Open: SME Fund 2024 to Protect Intangible Assets of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

The European Commission has launched an enhanced SME Fund to offer financial assistance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in managing and safeguarding their intellectual property rights. Following its success in 2023, with 34,801 applications received and 22,899 SMEs financially supported, the Fund is expanding its support.

The SME Fund is a grant programme aimed at assisting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to help SMEs protect their intellectual property rights, including patents, trademarks, industrial designs and new plant varieties, by offering financial support. It also funds an extensive IP needs assessment (IP Scan) for SMEs, focusing on the innovative potential of their intangible assets.

In 2024, the Fund will expand its services to partially cover the costs charged by legal professionals for preparing and filing European patent applications, including unitary patents and plant variety registrations, and will provide financing for legal advice on enforcement to help SMEs combat IP infringements as part of the EU Toolbox against counterfeiting.

Notably, for 78% of the companies supported by the SME Fund in 2023, it was their first time protecting their IP, highlighting the value of intangible assets in increasing a company’s attractiveness to investors.

Info Webinar on 6 February: beda.org/event/20240206-sme-fund-2024-live-webinar/

More Information: single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/[…]4-01-22_en