Launch of the
new SME Fund 2022
The SME Fund, a European Commission
initiative implemented by the European Union Intellectual Property
Office (EUIPO) has been launched once again this year and will run
from 10 January 2022 to 16 December 2022.
The SME Fund offers financial support to SMEs established in the European Union. The application can be filed by
an owner, an employee or an authorised representative of an EU SME acting on
its behalf.
The new funding scheme is simpler
and more flexible to the evolving IP needs of SMEs in the context of COVID19. In
this regard, the Commerce Department is collaborating with the EUIPO to offer
financial support/grants to those SMEs by providing 75% reimbursement of trade
mark and design fees at EU and national level and 50% reimbursement of patent
fees at national level. Hence, for the first time the new EU SME Fund is also
covering patents. The grants consist of a partial reimbursement of costs to the
beneficiary, up to a maximum of €1,500 per beneficiary in the case of trade
marks and designs, and up to a maximum of €750 in the case of patents.
Applicants
can apply at any point in time from 10 January 2022 to
16 December 2022 (no windows). Within
15 working days of submitting the application, the SME will receive by email:
the grant award, or a clarification request, or a rejection. In case of
applying through a representative, all communications will be addressed both to
representative and SME.
Vouchers
are not retroactive, costs for activities executed before getting the voucher
cannot be reimbursed, hence SMEs must initiate their IP activities after
having received a grant award. Once the SME has paid for its first activity, it
can request the first reimbursement to activate its voucher. The voucher
expires within four (4) months but can be extended for an additional two (2)
months, if required.
Applicants will need to click on https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/online-services/sme-fund
and proceed with filling the relative application form. After receiving the voucher,
the SME can apply for their trademark and/or design and/or patent on https://ips.gov.mt/ or for an EU application on https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/apply-now
and thereafter, for the reimbursement with the EUIPO.
More details can be found at: https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/online-services/sme-fund
ABOUT THE SME FUND
In 2021, the Commission together
with EUIPO launched a first EU SME Fund offering services to reimburse the
costs of IP Scan and national trade mark and design registration costs. A total
of €6.8 million of the budget has been used by 12,989 SMEs
from all 27 Member States.
