An idea, a name, a prototype – and a whole lot of passion. Founders often put everything on the line. To make sure someone else doesn’t end up reaping the rewards, it pays to protect your intellectual property early on. That’s exactly where we come in – often free of charge.
That’s why start-ups are a top priority for us. To make the most of it, we’re teaming up with incubators, start-up centers, and funding agencies across Austria, so that our services reach founders where they go for information and networking.
Coming to a start-up hub near you
Good services are only useful if people know about them. That’s why we’re bringing plenty along on our journey through the start-up universe: information materials and giveaways for events, info booths and short talks, articles for newsletters and websites—or even an invitation to visit us at the Patent Office. And if you have a completely different idea, we’re open to (almost) anything.
Research that starts with start-ups
Because we want to understand what start-ups really need, we’re getting to the bottom of it: In a research study, we’re examining how Austrian start-ups handle intellectual property – and where they run into problems.
At the same time, we’re running an information campaign to raise awareness of our services for start-ups. Here’s what we offer:
- discover.IP: a free, confidential consultation on what intellectual property a company has and how to protect it
- First Aid Buddy: a quick, free initial assessment if you run into trouble over patents, trademarks, or designs
- SME Fund: up to 75% of your application fees back through the European Union Intellectual Property Office's (EUIPO) SME Fund
- Patent.Voucher: up to €10,000 in funding on the way to a patent application, in partnership with the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG)
Need more information? Just get in touch: oeffentlichkeitsarbeit[at]patentamt.at