Upon depositing its instrument of accession at WIPO on December 12, 2006, Malta became the 134th contracting state of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). The Treaty will enter into force for Malta on March 1, 2007. The PCT allows for the filing of a single “international†patent treaty with an effect as if a national patent application had been filed with the national patent office of each contracting state, eliminating the need for applicants to file separate patent applications for each individual country.
For further information: http://www.wipo.int/edocs/prdocs/en/2006/wipo_upd_2006_283.html