SME Fund: how the EU helps enterprises defend their intellectual property
The Ideas Powered for business SME Fund is a grant scheme designed to help EU small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) protect their intellectual property (IP) rights. Let’s discover in detail how it works and who can apply.
Protecting the intellectual property in the digital age has become a necessity and a must. It is a legal way to avoid having unique ideas, products, or services copied or used without permission. That’s why the European Commission, via its Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has established the SME Fund initiative, in order to help European enterprises protect their IP rights, covering different assets including trademarks, designs, patents and plant varieties.
How the SME Fund works?
The SME Fund is a reimbursement programme which issues vouchers that can be used to partly cover the fees paid by the enterprises. There are several types of vouchers available depending on the