Financial incentives for small and medium-sized enterprises to register and, consequently, to protect their trademarks and industrial designs, are offered by the European Union for 2021, through the “Ideas Powered for Business SME Fund” program.
In total, the program will provide € 20 million in grants to small and medium-sized enterprises based in the EU to help them access and benefit from their intellectual property rights. Of course, the small and medium enterprises of Cyprus are also entitled to the program.
Interested companies, if eligible under the official EU definition of small and medium-sized enterprises, can submit their applications electronically to the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and, if approved, apply for registration of their trademarks and trade marks. 50% of the basic fee they paid for the registration application will be refunded. In Cyprus the refunds will be given by EUIPO for applications that will be registered in the Intellectual and Intellectual Property Division of the Registrar of Companies, Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry, which is one of the national and regional intellectual property offices of the EU. the basic application fee for a trademark is 141 euros and for an industrial design 136.69 euros. Maximum fee refund per business is 1,500 euros.
The time periods during which the project is open are:
11 January 2021 – 31 January 2021 1 March 2021 – 31 March 2021 1 May 2021 – 31 May 2021 1 July 2021 – 31 July 2021 1 September 2021 – 30 September 2021
According to the program regulations, applications submitted outside the five specified time periods will not be considered. A chronological order of priority will be observed for the grants.
You can find out about the required conditions, schedule and other information related to the program through the platform “Ideas Powered for Business”, at the online link https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/online-services/sme -fund. At the same link you will be informed about how to submit applications.
The Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry encourages companies to protect their intellectual property by strengthening their brand and industry plan to make their businesses more widely known and recognizable in the market. Intellectual property is becoming increasingly important in today's knowledge economy, as it is a key driver for innovation and economic growth.
For more information, interested companies can contact the responsible official of the Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry Mr. Pantelis Pantelis, at 22404357 and at the email address [email protected].
