The European Commission launched a revamped SME Fund to provide small and medium-sized enterprises with financial support for additional services to manage and protect their intellectual property rights. In 2023, the fund received 34,801 applications and 22,899 SMEs benefited from financial support to develop and become more attractive for investment. This represents a 55% increase on 2022.
In 2024, in addition to these services, the SME Fund will also partially reimburse the representation fees charged by legal professionals in relation to the preparation and filing of European patent applications, including unitary patents, as well as the costs of registering plant varieties. In addition, the SME Fund will also finance legal advice on enforcement to help SMEs better combat intellectual property infringements.
The SME Fund is a grant scheme designed to help SMEs protect their intellectual property rights, including patents, trademarks, industrial designs and new plant varieties, by providing financial support. The SME Fund can also finance an assessment of the intellectual property needs of SMEs, taking into account the innovation potential of their intangible assets (IP Scan).
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