The European Union Intellectual Property Office is opening applications for the SME Grant Programme on 24 April 2023. This was announced during a meeting between the Deputy Minister of Economy and Industry Irina Shtonova and the Deputy Executive Director of the EU Intellectual Property Office Andrea Di Carlo. The Patent Office of the Republic of Bulgaria is one of the top ten national offices in the EU in terms of the number of pre-diagnosis applications filed and the number of trademark and industrial design applications filed.
‘Businesses need to understand the benefits of patenting and how important it is for their brands and products to be protected,’ Deputy Minister Shtonova said. For his part, Andrea Di Carlo commented that ‘the patent ensures greater competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises, including internationally’. He pledged that the EU Intellectual Property Office will continue to provide methodological assistance to Bulgarian institutions and businesses in this area.
The meeting was attended by Giuseppina Zarra, Ambassador of the Italian Republic in Bulgaria and prof. Vladia Borisova, President of the Patent Office of the Republic of Bulgaria.
More information on the European Union Intellectual Property Office’s SME Grant Programme can be found here: https://www.bpo.bg/bg/malki-i-sredni-predpriyatiya/informatsiya-otnosno-fond-za-msp