Businesses exporting products around the world can now apply for the Export Market Development Grant (EMDG). Applications can be completed and submitted online up until 30 November 2017.

The EMDG is an Australian Government financial grant that assists small and medium-sized businesses to develop export markets. One of the specific eligible costs that are included in the EMDG is overseas intellectual property rights registration and related insurance, up to $50,000 each year.

Protection of intellectual property rights is granted by jurisdiction. Therefore, if your business has an interest in exporting products or services, then seeking registration in those jurisdictions becomes an imperative part of protecting your business assets.

Filing and registering trade mark, patent or design rights overseas can be incredibly expensive, particularly where a business is attempting to secure multiple rights in multiple countries at one time. However, choosing not to register some intellectual property rights in some countries (often known as “first to file”) or delaying securing registration may result in businesses not be able to secure their rights at all in the future, or, indeed opening the business up to claims for infringement.

Some of the countries of interest for small and medium businesses in Australia include:

USA
UK
Europe
China
Hong Kong
Singapore
India

Sladen Legal has a network of associates, lawyers and attorneys that assist our clients securing their intellectual property rights around the world.

We recommend businesses take the opportunity to apply for the EMDG grant in parallel with securing intellectual property rights overseas, thus helping minimise the overall cost burden that can be associated with securing international intellectual property rights.

If you are looking for assistance in securing your intellectual property rights overseas, please contact:

Michelle Dowdle
Special Counsel
T +61 3 9611 0114| M +61 408 674 256
E: mdowdle@sladen.com.au