Patent Renewal in Malta

The term of a patent in Malta shall be 20 years from the filing date of the patent application.
Patent Renewals are subject to the payment of the officially prescribed annuity fees in respect of the beginning of the third year and each subsequent year thereafter calculated from the patent's filing date.

Requirements

The filing requirements for a Patent Renewal in Malta are the following:

The patent number which was issued by the Malta IPO on the "Certificate of Registration";
The patent owner's name and address;

A Power of Attorney is not required in order to apply for a patent renewal in Malta.

Annuity Payments

Required payments of the official patent annuity fees from the patent's filing date in order to maintain a patent in Malta:

1^st Year	2^nd Year	3^rd to 20^th Year
Payment not required	Payment not required	← Annuity Payments required →
← 20 Years Maximum Term of Protection →

Due Date

The renewal (payment of the official annuity fee) has to be carried out until the last day of the month in which the patent renewal falls due in order to prevent an official late payment fine.
Should a deadline fall on a weekend or on a public holiday the deadline will be deemed to be the day before the weekend or public holiday.

Late Renewal & Grace Period

A late renewal (late payment of the official annuity fees) is possible within a grace period of 6 months from the end of the month in which the patent renewal falls due. A late payment of annuities is subject to the official surcharges, which depend on the month of payment. A renewal after the grace period is not possible.

Month of Due Date	Within Grace Period of 6 months	After Grace Period
Usual Renewal	← Late Payment possible →	Renewal not possible

Early Renewal

An early renewal (early payment of the official annuity fees) is possible within 6 months before the month in which the patent falls due for renewal.

Before	Within 6 months before the month in which the patent falls due	Month of Due Date
Not possible	← Early Payment possible →	Usual Renewal

Renewal Certificate

It usually takes 10 to 12 weeks until the Renewal Certificate will be issued.
The exact timeframe depends on the working processes of the Malta IPO and may vary.