Questions for lawyers Found 20

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’m working with several freelance developers and designers based in Malta to build various creative and technical assets for my business, logos, software code, written content. I want to make sure I actually own the resulting intellectual property once the work is delivered and paid for, rather than assuming this automatically happens.

I own a registered trademark in Malta and I’ve been approached by another company interested in using my brand under a licensing arrangement rather than me operating it myself in a particular context. What’s actually involved in properly setting up a trademark licence, and does anything need to be formally registered?

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?

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 discovered that a business based in Malta has been using several of my original photographs on their website without ever asking my permission or paying for a licence. I took these photos myself for my own portfolio. What are my options for addressing this?

I’ve been using various images I found online labelled as ‘royalty-free’ or ‘free to use’ for marketing materials for my business in Malta, without paying anything or tracking exactly where each image came from. I’m now wondering whether I’ve actually been doing this properly, or whether I could be at risk of a copyright claim.

I’ve developed a physical product with what I believe is a genuinely distinctive visual design, separate from its brand name or any technical function. I understand trademarks protect brand names and logos, but I want to know what actually protects the distinctive shape and appearance of the product itself.

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 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?