Ukrainian businesses file 50 applications for SME intellectual property financing
MOSCOW. Oct 25 (Interfax) - Ukraine has joined the SME Fund, the European Union's regional program assisting small and medium-sized business in the field of intellectual property, which provides 4-million-euro funding within four years, and 50 Ukrainian entrepreneurs have filed their applications.
"Today, any small or medium-sized entrepreneur can take advantage of the opportunities of the SME Fund. We plan to provide greater support to Ukrainian businesses when they need to protect their IP rights in Ukraine, the EU and global markets," Ukrainian media quoted European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) Executive Director Joao Negrao as saying during his visit to Kiev on October 23-24.
The program aims to support Ukraine's reconciliation with the EU regulations on intellectual property rights, he said.
"We will have several initiatives in this area to bring Ukrainian legislation and practices closer to the European ones," Negrao said.
According to a press release of the Ukrainian National Office for Intellectual Property and Innovations (IP Office), the program envisages training, coaching seminars and grants.
The program will facilitate Ukrainian business' access to intellectual property rights in Europe, the access will be easier, cheaper and more reliable from a legal point of view, Negrao said.
"Today our legal services are not included in this fund, but the possibility of adding reimbursement of legal expenses to the fund will appear in 2025. We will work out how to do this together with Ukraine," he said.
As for accepting applications from small and medium-sized companies, Negrao said that businessmen could contact the EUIPO either directly or via the Ukrainian agency.
"We receive an application, assess its compliance with the criteria, and approve financing or reimbursement afterwards," Negrao said.
"Today, the tasks of the government and the government's Intellectual Property Council include the elaboration of ways of counting intangible assets in Ukraine's GDP. We are developing appropriate models to increase the protection of national IP and help the national innovators, start-upers and creators protect their rights here, register here - so that when entering the same European markets, we can show our Ukrainian identification and receive income here for our intellectual property," IP Office Director Yelena Orlyuk said.