19.04.2023

HOW SMALL BUSINESSES CAN GET MONEY FOR TRADEMARK REGISTRATION

The Patent Office has announced a grant for small and medium-sized enterprises to protect intellectual property in 2023. Vouchers this year will cover up to 90 percent of the costs and almost all activities that SMEs need to carry out in the process of acquiring protection for their intellectual property property, with the maximum refund amount reaching 1,500 euros.

The Patent Office informs businesses that the EU Office for Intellectual Property foresees a new initiative to increase the budget of the Fund for small and medium-sized enterprises in the EU for 2023. The aim is to support businesses in increasing their competitiveness through better protection and use of intellectual property rights.

Voucher 1 will reimburse up to 90 percent of the cost of intellectual property pre-diagnosis services up to €1,350 (subject to applicable national costs for that service, with a maximum service cost of €1,500). This would allow SMEs to take full advantage of the scan of their IP portfolio and still have the funds to apply for additional IP rights following the recommendations of the IP scan report.

Voucher 2 will cover trademark and design registration at national, regional, European and international level for a maximum of €1,000. The recovery rate will remain at 75 percent for trademarks and designs filed at the national, regional and European level and 50 percent for trademarks and designs filed at the international level.

Voucher 3 for national and European patents, which will extend the possibility of reimbursement of fees for national and European patent filing and prior art research. The amount of the grant and the reimbursement rate are also increased to €1,500 and 75 percent, respectively.

Voucher 4, which will cover 50 percent of the fee for electronic submission of applications for plant varieties at EU level (€225). By providing financial support for the registration of plant varieties, the SME Fund will support SMEs involved in the green and digital transition, while supporting the objectives of the EC Green Deal. There will be no performance period for this voucher as only the application fee will be eligible for refund.

There are two significant changes for 2023 – an increase in the budget and a shorter activation period for each of the four vouchers, reduced to two months with the possibility of extending it to four months. This would help to optimize the implementation of the budget by allowing a faster release of unused funds to SMEs.

A total of 10,350 SMEs applied for funding from the SME Fund, submitting 10,532 applications. Of these, 795 are for voucher 1, and 10,419 for voucher 2.

There were 23,927 intellectual property reimbursement inquiries (intellectual property diagnostics - IP Scan, trademarks and designs). 8,390 small and medium-sized enterprises have received approval.

The total number of SMEs that applied was 351, which entered 355 applications. Those approved under Voucher 1 (IP-Scan) are 31, and under Voucher 2 (trademark and design) are 348. By type of enterprise: 281 are micro and 55 are small. According to the focus of the company: there are 154 startups, 105 representatives of international companies.