The SME Fund is renewed!

For the third consecutive year, the European Commission is renewing its grant fund for SMEs “ideas powered for business” from 23 January to 8 December 2023.

The objective of this grant is to support European SMEs in the protection of their innovations by helping them to protect their inventions, trademarks and products through industrial property titles by taking charge of part of the official fees.

The Fund is open to SMEs established in the European Union. The criteria to enter this category have been provided by the Commission (European Commission website).

If you have already benefited from this grant in 2022, it is possible to apply again in 2023.

However, a few changes should be noted compared to the 2022 edition:

The first being that the support offered is no longer the same depending on the origin of the company wishing to benefit.

For a French company, for example, only the “trademarks & designs” voucher is now available.

This check will cover, up to a limit of € 1000, part of the fees for the filing and registration of trademarks and / or designs at the European or national level (75% of the amount of fees) and outside the EU (50% of the amount of fees).

The grant application can be made directly by your company or through an authorized representative on the dedicated platform (accessible here).

The procedure has not changed, however, some deadlines have been adjusted:

1/ When submitting the form, it will be necessary to provide: a VAT certificate (or the Kbis) of the SME, the RIB in the name of the SME and the power of your representative if applicable.

2/ You will receive a grant decision within 15 working days.

3/ Filing of the industrial property title* within 2 months (with the possibility of an extension of 2 additional months – i.e. 4 months maximum) directly or through your representative.

(*) Note that the grant must be obtained before the title is filed.

4/ After the filing of the title, you have 6 months to request your reimbursement.

An SME that already owns industrial property rights is perfectly entitled to make a request. These subventions can be cumulated with the INPI’s financial support under the “Pass PI”.

It is also perfectly possible to apply for a grant for several titles within the limits of established amounts.

Finally, it should be noted that funds are limited and available on a “first come, first served” basis.

So don’t delay your filings any longer and protect your innovations, helps you in these steps for your IP projects!

− Anaïs GREFFOZ, Intellectual Property Lawyer at Mark & Law 

For more information on this grant and its modalities, see the corresponding article on the EUIPO website, accessible by clicking here.