Revision of the trade mark provisions of the industrial property (protection) ordinance to conform with the trips agreement

Abstract

Malta's accession to the TRIPS Agreement, on the 1st January 1995 necessitates that we bring our present legislation concerning intellectual property, as presently laid down in the Industrial Property (Protection) Ordinance in line with the minimum standards laid down in the Agreement by the 1 st of January 2000. The purpose of this work is to briefly examine the trade mark provisions in both TRIPS and the Ordinance, in order to identify the relevant provisions which would have to be revised to conform to the minimum standards laid down in the Agreement. This work will make reference to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, which TRIPS incorporates by reference and builds on. U.K. provisions and interpretation will be referred to in view of the fact that the Ordinance was modelled on U.K. law and the interpretation of the U.K. Courts has been consistently followed in local jurisprudence. The EU Directive, and the U.K. Trade Marks Act of 1994 will be referred to for purposes of illustration and interpretation. Chapter 1 will give a brief overview of international development in the area, while Chapter 2 will deal with the general provisions and basic principles of the Agreement. Chapter 3 will examine the marks which are listed under TRIPS, as well as other marks which, although not mentioned in TRIPS, nonetheless deserve consideration. These will be contrasted with the provisions of the Ordinance with respect to registrable marks and the interpretation of the local Courts will be considered. Chapter 4 will consider the criteria for registration and the rights conferred by registration, while Chapters 5 and 6 will deal with geographical indications as well as the enforcement provisions.