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News article27 April 2023European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency

SME Fund 2023: New Fund Will Cover EU Level Patents and Community Plant Variety Protection

The Ideas Powered for business SME Fund  is a European Commission (EC) initiative implemented by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and provides intellectual property (IP) vouchers for European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The SME Fund initially introduced in 2021 to support for IP Scan expenses and reimbursing the costs of registering trademarks, and designs. However, this year the Fund will cover the costs of patent and community plant variety protection. With €27.1 million budget, it is also intended to help EU SMEs in their recovery from the economic crisis caused on initially by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

European SMEs will have the opportunity to benefit from the following services:

  • IP Scan services: 90% reimbursement of the fees charged by the EU countries
    (National IP offices IP Scan covered by the SME Fund)
  • 75% reimbursement of the fees charged by the IP Offices (i.e. NIPOs, EUIPO etc.) for trademark and design applications
  • 50% reimbursement of the fees charged by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) for international trademark and design applications
  • 75% reimbursement of the fees charged by national patent offices and the European Patent Office for the registration of patents
  • %50 reimbursement of the application fees charged by the Community Plant Variety Office.

The applications will be evaluated and the Fund will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

Sources

Details

Publication date
27 April 2023
Author
European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency