HomeFunding2021 SME Fund: Final application window confirmed for October! (Sponsored)

2021 SME Fund: Final application window confirmed for October! (Sponsored)

The Ideas Powered for Business SME Fund, a €20 million grant scheme to support businesses that wish to develop their IP strategies and protect their IP rights, was set up by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the European Commission, in collaboration with the Member States’ national intellectual property offices. The SME Fund aims to help EU-based SMEs benefit from registering, protecting and exploiting their creativity and innovations.

The sixth, and final, application window for the SME Fund in 2021 will be open from 1 October until 31 October. Apply now and help your business get off to a great start! Successful applicants can be reimbursed for:

  • 50% of the cost of basic application fees for trade marks and designs at national, regional and EU level
  • 75% of the cost of IP pre-diagnostic services (IP Scan) to help develop an IP strategy.

Since its launch in January 2021 over 10,000 requests by SMEs in 21 EU Member States have been made to the Ideas Powered for Business SME Fund.

It has been agreed to open an additional window for applications in October 2021 following the success of the EU’s contribution agreement supporting businesses wishing to develop their IP strategy and protect their IP rights.

This is great news for Europe’s 25 million small and medium-sized businesses who continue to struggle of the COVID-19 pandemic in the most severe global recession known to recent times. As Europe’s economic situation slowly improves, additional support for a large number of SMEs is still very much required.

While SMEs bring solutions to our most immediate global challenges it is the combination of such innovation with IP rights ownership that helps protect them from copycats, increases their profitability and improves their reputation. Revenue per employee is shown to be roughly 68% higher for SMEs that own IP rights than for those that do not.

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Thomas Ohr
Thomas Ohr
Thomas Ohr is the "Editor in Chief" of EU-Startups.com and started the blog in October 2010. He is excited about Europe's future, passionate about new business ideas and lives in Barcelona (Spain).
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