The Ideas Powered for Business SME Fund is a European Commission initiative implemented by the EUIPO and national IP Offices to financially support European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The Intellectual Property Office of Ireland (IPOI) now offers Irish SMEs the possibility of obtaining 75% off the cost of an IP pre-diagnostic service (IP scan). The pre-diagnostic service or IP scan is aimed at providing a practical, objective and factual analysis of an SMEs business model and to identify the intellectual assets held and the possible IP protection options for those assets. Irish SME’s can receive 50% off the basic application fees of national, regional and EU trade marks and designs. Each SME can be reimbursed up to a maximum of €1,500. Further information is available from the EUIPO. Enquiries to the IPOI can be made to: SMEFund@IPOI.gov.ie IP4SME Where the EUIPO SME Fund IP pre-diagnostic report makes a recommendation that an SME has intangible assets which may have the potential to be developed into an application for a European patent, the company may be able to apply for and potentially receive reimbursement of costs associated with obtaining a European patent under the IPA4SME programme, viz: •Receive 50% of the Patent Attorney fees related to a European Patent application, up to €2,000 per application process. •Receive 75% of the cost of a European Patent Application, up to €2,500 per patent application. To be considered eligible to apply for such reimbursement, an SME should obtain a certificate from their IP pre-diagnostic service provider that their innovation(s) may potentially be protected by a patent. Additional information on how to apply is available at: https://www.ipa4sme.eu/guidelines |