After the success of the SME Fund in 2023, which received over 35,000 applications, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) is bringing it back for 2024 together with the European Commission! The SME Fund is a EC initiative, administered by the EUIPO, with the aim of helping SMEs based in the European Union to protect their intellectual property rights by offering them partial reimbursement on their industrial property fees. Fill out your application here! The deadline is December 6 2024.
In order to present this new edition of the SME Fund, EUIPO is holding a webinar titled “Power Your Business”, which is tailored for SMEs on February 6th, registration is open. Throughout this webinar, participants will learn of the benefits of the SME Fund for their small or medium-sized business; learn about the support available for safeguarding intellectual property rights (IPRs) through vouchers; discover how to apply and claim partial reimbursement for trade marks, designs, patents, and plant varieties, as well as for the IP Scan and IP Scan Enforcement tools that EUIPO provides.
Since SMEs account for 99% of businesses and are responsible for about three-quarters of employment in the EU, it is essential that they protect their intangible assets with a flexible intellectual property toolbox in order to attract investment and scale up. which has been benefitting SMEs since 2021
EUIPO SME Fund is back!
