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SME Fund 2026: EU funding program for small and medium-sized enterprises relaunched

Individual IP scans, registration of patents, trademarks, designs, and varieties, as well as state-of-the-art searches: Small and medium-sized enterprises receive EU funding to protect their intellectual property – According to the SME Barometer, only 10 percent of small businesses have property rights – DPMA President: Only those who protect intellectual property can exploit its full economic potential

Press release of 2 February 2026

Munich. Small and medium-sized enterprises can now (starting February 2) apply for European funding again to identify and protect their intellectual property. With the SME Fund, which will be relaunched in 2026, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) grants subsidies for, among other things, so-called IP scans, i.e., basic investigations into the respective potential for protecting intellectual property. In addition, the EUIPO covers a large part of the costs for patent, trademark, and design applications and for state-of-the-art searches. Grants are also available for plant variety protection applications.

“Only those who effectively protect their intellectual property can exploit its full economic potential,” emphasizes Eva Schewior, President of the German Patent and Trademark Office. “Small and medium-sized enterprises form the foundation of our economy. Many of these companies could develop even better if they recognized the opportunities offered by intellectual property protection and made consistent use of them.” The DPMA coordinates the support program at the German level.

Intellectual property rights such as patents, utility models, trademarks, and designs protect against imitation, secure investments, and make companies more attractive to investors. According to the EUIPO SME Barometer, around two-thirds of jobs in the European Union are in small and medium-sized enterprises. These also account for more than half of the EU's value added. According to the study, 93 percent of European SMEs that use intellectual property rights see this as having an exclusively positive effect. The problem is that only around ten percent of SMEs currently have such rights.

Companies wishing to receive funding from the SME Fund 2026 should first register on the SME Fund website and submit their application. They should then wait for the EUIPO's financial assistance notice (voucher) and activate the voucher. The next step is to register a patent, trademark, design, or variety, arrange an IP scan appointment, or commission a prior art search. The services should be performed within the deadline specified by the EUIPO. Companies can then submit a reimbursement request with the original invoice/cost receipt to the EUIPO in the SME Fund user area.

A total of €23 million is available for drawdown from the SME Fund 2026. Over the past five years, around 98,000 companies across the EU have received support from the fund, around 10,000 of them from Germany. According to the underlying definition, SMEs are independent companies with a maximum of 250 employees and a turnover of up to €50 million or a balance sheet total of up to €43 million (see EU Commission Recommendation Document 2003/361/EC).

Further information on the SME Fund can be found on our website.

The German Patent and Trade Mark Office

Inventiveness and creativity need effective protection. The DPMA is the German centre of expertise for all intellectual property rights – for patents, utility models, trade marks and designs. As the largest national patent office in Europe and the sixth largest national patent office in the world, it represents the future of Germany as a country of inventors in a globalised economy. Its approximately 2,800 employees at three locations – Munich, Jena and Berlin – provide services to inventors and companies. They implement the Federal Government's innovation strategies and further develop national, European and international protection systems.

Bild: EUIPO

Last updated: 2 February 2026