At the beginning of the year, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (“EUIPO“) introduced a new Grant Fund for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), through which they can obtain a grant to cover costs related to the filing of a trademark application (or industrial design) of up to 1,500 EUR. The next application period for the grants starts on May 1, 2021.
General Information
The grant can be used:
- for applying for a national or European trademark or industrial design and the associated administrative fee,
- for the so-called preliminary diagnostic services in the field of intellectual property (such as pre-trademark research).
Applicants may be awarded a grant of up to EUR 1,500 from the Fund.
The cost of the above services is not covered by EUIPO in full. 50% of the basic administrative fee can be obtained for applying for a national or European trademark or industrial design. If the applicant decides to use the preliminary diagnostic services, the Fund will reimbursee up to 75% of the payment for the research services of the Industrial Property Office or EUIPO.
Who is an eligible applicant?
The eligible applicant is an SME within the meaning of the applicable rules and the European Commission’s User Guide to the SME definition.
The application for the grant, must also include the prescribed documentation. If you are not sure whether your application is complete, we recommend filling in the Checklist for Applicants available on the website of the Grant programme (at the bottom of the page).
The process of submitting an application and awarding of the grant
The grant can be applied for from 1 May 2021, when the next application period starts, by filling in the electronic form available here: https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/grants-sme-fund#timeline.
The chances of obtaining the grant from the Fund are very high for any eligible applicant as the grant will be awarded to anyone who meets the conditions until the allocated funds are used up.
The chance of obtaining the grant will be increased if the application is submitted at the beginning of one of the following application periods:
- May 1 – May 30, 2021
- July 1 – July 31, 2021
- September 1 – 30. September 2021
Applications submitted outside the specified periods will not be considered.
The decision to award the grant shall be adopted by EUIPO in the month in which the applications are not accepted. Another grant application period will start soon. If you are going to apply for the grant , we recommend submission of the application as soon as possible after the start of the current period to maximize your chances of receiving it.
A grant under the Fund can be applied for only once. If you decide to apply within the Fund system, the following procedure is envisaged:
- applying for the grant;
- applying for a national or European trademark or industrial design or using pre-diagnostic services in the field of intellectual property (if you are interested in assistance with the registration of a trademark or industrial design, we are at your full disposal);
- payment of fees associated with the above acts;
- submitting a request for (partial) reimbursement of these fees through an electronic form;
- payment of the grant to the specified account within one month.
Conclusion
The European Union, through EUIPO and its Fund, seeks greater coherence between national and European industrial property offices. The establishment of the Fund and the possibility of a provision of the grant will strengthen the protection of individual entities operating in the field of intellectual property not only on a national but also European level.
If you are interested in legal assistance with filing out the application for the grant or processing and submitting a trademark application, do not hesitate to contact us.
JUDr. Tadeáš Petr, partner – petr@plegal.cz
Eliška Vetýšková, legal assistant – vetyskova@plegal.cz
26. 04. 2021