SME Fund for the pro­tec­tion of intel­lec­tu­al property

The SME Fund is a grant scheme designed to help EU-based small and medi­um-sized enter­prises (SMEs) pro­tect their intel­lec­tu­al prop­erty (IP) rights. The SME Fund is a European Com­mis­sion ini­ti­at­ive imple­men­ted by the European Uni­on Intel­lec­tu­al Prop­erty Office (EUIPO) and will run from 2 Feb­ru­ary 2026 to 4 Decem­ber 2026.

The SME Fund offers fin­an­cial sup­port to small and medi­um-sized enter­prises (SMEs) estab­lished in the European Uni­on and Ukraine. The applic­a­tion can be sub­mit­ted by a busi­ness own­er, employ­ee or an author­ised extern­al rep­res­ent­at­ive act­ing on their behalf. Grants are awar­ded in the form of vouch­ers that the bene­fi­ciary can use to claim a reim­burse­ment. Reim­burse­ment is always trans­ferred dir­ectly to the SME’s bank account.

The SME Fund offers dif­fer­ent vouch­ers that can be used to claim reim­burse­ment for vari­ous IP-related activ­it­ies. These include applic­a­tions for 

• trade marks
• designs
• pat­ents
• plant vari­et­ies
• and IP Scan services

You could save as much as 75% on IP right applic­a­tions and 90% on an IP Scan, depend­ing on your coun­try or region.