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Aug 07, 2019
Jonathan Tonna and Antoine Camilleri, Mamo TCV, Malta

New Maltese Opposition Procedure


Jonathan Tonna and Antoine Camilleri, Mamo TCV, MaltaIn December 2018 the Maltese Industrial Property Registrations Directorate (IPRD) transitioned from a long-standing system of ex officio examinations of new trademark applications for potential conflict with pre-existing marks to an opposition system, as required by Directive (EU) 2015/2436 approximating the laws of EU Member States relating to trademarks.
Under the ex officio procedure, the IPRD would run its own searches in the Maltese and EU trademark registers and raise objections to new applications whenever potential conflict with existing marks was identified. Applicants would then be given the opportunity to make their case before the IPRD if and when an objection was raised.
This system was scrapped shortly after the issuing of Legal Notice 343 of 2018 (“The Trademark Search and Opposition Rules”), whereby the new opposition procedure was introduced. The said law was issued by the Ministry for the Economy, Investment and Small Businesses in the run-up to the promulgation of Malta’s new Trademarks Act (Chapter 597 of the  read more