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discover.IP

Receive free advice on how to identify and protect intellectual property within your company – especially as an SME 

Many businesses have valuable intellectual property – but are unaware of it or do not utilize it sufficiently. Through our discover.IP service, we help you identify this potential and find the appropriate intellectual property rights to protect it. In a personal consultation, experts from the Austrian Patent Office and Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws) will work with you to analyze which know-how in your business is worth protecting. 

You’ll learn about the various options for protection available – from patents and trademarks to designs and alternative strategies such as copyright, confidentiality, or documentation. You will be informed on the opportunities and risks of the various options for protection and gain a solid knowledge base to develop an IP strategy that suits you and your business. You will also receive guidance on funding opportunities to finance the protection of your intellectual property, specific to your business.

The discover.IP service is specifically designed for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and is free of charge.

 

According to the European Union, SMEs are enterprises which employ fewer than 250 persons and which have an annual turnover not exceeding €50 million, and/or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding €43 million.

Here’s how it works

  • You submit an application via the website discoverip.at
  • Experts from the Austrian Patent Office and Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws) will conduct an initial consultation with you, usually via video call (duration: two to three hours)
  • Together, we identify your intellectual property and develop practical courses of action
  • You will then receive a written summary of the topics covered in the discover.IP consultation – including business-specific recommendations, practical tips on industrial property rights, and guidance on alternative protection mechanisms

This report provides you with a solid foundation for developing your own customized IP strategy – tailored to your products, services, and business strategy.

Request a discover.IP consultation

A collaboration with aws

discover.IP is a joint service of the Austrian Patent Office and Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH (aws).

What our customers say

To date, there have been more than 850 successfully completed discover.IP projects across a wide range of industries:

  • discover.IP is a valuable initiative for raising awareness about intellectual property and provides businesses with highly dedicated and expert support to help them protect their intellectual property rights.

    DI Günther Percht, CEO of Kässbohrer Transport Technik GmbH

  • Taking part has helped us to make great strides in many aspects of our applied research and development. As an Austrian national, I certainly didn’t expect this level of proactive service from a government authority—so I was very pleasantly surprised!

    DI Julian Englich, CEO of GIPRO GmbH

  • Intellectual property is Cryoshelter’s core asset as a technology company. discover.IP helped us systematically document and further develop this asset. Our positive interaction with the service also provided us with contacts for specific inquiries.

    Dr. Matthias Rebernik, CEO of Cryoshelter GmbH

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