“Patents + 2021” announcement: incentives to businesses for the economic exploitation of patents

“Patents + 2021” is a measure that falls within the “Strategic lines of action on industrial property for the three-year period 2021-2023“, defined with the italian Ministerial Decree of 23 June 2021 and which is financed by the Italian Ministry of economic development with 23 million euros, thanks to the funds allocated by National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) of Italy.

This is an announcement for applications aimed at micro enterprises and SMEs, with the aim of helping them to enhance and economically exploit the patents granted – or patent applications pending – on national and international markets, thus improving their competitive strength.

The non-repayable grant is aimed at the purchase of specialized external services, useful for the economic enhancement of the patent/s for industrial invention in terms of profitability, productivity and market development.

Let’s see together the details of the call, who are the beneficiaries and how to submit the application.

The Coscia Law Firm can help you verify the requirements for participation and prepare all the necessary documentation. You can contact us without obligation for an initial interview by calling (+39) 0683521985 and (+39) 371145312, or by writing an e-mail to info@studiolegalecoscia.it.

Patents + 2021: what is it about?

The “Patent + 2021” announcement is promoted by the UIBM (Italian Patent and Trademark Office) of the MISE and managed by Invitalia.

It is a measure that provides for the granting of non-repayable incentives to companies, intended to purchase specialized services, necessary to enhance and economically exploit patents on the national and/or international market.

These services must concern:

1. Design, engineering and industrialization. Particularly:
   1. The feasibility study (technical specifications with related documents, identification of materials, definition of the production cycle, product layout);
   1. production planning;
   1. prototype study, design and engineering;
   1. firmware development for numerical control machines;
   1. software design and development, only if related to the procedure covered by the patent application or patent;
   1. production test;
   1. issue of product or process certifications strictly connected to the patent applied for.
2. Organization and development:
   1. organizational planning services;
   1. organization of production processes;
   1. IT Governance services;
   1. analysis for the qualitative and quantitative definition of the new geographic and sectorial markets;
   1. definition of the communication strategy, promotion and supervision of the distribution channels.
3. Technology transfer:
   1. preparation of confidentiality agreements;
   1. preparation of patent licensing agreements;
   1. costs of collaboration contracts between SMEs and research institutes universities (sponsored research agreements).

At the time of submitting the application, the companies concerned must attach the estimates of the companies or professionals they trust, who will provide the services indicated above.

For the purposes of the admissibility of the enhancement project:

• it cannot be based on a single service;
• there must be at least one service in Macroarea A;
• the amounts requested for the services relating to Macroareas B and C, as a whole, cannot exceed 40% of the total amount of the requested plan.

Who are the recipients?

The concessions are aimed at micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, registered in the italian Business Register, with registered and operational headquarters in Italy, which possess at least one of the following requirements:

• holders or licensees of a patent for industrial invention granted in Italy after 1 January 2017;
• holders of a italian patent application for industrial invention, filed after 1 January 2017, with a search report with a “non-negative” outcome;
• holders of a European patent application or an international patent application, filed after 1 January 2017, with a search report with a “non-negative” outcome, which claims the priority of a previous national patent application.

Furthermore, they must be in full and free exercise of their civil rights, not be in voluntary liquidation or subject to bankruptcy proceedings.

How are the incentives paid out?

The incentives – granted under the de minimis regime – are disbursed in the form of a non-repayable capital contribution, up to a maximum of € 140,000.00, which cannot exceed 80% of the eligible costs.

A share equal to 5% (five) of the available financial resources is intended for subsidies in favor of companies which, at the time of submitting the application, are in possession of the legality rating.

If the application is accepted, Invitalia will decide at its discretion the amount granted for each of the individual services that will be provided, also communicating the total amount of the concessions granted.

How is the application presented?

Interested companies can submit the application form starting from 12:00 on 28 September 2021, exclusively online, on the special web page prepared by Invitalia), which contains all the instructions to follow (click here to access).

There is no deadline, but it is possible to participate until all available resources are exhausted.

Our advice, therefore, is to verify the possession of the required requisites and prepare all the necessary documentation weeks in advance, in order to be able to send the request quickly as early as September 28, 2021, as the previous “Patents +” call was suspended after only 5 hours from the start, due to exhaustion of available resources.

To be sure to carefully analyze all the details, without neglecting anything and without making mistakes that could compromise the success of the application, we advise you to rely on experts in the sector and not to proceed in complete autonomy.

We at Coscia Law Firm, for years, have been supporting startups and SMEs in their path of growth and affirmation in the market, and we can help you in the presentation of the application.

Contact us without obligation for a first interview: tel: (+39) 0683521985 or (+39) 3711453121; e-mail: info@studiolegalecoscia.it.

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