for Small Businesses
Find support from EU IP Offices, international partners and stakeholders of the European Union Intellectual Property Network (EUIPN)
Understand and protect your IP assets - such as trade marks and designs!
IP support services
The SME fund is an EU Commission initiative run by the EUIPO. It offers financial support to help you protect your intellectual property – including trade marks, designs, patents and plant varieties.
Expand your knowledge with training courses, learn how to protect, defend and monetise your intellectual property rights.
Support your IP research with reliable and up-to-date information and learn how to enforce your IP rights.
Get personalised intellectual property (IP) advice free of charge. The pro bono support experts will help with your IP rights protection for an average of one to four hours.
Get Inspired
´Great initiative for start-ups and new companies.´
“Participating in the Pro bono support initiative has been a truly rewarding experience for BBP Legal, giving us the opportunity to use our expertise ...
“The Pro bono support initiative has allowed our firm to provide meaningful assistance to SMEs that lack the resources for IP protection. Our collabor...
‘Applying for a trade mark was super important for us, now that we are expanding to other EU countries, it was crucial to protect our identity and bra...
‘For more than 50 years, we have been in the plastics processing business, producing polypropylene pipes and fittings and polyethylene drip irrigation...
'The SME fund was very helpful, supportive, and easy to apply for; it was a short and straightforward process.'
´Extremely super service, you rarely see that small companies are so actively helped.´
´The SME Fund was very useful for my business. I used it for the IP Scan which is a great first step to creating an intellectual property strategy.´
'Through the SME Fund, we have been able to double the budget allocated to intangible protection, which will strategically improve the company's posit...
´When I searched in EUIPO's website to apply for the European Trade Mark registration, I found about the SME Fund and it was very easy. I think having...
"We are an international intellectual property tech-law firm founded in 2005, and we support companies, in particular SMEs, in successfully operating ...
'We discovered the SME Fund thanks to our trade mark attorney. Protecting our brand Sundayflies in the EU, USA, and UK was a big financial commitment ...
“The SME Fund helped us secure our European trademark quickly and efficiently. As an agri-biotech SME developing microbiome-based technologies, we fou...
'The SME Fund initiative has allowed us to finance our trade mark registration in Europe and part of the costs of the feasibility analysis of our pate...
'The SME Fund is a great initiative, helpful for small companies and easy to apply for. For cosmetic companies is very important to register the trade...
'The SME Fund is a great initiative. Applying was straight forward and the support team was very helpful. An altogether positive experience. Highly re...
'As an active player in the IP field, I appreciate the immense importance of IP. However, the cost burden of protecting IP forced me to postpone essen...
'Our experience with SME Fund was great. We successfully applied and got the funding for the design fee and the IP-Scan.'
‘VentilAQUA's innovation strategy is based on the protection of its intellectual property, be it trade marks, designs or patents.The SME Fund has prov...
'With the support of the SME Fund, we managed to register the ZiPa trade mark and design. There is a common perception that trade mark registration is...
'Not expensive, nor complicated! The assessment of intellectual property (IP Scan) and the development of a strategy cost me €70. The remaining amount...
“Taking part in the Pro Bono Support service has been an incredibly positive experience. I have provided assistance to numerous micro-companies from R...
“This initiative has been empowering, connecting legal professionals like us with SMEs and fostering a collaborative environment. It has provided valu...
'Intellectual property is a valuable asset in each and every organisation, it brings sense of existence as well as strategic tool for globalising the ...
'The SME Fund is a great help for start-ups. It provides vouchers for discount and facilitates the IP registration process in the most user-friendly w...
´With the support of the SME Fund, I have set a foundation to promote SAVEE and I will have three Austrian and European trade marks and designs. It´s ...