The start of the new year brought a number of benefits for future patent and trade mark applicants, which will be explored in more detail in the next two instalments of this series. The new funding programme „Knowledge and Technology Transfer through Patents and Standards“, or WIPANO for short (insofar as it applies to SMEs), which has been in force since 1 January 2016, is presented here.
A significant deviation from the previous programme SIGNO concerns the maximum amount of funding, which has been significantly increased but, as before, is also subject to the availability of budget funds. A total of up to 16,575 euros can now be awarded for a basic application, which is more than double the amount of the previous programme. As before, this corresponds to 50 per cent of the eligible expenditure. The previous regulation, according to which no patent or utility model could be applied for five years before submitting the application, has been adopted identically and, as usual, the premature start of the measure is also penalised with the loss of the funding opportunity.
Five service packages for SMEs
Although the patent or utility model application, including preparatory work, represents the main part of the funding volume, one of the five service packages is again dedicated to the „utilisation“ of the property rights. This includes the preparation of a Realisation strategy, The examination of the various exploitation options such as out-licensing, sale, spin-off, preparation of an exposé and publication, identification and approach of potential exploiters, conclusion of non-disclosure agreements and preparation of an exploitation agreement, a marketing concept or standardisation advice. Financial support for trade fair participation or business initiation as well as for prototype construction or an accompanying trade mark or design application by the patent attorney for pro rata financing is still very popular.
Protection of the invention
The main part of the programme, however, is the protection of the invention. In its preparation, the Service packages 1 and 2 a preliminary assessment by a rough and detailed examination of the invention disclosure, which comprises an examination including a search for novelty, supplemented by an examination for Economic realisability and a Cost-benefit analysis. In addition, we provide personalised advice to inventors and also work to ensure that invention disclosures are correct and complete, as required by law. The topic Employee inventions will be the subject of a separate article in this series later this year.
With the Service package 3 The programme provides various forms of assistance in the run-up to and during the actual patent application. This begins with support in selecting and commissioning a patent attorney and in coordinating the property rights strategy between the grant recipient and the patent attorney. The „qualified service provider“ provided for service packages 1 to 3 and 5 also takes on some of the services that a patent department would perform in a larger company and supports the company boss in communicating with the patent attorney (for example, in recording and monitoring deadlines or forwarding official letters and examination reports from the patent attorney). This is an interesting aspect of the new programme, as small companies in particular often do not have sufficient capacity or expertise to adequately deal with the patent attorney's communications. Furthermore, the possible support within the scope of service package 3 includes Supportive accompaniment both the original Prio application and further applications in other countries based on it.
With the Service package 4 all patent attorney and official fees can be subsidised at half price, not only for the original application, but also for all subsequent applications derived from it, i.e. for the entire patent family, as it is called in technical jargon. This is also one of the key innovations.
Author: Hans-Peter Gottfried (Patent Attorney, Dresden)
