Marchi+ 2023 Announcement: Office opening from 21 November
The Marchi+ 2023 call aims to support micro, small and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs) in the protection of brands abroad.
the facilitative measures are the following:
Measure A – Concessions to encourage the registration of European Union trademarks at EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) through the purchase of external specialist services;
Measure B – Facilities to encourage the registration of international trademarks at WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) through the purchase of external specialist services.
For both measures the relief concerns the expenses for the purchase of specialist services, eligible for contribution only if the services are provided by consultants registered with the Order of Industrial Property Consultants, by lawyers or by PAT LIB centres.
Companies that have their registered and operational headquarters in Italy and meet the following eligibility requirements can benefit from the benefits provided by this Notice:
MEASURE A
– Having filed, starting from 1 January 2020, the application for registration with EUIPO of the trademark covered by the benefit and having complied with the payment of the relevant filing fees;
as well as
– Having obtained registration, at EUIPO, of the European Union trademark which is the subject of the application for participation. This registration must have taken place prior to the submission of the application for participation;
MEASURE B
– Having carried out, starting from 1 January 2020, at least one of the following activities:
- Filing of the application for registration at WIPO of a trademark registered at national level at UIBM or of a European Union trademark registered at EUIPO and having complied with the payment of the relevant registration fees;
- Filing of the application for registration at WIPO of a trademark for which an application for registration has already been filed at UIBM or at EUIPO and having complied with the payment of the relevant registration fees;
- Filing of the application for subsequent designation of a registered trademark with WIPO and having complied with the payment of the relevant registration fees;
as well as
– Having obtained the publication of the application for registration on the WIPO international register (Madrid Monitor) of the trademark which is the subject of the application for participation. The publication of the application for trademark registration on the WIPO international register (Madrid Monitor) must have occurred prior to the submission of the application for participation.
Both measures qualify for the relief for expenses incurred for:
- the design of brand representation (excluding word marks);
- the official fees for trademark registration;
- deposit assistance;
- prior art searches;
- legal assistance for trademark protection actions in response to oppositions following the filing of the registration application.
All expenses, including filing fees, must have been incurred starting from 1 January 2020 and in any case before the submission of the benefit application.
Each company can submit, for both Measure A and Measure B, multiple requests for relief until the overall value of 25,000 euros is reached.
The resources available for the implementation of the measure amount to a total of 2 million euros.
Applications can be submitted starting from 09:30 on 21 November 2023 until resources are exhausted.
Further information:
Directorial decree 16 June 2023 (published in the Official Journal of 13 July 2023)