In a period of very evident economic crisis, when the Italian Government is putting in place measures to face the extraordinarily difficult situation affecting public finances, the Ministry for Economic Development has launched two important packages aimed at providing incentives for companies that intend to protect their goods using patents, industrial designs and utility models, in order to enhance the quality of Italian industrial output and strengthen innovation and competition on the national and international markets.
This is a summary of the initiatives, worth a total of about EUR 40 million:
- Grants to companies to foster national and international filing of patents, utility models and industrial designs. The grants range from EUR 1000 to EUR 1500 for each national filing. For filings abroad, grants may be as high as EUR 6000 depending on the number of filings and the countries in which the applications for extensions of IPRs are made. Additional bonuses will be available for certain countries (the US and China for designs, China, India, the US, Brazil and Russia for patents).
- Grants for acquisition of specialised services for working with patents in industry, their enhanced use on the market and generating profit from utility models and industrial designs. The grant covers 80% of eligible expenses with a ceiling of EUR 70,000 for patents and EUR 80,000 for models and designs, in either case subject to presentation of a draft project for evaluation by the granting authorities.
Both of the initiatives will be launched with the support of Invitalia and the Fondazione Valore Italia. The grants will be made on a first come, first served basis for as long as funds last. The aim is to make a total of 9000 grants available to companies for industrial IPRs. Beneficiaries may be micro, small and medium enterprises, including newcos, who must operate inside Italy. The scheme was announced in the Italian OG (Gazzetta Ufficiale, Serie Generale, No 179 of 3 August 2011).
The initiatives come as further confirmation of the huge importance of protection of industrial property as an aid to economic development.
Source: Rapisardi Intellectual Property
