Trademark for SMEs – protect your rights and save up to EUR 1.500
If you are considering registering a trademark or design, now is the right time to do so, thanks to intellectual property funds. The European Union Intellectual Property Office has opened a funding scheme for small and medium-sized enterprises that meet official EU criteria (number of employees up to 250, annual turnover up to EUR 50 million). The grant scheme works on the principle of reimbursement of the costs actually incurred and the maximum grant amount per applicant is limited up to EUR 1 500. Reimbursement relates only to eligible costs, which are, in the sense of the grant, official fees – it does not cover other submission-related expenses that are not official fees.
According to the published funding rules, voucher holders receive a reimbursement up to 75% of real costs in relation to national and EU trademarks and designs.
Reimbursement of up to 50% of eligible costs can be obtained for international trademarks and international designs.
Vouchers are not refundable and financial compensation only applies to applications or other actions performed after the grant decision has been received; however, the time frame of the decision is relatively efficient and usually does not exceed 14 days – thus does not bring any significant delay to the process of submitting a new application.
For example, the amount of the official fee for filing a European trademark application in the range of 3 classes of goods and services is currently EUR 1,050. When applying for the grant, the applicant will get back 75% of the official fee, ie. 787.50 EUR and ultimately the official fee is 262.50 EUR.
Due to the illustrated high percentage of reimbursements, we consider the possibility of applying for a grant as a financially advantageous solution if your company is considering submitting a new trademark or design application. The award of grants is based on the first-come, first-served principle and EUR 16 million has been allocated for this grant period, which began on 10 January 2022 – it is therefore advisable to apply for a grant as soon as the funds are spent.
More information is also available at inventa, the oldest specialized patent and trademark office in Slovakia, is at your disposal for possible consultations and is ready to provide you with services in case of interest in submitting any application as well as a grant application.
Author: Radovan Čechvala, Inventa