Last year, the European Commission and the European Trademark Office (EUIPO) introduced the IP voucher. This allowed SMEs to recover part of the basic registration cost of their trademarks and designs. This year, the Commission and the EUIPO are bringing back the IP voucher, this time with a broader scope, a larger refund and with a faster application process. This is therefore the perfect opportunity to protect your company’s intangible assets as well as possible!
Who can apply for an IP voucher?
The IP voucher is only available to small and medium-sized enterprises with a VAT number. In short, the IP voucher can only be claimed if the company:
- Has fewer than 250 employees and
- Has an annual turnover of up to €50 million or has a balance sheet total of up to €43 million.
The company must have met these conditions cumulatively in at least one of the past two financial years. Anyone who exceeds at least one of these conditions in two consecutive financial years loses their status as an SME.
Natural persons without a VAT number cannot therefore rely on this IP voucher. This is important to keep in mind when drawing up the brand strategy of your own company.
As was the case last year, IFORI can submit the application for an IP voucher on behalf of your company as a trademark attorney. We do not charge extra for this. We are happy to take care of all the administrative work. This way you only gain and it doesn’t cost you anything extra!
Extension of reimbursement of trademarks and designs
From 2022, not only the basic registration fees (i.e. application + 1 class) will be eligible for reimbursement, but in principle ALL official fees for the application. This is a big improvement compared to last year. After all, the costs for extra classes can start to weigh on larger applications.
As a reminder, IFORI stands for an open and correct pricing policy and is the only one in the market that has never charged extra fees for deposits in more than 1 or 3 classes and never will, not even now.
In addition, the EUIPO is also extending the IP voucher to patent applications. The voucher can therefore currently be used for trademarks, designs and patents.
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Increase in reimbursement percentage
The rates of fees eligible for reimbursement have also been increased:
- Fees for trademark and design applications: 50% to 75%
- IP pre-diagnostic services (IP Scan): 75% to 90%
- Patent application fees: 0% to 50%
However, the maximum reimbursement is limited to €1,500 for trademarks and designs, as well as the IP Scan. However, this amount was almost never achieved in practice. For example, one would have to have filed 4 EU trademarks at the same time to reach this amount. Now it is much more realistic to reach this maximum amount.
For patents , however, the reimbursement is limited to €750.
These services can also be combined. The maximum reimbursement via an IP voucher for both patent-related and other activities is therefore €2,250.
When to apply?
If you remember our blog about the IP voucher 1.0, you probably also remember that the IP voucher could only be applied for in certain months of the year. This rigid system has now been disposed of in favour of a more flexible system.
This year, SMEs can apply for an IP voucher continuously from 10 January 2022 to 16 December 2022. This regulation conforms to the timing of the SMEs themselves, rather than forcing SMEs to align their timing with that of the EUIPO.
When granted?
Last year, people had to wait until the end of the month before the application period was closed. At that time, the IP voucher was awarded halfway through the following month at the earliest.
This year, the EUIPO will collect all applications from the past week on Fridays every week . He promises to process them within 10 working days. Whereas in 2021 people had to wait an average of one month for an answer, in 2022 they will only have to be patient for two weeks.
Another improvement compared to last year is that you now have to request the IP services within 4 months , instead of within 30 days. (This can even be extended by two months if you apply for the extension one month in advance.)
IP Scan?
The IP scan refers to the pre-diagnostic services offered by a national IP office. To be eligible for this, the SME must be located in the territory of that agency. However, only a dozen agencies offer an IP Scan that is eligible for reimbursement via the IP voucher. The BOIP does not currently offer an IP Scan .
Steps
- We apply for an IP voucher from the EUIPO on behalf of your company. This must be done before we apply for your trademark, design or patent. Please note that we will need the following documents and information for this:
- a signed declaration on honour (we will provide you with the document to be signed pre-filled);
- a bank statement showing the name of the company as account holder, the IBAN number, with country code and BIC/SWIFT code ;
- confirming whether your company is a medium-sized, small or micro-enterprise.
Feel free to contact us for more information.
As soon as we have received all the documents, we will proceed to apply for the IP voucher
- The cut-off point for an application is always on the Friday of that week. Within two weeks of the application, we receive a response from the EUIPO via a signed award decision.
- Within four months of receiving the granting decision, we must apply for your trademark, design and/or patent at the BOIP/EUIPO and/or patent office. You pay the normal cost that applies to the application. The repayment is made in a final phase.
- After the application is completed, we will submit the IP Voucher via a refund request.
- After approval of the submitted information and documentation, you will receive the amount transferred to your company’s bank account within one month. (This is the same bank account as the bank account you are providing a statement of.)
Do you have a name or logo that is not yet protected as a trademark or an invention that you want to patent? Then don’t hesitate any longer, this is the ideal time to start protecting your intangible assets.
Do not hesitate to contact us for a no-obligation introductory meeting or to request an IP voucher!
