On December 30 last year, the Ministry of Economic Development signed the public notices implementing the new National Innovation Fund, instituted last March by decree number 107. The aim of the Fund is to support innovative projects based on the economic use of IP rights, to reinforce the Italian patent and to assist its transferability.
The fund has a grant of €60 million. It will help small and medium-sized Italian businesses fund research, innovative capacity and patenting, by sharing the credit and investment risk with banks and other intermediaries.
Article 1 of the Decree states that "industrial property rights" includes patents for invention, which have at least received a negative search report from the EPO, designs and models.
The public notices of implementation of the Fund have now specified in detail the mechanisms that businesses can use to procure finance for innovative and patent projects:
- debit financing, to which €37.5 million is reserved. These finance resources can be allocated by banks and other financial intermediaries authorised by the Ministry and having a registered office in Italy or Europe;
- risk capital, to which €20 million is assigned. The notice specifies which savings management companies can be selected to be qualified to manage risk funds.
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| Micaela Modiano |
Modiano & Partners
Via Meravigli 16
Milano I-20123, Italy
Tel: +39 02 85 907 777
Fax: +39 02 863 860
info@modiano.com
www.modiano.com