Malta accedes to the European Patent Convention

On 1 December 2006, the Government of the Republic of Malta (MT) deposited its instrument of accession to the European Patent Convention (EPC) and to the Act revising the EPC of 29 November 2000.

The EPC will accordingly enter into force for Malta on 1 March 2007.

The European Patent Organisation will thus comprise the following 32 member states as from 1 March 2007:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

Further information concerning the effects of this accession and the provisions which Malta has enacted for the implementation of the EPC will be published on the homepage of the European Patent Office respectively in the Official Journal of the European Patent Office.