Cap. 597 Art. 5Absolute grounds for refusal or invalidity.

(1) The following shall not be registered as trademarks or, if registered, shall be liable to be declared invalid:

(a) signs which cannot constitute a trademark;

(b) trademarks which are devoid of any distinctive character;

(c) trademarks which consist exclusively of signs or indications which may serve, in trade, to designate the kind, quality, intended purpose, value, geographical origin, the time of production of goods or of rendering of the service, or other characteristics of the goods or services;

(d) trademarks which consist exclusively of signs or indications which have become customary in the current language or in the and established practices of the bona fide trade;

(e) signs which consist exclusively of -

(i) the shape, or another characteristic, which results from the nature of the goods themselves;

(ii) the shape, or another characteristic, of goods which is necessary to obtain a technical result;

(iii) the shape, or another characteristic, which gives substantial value to the goods;

(f) trademarks which are contrary to public policy or to accepted principles of morality;

(g) trademarks which are of such a nature as to deceive the public or likely to deceive the public, for instance, as to the nature, quality or geographical origin of the goods or services;

(h) trademarks which have not been authorised by the competent authorities and are to be refused or invalidated pursuant to Article 6ter of the Paris Convention;

(i) trademarks which are excluded from registration pursuant to Union legislation or the laws of Malta, or to international agreements to which the Union or Malta is party, providing for protection of designations of origin and geographical indications;

(j) trademarks which are excluded from registration pursuant to Union legislation or international agreements to which the Union is party, providing for protection of traditional terms for wine;

(k) trademarks which are excluded from registration pursuant to Union legislation or international agreements to which the Union is party, providing for protection of traditional specialities guaranteed;

(l) trademarks which consist of, or reproduce in their essential elements, an earlier plant variety denomination registered in accordance with Union legislation or the laws of Malta, or international agreements to which the Union or Malta is party, providing protection for plant variety rights, and which are in respect of plant varieties of the same or closely related species.

(2) A trademark shall be liable to be declared invalid where the application for registration of the trademark was made in bad faith by the applicant.

(3) A trademark shall not be registered or, if registered, is liable to be declared invalid where and to the extent that:

(a) the use of that trademark may be prohibited pursuant to provisions of law other than trademark law of Malta or of the Union;

(b) the trademark includes a sign of high symbolic value, in particular a religious symbol;

(c) the trademark includes badges, emblems and escutcheons other than those covered by Article 6ter of the Paris Convention and which are of public interest, unless the consent of the competent authority to their registration has been given in conformity with the laws of Malta.

(4) A trademark which consists of or contains -

(a) the arms, or any of the principal armorial bearings of the arms appertaining to the President or the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Malta, or any insignia or device so nearly resembling such arms or any such armorial bearing as to be likely to be mistaken for them or it;

(b) a representation of the Presidential or Episcopal flags;

(c) a representation of the President or the Archbishop, or any colourable imitation thereof; or

(d) words, letters or devices likely to lead persons to think that the applicant either has or recently has had Presidential or Episcopal patronage or authorization, shall not be registered unless it appears to the Comptroller that consent has been given by or on behalf of the President or the Archbishop:

Provided that the Minister may by regulations extend the applicability of the provisions of this sub-article to apply mutatis mutandis in respect of religions other than the Roman Catholic Apostolic Religion.

(5) A trademark which consists of a representation of the national flag of Malta shall not be registered.

(6) A trademark which contains a representation of the national flag of Malta shall not be registered if it appears to the Comptroller that the use of the trademark would be misleading or grossly offensive.

(7) A trademark shall not be registered in the cases specified in article 127 or article 128 except as provided in said articles.

(8) A trademark shall not be refused registration in accordance with sub-article (1)(b), (c) or (d) if, before the date of application for registration, it has acquired a distinctive character as a result of the use made of it in Malta. A trademark shall not be declared invalid for the same reasons if, before the date of action for a declaration of invalidity, following the use which has been made of it, it has acquired a distinctive character as a result of the use made of it in Malta.