The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has announced the SME Fund, a scheme supporting European small and medium-sized enterprises in protecting their intellectual property rights. The fund has a budget of €20 million.

European SMEs may apply for partial reimbursement for two types of services: intellectual property pre-diagnostic services (IP scan) and trade mark and design applications at national and EU level, up to a maximum of €1,500.

The IP pre-diagnostic services under this programme are only available through participating national and regional EU IP offices. An IP scan can help a company decide which intellectual property rights to apply for, how to develop an IP portfolio if rights are already registered, and how to plan a future strategy. At present, the Italian IP office does not provide this service, but you may view the list of participating countries by clicking here.

Regarding the second type of service, European SMEs may request a 50% reimbursement on basic fees for trade mark, design or model applications at national and EU level.

È possibile fare domanda per il fondo per le PMI solo durante le cinque finestre designate nel 2021: l’EUIPO non considererà le domande pervenute al di fuori di tali finestre.

To view the call for proposals, the procedures and the schedule, click here.

For further information regarding this news, click here.