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EUROPE IS JUST ON THE CORNER

Innovation should link to Intellectual Property. The EU helps you to protect your ideas

Europe is just on the corner”

With these words, the conference regarding the SMEfund started last week. It envolved our EUIPO’s neighbours, in the Digital District.

“Europe is just on the corner” With these words, the conference regarding the #SMEfund started last week; it envolved our EUIPO’s neighbours, in the Digital District, Alicante.

Do you know that in 2021 12,000 SMEs benefited from this grant? In the ongoing year, 4,000 businesses have already applied for it.

Under the tittle “SMEfund: Ideas Powered for Business”, it was surprising to know that the self-employed (which are “business” too and we sometimes forget) can also benefit from this aid.

INNOVATION PROCESS

We were able to better understand why the well-known “IP Businesses” are so interesting for an enterprise. The opportunity to licence our Trademark for others to produce it, was perfectly showed in the example of a scientist who applies new components to his fertilising.

CUSTOMER CARE DEPARTMENT

On the other hand, Natalia Ruano detailed in her didactic speech the steps we have to follow to apply for the grants:

  • Bonus 1: up to 1,500 Eur in the IP Scan Service, trademarks, drawings and designs fees.

** I would like to draw your attention to the fact that, Spain is really fortunate because it is among the countries which benefit form IP Scan Service. Not all countries do. Euipo is working to achieve a higher cope in this issue.

  • Bonus 2: up to 750 Eur in patents fees. Don’t let them take your idea away!

No more than 9% of EU SMEs make use of the Intellectual Property. We must be aware that an efficient IP strategy may be crucial to reach effectiveness in the global market. Which will translate in the near future not only into profitability, but reputation for our projects.

BETTER SLEEP…

Euipo wishes us a much better sleep knowing that, our trademarks, designs and patents are protected. This is the reason why the European Commission together with Euipo have undertaken the SMEfund initiative in “Ideas Powered for Business”

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How to build an eCommerce with your partner in times of Covid…without breaking your head

My husband and I, two restless, active and enterprising minds, saw the world falling on us during the first 15 quarantine days, due to that mischievous and mysterious virus of which nobody knows much yet, but which it is clear that social distancing, but we now clearly know that social distancing, which we find unpleasant and contrary to the way human beings – these social animals – live, has put it on a firm footing and held it back.

And then eCommerce came into our lives!

Like a «butterfly effect», a series of stars conspired and joined a couple of circumstances, which led to the start of our project: an online shop of women’s clothing, and … why not? I based my imagination and my experience of the real women world, who often don’t know how to dress because of the sizing many famous brand 😉 My partner brought his longstanding experience, as well as his design and programming knowledge.

And… that’s it? Just like that? Ha, ha… that’s how I saw it. The thing was a little more complicated… As there were no schools, we had to establish a childcare schedule, so we took turns every other day to look after him. Yes, but when did we talk? We had to share our work, so we thought that lunchtime would be good for the meeting. Nothing! Impossible! The one who had worked that morning arrived starving and the one who had been with the child, was desperate to take a nap… Thus we thought it would be better at night, when the child was asleep. What? Are we crazy????? Our life seemed like that Michelle Pfeiffer film (Ladyhawke) where she was a hawk during the day and her beloved was a man and at night the roles were changing and he became a wolf and she became a woman. They never got to be together as a couple, until they undid the spell.

We are still waiting for ours to be undone, and I think we still have some way to go. But what we have achieved is to make magic, the magic of putting together the pieces of the puzzle: teleworking, social distancing, routine, projects and of course, the king of the house: our child. The key piece in this story, which inspires us and makes us relativize all the moments of our lives, keeping the essential.

There have been many hard days, many hours of work, insanity, helplessness, worry… but now that it seems we are beginning to see the light, I realize that what at first seemed to break us as a couple, gave us the strength and motivation needed to turn difficulties into something profitable and positive. I think they call it RESILIENCE. Because #weCan’tStop, #togetherStronger, #weAreMovingForward, #we’reGettingIt, but above all, because Miguel Angel and I make a winning team!