Intellectual and Industrial Property Advisory Service

By project DeepTechValleys

Published on 05 February 2025

Spain

Cataluña

About this good practice

Many companies overlook the importance of integrating intellectual and industrial property into their innovation projects and business management. Protecting and enhancing the value of intangible assets is crucial for ensuring competitiveness and maximizing the return on invested resources. This program’s mission is to support companies in any industrial sector by helping them develop the best IP strategy.

Through the program, companies can benefit from the following services, which are free of charge for them:
- Awareness-raising and training. Companies are trained through workshops, seminars and big conferences open to the business public.
- Advise and diagnosis of the IIP. Meeting with the company's management team to review key areas and provide IIP insights. The result is a detailed report outlining the current position and impactful measures to enhance the company’s IIP strategy.
- Implementation of IIP measures. IIP experts implement those IIP measures established in the prior step, the cost of which will be assumed by ACCIÓ, except for the fees. The actions to be carried out involve some kind of registration, such as a trademark registration, a patent, etc.

In addition, the program offers up to €3,000 in the form of a coupon to companies that already have an IIP strategy, to cover technical services for drafting patents, utility models, industrial designs, freedom-to-operate and patentability studies, and managing or registering European trademarks.

Resources needed

The Catalan government allocates a €300,000 annual budget: €200,000 for IIP services (awareness, training, advice, diagnosis, and implementation), and €100,000 for coupons (up to €3,000 per company).

Multiple ACCIÓ departments contribute, including funding, innovation, marketing, and events.

Evidence of success

A company that requested the services of this program, is TURS (Take Your Selfie): an experience that will allow the citizens or tourists who visit a place, find, know and photograph themselves correctly using a new structure to support the mobile phone while taking the photo.

Since 2022, when this company reached ACCIO for help to stablish an IIP strategy, the have grown into a successful business selling their models to public institutions around Spain and Andorra.

Potential for learning or transfer

This program can be transferred to other regions to promote the importance of intellectual property protection and inspire them to integrate IIP support into innovation strategies.

Why is it a good practice?
- Enhances competitiveness, encouraging innovation and its protection.
- Promotes collaboration and knowledge transfer through workshops and conferences.
- Reduces financial barriers to facilitate the implementation of the strategy.
- Supports companies adapting to their needs by analysing each situation carefully.