The SME Fund, managed by the European Union Intellectual Property Office EUIPO, is again accepting new voucher applications from January 23, 2023. With the voucher, you can apply for reimbursement of the official fees of your trademark and/or design applications, as well as for the IP Scan service to analyse the IPR potential for your business. A company can apply for and receive this voucher, even if it has already received it earlier in 2022 or 2021.
The EU's business support for SMEs will continue this year in the form of vouchers, i.e. payment commitments, issued by the EUIPO. If the protection of a new brand is actual in your company, you should be quick. Vouchers can be applied for throughout the year during the application period from January 23 to December 8, 2023, but the funds are limited and available on a first come, first served basis.
In 2023, a total of EUR 20 million will be available for payment commitments for trademark and/or design applications (voucher 2), and the IP Scan service (voucher 1). It is also possible to apply for reimbursement of office fees for patent applications (voucher 3; the application for it will open in March).
The support will be paid from the SME Fund under the EUIPO's Ideas Powered for Business service to help SMEs in Europe take advantage of their intellectual property rights. As this SME funding is EU-based, the company does not have to declare this funding when eventually applying for other, national-based public funding (e.g., granted by Business Finland) which is subject to the de minimis terms.
1,000 euros for the official fees of trademark or design applications
In 2023, an SME (fewer than 250 employees, maximum turnover of EUR 50 million) may receive a grant of up to EUR 1,000 for the official fees of trademark and/or design applications.
The grant application may include the official fees of more than one national or EU trademark and/or community design application, and the applicant will receive a reimbursement of 75% of the costs, but no more than 1000 euros. The compensation may also include additional class fees and other application costs such as registration and publication fees.
You can also receive a 50% reimbursement of international (WIPO) trademark and/or design basic application fees, designation fees, and subsequent designation fees outside the EU.
1,350 euros for IP Scan service
In addition to official fees for trademarks and designs, a company can apply for and receive support for analysing its intellectual property potential and possibilities for IP protection with the help of IP Scan pre-diagnostic service. It has its own IP Scan voucher, which covers 90% of the price of the service, which is EUR 1,500 (excluding VAT), i.e., your reimbursement is EUR 1,350.
The IP Scan service includes that an experienced IP expert will conduct interviews (via videoconferencing) with your company's representatives about the current situation, the potential and possibilities for IP protection to determine the most appropriate IP strategy for your company. On average, the expert spends about 1-1.5 working days providing the service and compiling a comprehensive summary report, including proposals for action. Read more here.
How to apply for funding
Basic principle: first submit a grant application and wait for a positive grant decision. You cannot file a trademark or design application first and then apply for compensation. The application costs will not be reimbursed if the registration applications have been filed before a positive grant decision from the SME Fund.
Register and create a user account for the SME fund in the EUIPO's Ideas Powered for Business online service. After that, you can submit a voucher application from your user account.
In addition to your company's basic information, the required documents to be attached with the application include a recent VAT certificate proving the legal existence of your company, as well as a bank certificate / account statement showing your company's IBAN account number, BIC / SWIFT, account opening date and account holder name. Once the required documents (.pdf) exist, submitting the voucher application online is easy.
Voucher 1, voucher 2 or voucher 3?
In the voucher application, you just select whether you are applying for support for trademark or design applications (= voucher 2, max. 1000 euros) and/or possibly also for the IP Scan service (= voucher 1, 1350 euros) or patent application costs (= voucher 3, 1500 euros).
It's good to have a protection plan ready, but when applying for funding, you don't need an exact plan about how many EU trademarks or designs your reimbursement request will cover and in how many classes, or whether you would like to extend the protection outside the EU as well. During the processing of the application, you still have time to refine your protection plan and strategy.
Once you have received a positive grant decision, we can file your trademark and/or design applications according to the jointly prepared protection plan. After the filings, you can apply for the reimbursement of the official fees by using the online reimbursement forms, which you can find via your user account. Vouchers are valid for two months from the grant. If necessary, it is possible to request an additional two months via your user account and extend the voucher expiry date.
Do you want to increase the value of your brand in the long run?
Kaulo & Partners helps with planning of IP protection as a strategic asset and increasing the value of brands. IP investments perform best when the protection is planned from a business perspective and in the long run, not just as one-time filings.
Contact us!
Maria Puronvarsi, maria.puronvarsi@kaulopartners.fi, +358 40 669 0527
Jani Kaulo, jani.kaulo@kaulopatners.fi, +358 40 637 5442
Read more about other available public funding: