Professional advice, extensive experience – Grants

Funding mainly covers the costs of filing and registering rights: trademarks, industrial designs, patents for inventions and new plant varieties. The flagship SME Fund reimburses, among other things, 75% of trademark and design fees and up to EUR 3,500 for patents, and also covers a preliminary IP diagnostic service (IP Scan). You can also fund an upfront prior art search or the costs of preparing a patent application for the European Patent Office (EPO). National programs such as the SMART Path (Ścieżka SMART) finance IP protection as part of a larger innovation project.

You do not need a granted patent – these programs exist precisely to fund the process of obtaining one. In practice the order is reversed: you first apply for funding and receive a voucher, and only then file the application and pay the costs that will be reimbursed. That is why it pays to apply for the grant before you incur any official fees. Bear in mind that the budget is often limited and awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, so do not put off your application.

A patent attorney does not sit on the evaluation panel, but their work provides the substance the evaluators assess. A professional prior art search, a patentability opinion and a properly defined scope of protection lend credibility to the project's innovation – and that is often scored, especially in national programs. A patent attorney also keeps the filing formally correct, which translates into cost eligibility and smooth reimbursement. In short, a well-prepared application simply comes across as more credible.

A prior art search is a systematic review of patent publications and other sources to establish what has already been disclosed in a given field. It helps assess whether the planned implementation of your project would infringe third-party rights.

Under the SME Fund, reimbursement covers the cost of the filing itself, not the outcome in the form of a granted patent. If you paid for the filing and received the refund, a later refusal by the office does not normally oblige you to give the money back. National programs can work differently: there, settlement may be tied to delivery of the whole project. So before you start, check the rules of the specific program and prepare the application well to minimize the risk of refusal.

The SME Fund reimburses filings not only in Poland but also abroad. For trademarks and designs, it covers 75% of fees at other EU national offices and at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), plus 50% of fees for the international route (WIPO). For patents, it reimburses national filings within the EU and the European patent procedure before the European Patent Office (EPO) – up to EUR 3,500 in total. Broader international expansion, including beyond the EU, can in turn be financed under national programs such as the SMART Path (Ścieżka SMART).

The SME Fund does not cover this – it funds obtaining protection, not disputes or court proceedings. There is one exception: the national SMART Path (Ścieżka SMART) can co-fund up to 50% of the costs of protecting and defending industrial property rights, including action against infringers, as long as this is part of a larger innovation project. It is worth keeping two things separate: registering a right and later enforcing it. Enforcement costs usually call for sources other than the popular filing vouchers.

Most programs are aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Under the EU definition, these are companies with fewer than 250 employees and either an annual turnover of no more than EUR 50 million or a balance sheet total of no more than EUR 43 million. The SME Fund is open to businesses established in the European Union – and, in the 2026 edition, also in Ukraine. Company size is counted together with linked and partner enterprises, so it is worth verifying your SME status before applying.

It depends on the type of voucher. Under the SME Fund, reimbursement for trademarks and designs covers official fees only – you pay your representative's fee yourself. Patents are different: the patent voucher also reimburses 50% of the legal costs of preparing and filing an application with the European Patent Office (EPO). In national programs, the catalog of eligible costs is often broader and may include advisory services. Before commissioning any work, it is worth establishing which expenses your program will reimburse.

A grant lowers the cost of protection, but it is no substitute for a business strategy. Practitioners advise validating your product with real customers first and reaching for funding as cost support, not as the foundation of the company's existence – projects that live on grants alone often lose momentum once the money runs out. Grants pay off most where protection is expensive and critical: in deeptech, hardware and biotech. Treat them as leverage for a well-thought-out protection strategy, not as an end in themselves.