SME Fund – also in 2023

On December 5, 2022, information was published on the website www.euipo.europa.eu that in 2023 it will be possible to obtain grant for the registration of a trademark in the European Union through the SME Fund operating at the European Union Office for Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). he Fund will be in operation from January 23, 2023 to December 15, 2023, so you will soon be able to start the procedure related to funding. If you are an SME and would like to protect your trademark – please contact us – we will be happy to help.

Interestingly, the above the grant was also active in 2022 and is very popular among entrepreneurs, so we encourage you to take an interest in this topic.

Why protect intellectual property?

In the digital age, protecting intellectual property is essential. It is the only legal way to prevent unique ideas, products or services from being copied or used without permission. Intellectual property protection can include, among other things, trademarks, which are covered by the grant programme.

Registration costs and amount of grant

The standard costs for the registration of 1 trademark are as follows:

– the basic fee for one class is EUR 850,

– the fee for the next, second class of goods and services is an additional 50 EUR,

– the fee for the next, third and each additional class is an additional 150 EUR for each class from the third class upwards.

In previous years, the amount of co-financing was 75% of the fee paid to EUIPO for submitting a trademark to the register, so it is likely that it will be similar in 2023 as well.

Procedure

In order to obtain funding, all the steps set out by EUIPO must be followed correctly, which consist of:

– submitting an application for grant

– filing a trademark registration application following a grant decision

– applying to the relevant authority for reimbursement of registration costs incurred

Importantly, the entire refund process is relatively quick. The proceedings from the moment of filing the application for grant to the actual reimbursement of the incurred costs often take about 2 months in practice, which means that the grant funding reaches the programme beneficiary very quickly.