On 11 January 2021, the first of the five time windows foreseen in 2021 has been opened for SMEs to apply to the EUIPO for aid in intellectual property, with a maximum limit of €1,500 for each SME. This first period closes on 31 January.
This initiative is part of the grant scheme Ideas Powered for Business created by the European Commission and the EUIPO, to make it easier for EU SMEs to create and register their intellectual property rights. This Fund covers two different types of services: (i) the so-called Service 1 on intellectual property pre-diagnosis or IP Scan and (ii) the so-called Service 2 on basic application fees for trademarks and designs.
Service 1 provides users with a professional intellectual property audit to help design a business strategy based on the value of their intellectual property assets. This service is provided through the national offices of the EU Member States, including the OEPM. The assistance offered by the Fund is a 75% reduction of this service.
Service 2 offers a 50% reduction in the fees for trademark and design applications.
It is important to take into account the following characteristics of the aid:
- You can only apply for the aid within the time frame of the five periods allowed euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/es/online-services/sme-fund
- The grants have a limited budget, so the principle First come, first serve applies.
- Only one application can be submitted for Service 1 or Service 2, or a combination of both, but the maximum reimbursement is €1,500.
- If one service is requested within a time frame, the other service can be requested in another time frame.
- This is an aid program for SMEs, so the applicant must meet the definition of an SME given in Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014, of 17 June 2014, Annex I, Article 2: companies that employ less than 250 employees and whose annual turnover does not exceed €50 million (or whose annual balance sheet total does not exceed €43 million).