Laws of Malta, and is handled by the Industrial Property Registrations Directorate (IPRD) within the Commerce Department, which reviews applications to check whether an identical or confusingly similar mark already exists before granting registration, and once registered, a Maltese trademark generally provides protection for ten years from registration, renewable indefinitely thereafter. The application process itself, once submitted with the required representation of your mark and specification of goods or services, typically takes a meaningful amount of time to fully process, commonly cited as taking around eight months to a year given the examination and any opposition period involved, so this is not something that provides instant protection and is worth starting well before you're relying on it. It's also worth understanding that registering only in Malta protects you nationally, whereas if you want protection across the wider EU market, you would separately need to consider an EU trademark through the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), which automatically covers all member states through one application. Given the choices involved regarding scope of protection and correctly specifying your goods and services classes, it would be worth engaging a lawyer or trademark agent to properly prepare and file your application.