In the development of any business, today it is essential to have an adequate protection strategy for its intangibles incorporated into the strategic plan of any company. This facilitates not only protection in the market against possible copying attempts by third parties, but also access to financing by investment funds that may be interested in investing in a certain project.
Intangibles are protected through the various existing Industrial Property protection modalities, depending on the nature of the intangible that is desired to be protected.
In the case of technology, these intangibles are frequently protected through the legal figures of the Invention Patent and the Utility Model (in those jurisdictions in which the latter exists).
For any company that is considering a growth strategy and possible international expansion, protection by Patent or Utility Model of its technology is crucial, and access to this protection in the different territories requires a significant outlay in official fees before the different organizations. responsible for managing the processing and granting of the corresponding titles.
To facilitate access to protection through Patents and Utility Models for companies and promote the positioning of the Spanish Industry in the different markets, once again this year, the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM) has called your grant program to facilitate access to the protection of technological developments, both in Spanish territory and in other countries.
In the case of Spain, a subsidy program is offered for SMEs and individuals of up to 90% of the official fees paid to the SPTO for Patent or Utility Model applications that appear published in the Official Bulletin of Industrial Property ( BOPI) in any of the years 2020, 2021 and 2022.
In the case of protection outside Spain, subsidies of up to 80% (up to 90% in the case of SMEs and individuals) of the fees paid in 2022 for European Patent applications, or for international patent applications, are offered. (PCT applications), or by direct patent (or utility model) applications in other countries before the corresponding national patent offices.
The deadline to apply for these grants ends next May 25th 2023.
The request can be made through the OEPM electronic office (https://sede.oepm.gob.es/).
We thank the OEPM for inviting applications, once again, for its subsidy program, and we wish great success to all patent and utility model holders who wish to participate.
Bosco de la Vega, Patent Area Associate
