The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the European Startup Network
(ESN) have signed a collaboration agreement to encourage activities and promote services
that support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The ESN is the collective voice of European startups, representing them to European
policymakers, and connecting them with corporations and investors to gain access to talent,
expertise, funding, and customers.

The EUIPO is the European agency responsible for managing the EU trade mark and the
registered Community design, which are valid in all EU Member States.

With the help of the ESN, this collaboration allows the EUIPO to empower European SMEs
and startups to stay competitive by taking advantage of the benefits intellectual property can
provide. The ESN is in a unique position to promote the EUIPO’s SME initiatives among its
members.

The parties welcome this agreement, which covers activities such as training on intellectual
property, knowledge exchange, participation in events, collaboration on social media, raising
general awareness of IP and informing startups about the different services available.

“It is a pleasure to welcome the ESN to the Ideas Powered for business network.
Representing 31 organisations in Europe, the ESN is ideally suited to share expertise related
to startups and scaleups and their needs. Working together we can maximise the many positive aspects of intellectual property for startups. We are looking forward to developing new synergies as a result of this
collaboration agreement.”
Inge Buffolo, Customer Department Director, EUIPO

 

“IP is often key for the success and growth of European startups. ESN believes that a sound IP management is crucial and should be an integral part of the strategy of any startup. However, as the domain of IP can sometimes be difficult to navigate, we are welcoming the collaboration with EUIPO that will provide guidance and clear tools to help startups strengthen their IP assets.”
Jan Bormans, CEO, ESN