CALL FOR PROPOSALS GR/002/22

EUIPO Academic Research Programme

(2022/C 163/06)

1.   OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION

The EUIPO has an ambition to develop closer ties with academia in order to foster research in IP-related areas of interest to the Office. To that end, the Office has established an EUIPO Academic Research Programme (ARP).

The concept of the programme aims to ensure that:

—	the programme produces research of relevance to the EUIPO and its stakeholders.

—	academics perceive the programme as focused on high-quality projects and based on fair and transparent selection rules.

—	the programme is expected to foster the creation, around EUIPO, of a vibrant community of high-level scholars (of IP but also of different disciplines) across Europe.

—	the program should raise the interest of the academic community in topics relevant to the office.

—	the programme is highly visible in the academic community and beyond.

The result of a project supported by this Call for Proposals will be a study of the relevant subject (as defined in the Call), within the timeline and budget specified in the proposal.

A control mechanism, consisting of interim online meetings, will be established to monitor the progress of the research and to ensure that is in line with the project description submitted at the call for proposals. At least one meeting will be held during the first three months after the signature of the grant agreement. Depending on the results of the initial progress meeting and the duration of the research project additional meetings may be summoned.

An Academic Research Programme workshop will be organised at the EUIPO not later than 11 months from the signature of the Grant agreement. The cost for the travel and accommodation of the participants will be covered by the EUIPO.

All awarded projects shall present the results of their research at the workshop.

Time period of not less than one month, from the end of the workshop until the deadline to submit the final research paper shall be established to allow the researches to incorporate any suggested feedback or adjustments resulting from the discussions during the workshop.

The final payment of the grant will be conditional on the validation of the final research paper.

The EUIPO Academic Research Programme targets research in economics, law, technology, and management. Legal scholars and economists are primarily interested in IP in a public policy perspective. Preferences will be given to research proposals aiming at showing economic, societal, or political implications of findings. The studies should preferably focus on subjects related to Trademarks and designs, although other topics, like geographical indications, SMEs, customer approaches or IP training and education, could also be in scope.

The Office expects to fund up to 3 projects.

Proposals are invited in the following areas/themes:

(1)	Trade marks as an indicator of innovation and other economic activity

(2)	Designs as an indicator of innovation and other economic activity

(3)	The use of IP rights by small and medium-sized enterprises to overcome barriers to growth

DISCLAIMER: Any research/topic request needs to be connected to at least one of the 3 general areas mentioned above. The selection of the final topics by the EUIPO will be on the topics of the major interest for the Office (even if they are connected to only one of the 3 areas).

The assessment of each proposal will be based on objective, transparent and standard predefined criteria (e.g., quality of the proposal, quality of the candidates, expected impact, credibility of the budget proposal).

Projects that present the highest relevance for the Office will be considered. This includes e.g. projects that generate relevant empirical evidence for decision makers in policy and business, different relevant IP-focused projects, or data-related initiatives, as well as the SME programme.

For more details please refer to Chapter I of the Guidelines for applicants.

2.   ELIGIBILITY

2.1   Eligible applicants

This call is opened only to academic researchers affiliated to universities or research institutions located in a Member State of the EU 27 Member States. They are eligible for the programme, regardless of their nationality (being however resident in the EU).

The researchers can be PhD candidates, post-doc researchers, faculty members or any other type of researchers in the academic field.

2.2   Eligible Activities

The maximum duration of projects is 12 months.

Research studies on topics related to Intellectual Property, as defined in the topic description of the call for proposals.

For more details please refer to Chapter II of the Guidelines for applicants.

3.   EXCLUSION & SELECTION CRITERIA

Applicants must not be in a situation that will exclude them from participation and/or from award as defined by the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the Union and its rules of application.

Applicants must have the financial and operational capacity to complete the proposed activities.

Please refer to Chapter II of the Guidelines for applicants for further details on the supporting documents to be provided.

4.   AWARD CRITERIA

The award criteria for assessing eligible proposals are allocated out of a total of 100 on the basis of the following weighting:

Award criteria	Minimum score	Maximum score
Excellence	20	40
Impact	15	30
Quality and efficiently of the implementation	15	30
Overall (pass) scores	50	100

To be considered for funding, proposals must score:

—	at least 50 points overall and

—	at least the minimum points in each of the criteria

For more details please refer to Chapter II of the Guidelines for applicants.

5.   BUDGET

The total budget available for the financing of actions under this call for proposals is estimated at EUR 60 000. This amount will be spread over two budget annualities and the availability of funds corresponding to the budget 2023 will be subject to the adoption of the budget by the Office’s budgetary authority.

The minimum and maximum grant per project will be EUR 10 000 to 30 000.

The Office reserves the right not to distribute all available funds.

6.   DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS

The application package is available on the Internet at the following address: https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/grants

Applications must be submitted to the EUIPO using the online application form (e-Form) no later than 19 May 2022 at 13:00 (local time).

No other method of submission of an application will be accepted.

Applicants shall ensure that all the documents requested and mentioned in the e-Form are provided.

Applications which do not include all the stipulated annexes and which are not submitted before the deadline will not be considered.

For more details please refer to Chapter IV of the Guidelines for applicants.

7.   FULL DETAILS

The detailed conditions of this call for proposals can be found in the guidelines for applicants at the following Internet address: https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/grants

Applications must comply with all the terms of the guidelines and be submitted on the forms provided.

8.   CONTACT

For any further information please contact the following mailbox: grants@euipo.europa.eu