Professional Experience

Maria's role is mostly in the Intellectual Property & ICT Departments and the Financial Services and Banking Departments. Maria takes care of representation of intellectual property firms, copyright & trademark owners, ICT & licensed gaming companies, investment services firms and professional investor funds, financial institutions, investors, investment bankers, financial advisors, and financial and credit institutions.

As head of the IP & ICT department, Maria acts as legal counsel to large and medium sized corporates requiring any form of IP protection in Malta and the EU. These services range from registration and assignments of trademarks & patents to general prosecution matters. Maria represents many online operators setting up in Malta, mostly to operate in Europe and North Africa. These usually include ICT companies, semi-conductors and microprocessors operations set up under Malta's beneficial Business Promotions Act, online trading and servicing companies and gaming companies. In addition, Maria's practice includes working with other IP attorneys and firms. She has also been involved in many complex trademark and patent projects as well as other transactions involving regulatory or licensing issues. Maria is an approved EPO European Patent Attorney and trademark agent in Malta.

Maria has been acknowledged for her expertise and experience in legal matters related to investment services, banking and financial institutions. Through the firm's specialised practise group Maria and other team members have advised large international corporates on relocating their operations to Malta or opening a branch / agency herein. Maria speaks regularly at various international fora associated with IP & ICT law and regularly writes legal articles linked to corporate restructuring, financial services & IP matters.

Together with the firm's corporate services and tax practise groups, Maria routinely works in complex structures and corporate restructurings. She also provides advice connected to regulatory matters connected to licensing, IP, ICT, finance and corporate law. She is mostly interested in the application of traditional notions of Intellectual Property Law to the online world, as well as the conversion of brick and mortar notions to cyberspace. These mostly include projects with a fusion of technology law and investment/finance law, such as payment gateways, gaming operations, e-money institutions and ICT online operators.