Are you a small or medium sized Australian business that expanded protection of your patents or trade marks into overseas jurisdictions last financial year? If so, you may be eligible for Australian Government financial assistance aimed at aspiring and current exporters.
Administered by The Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), the Export Market Development Grants (EMDG) scheme reimburses up to 50% of eligible export promotion expenses above $5,000 (provided that the total expenses are at least $15,000).
EMDG Applicants can claim the cost of granting, registering or extending rights under foreign laws in relation to eligible intellectual property (up to a maximum of $50,000 per application). ‘Eligible intellectual property’ includes an intellectual property right that mainly resulted from work done in Australia.
EMDG Applicants may claim expenditure on specific export promotion activities undertaken in FY2018. If an Applicant is making their first grant application, they may also include expenses incurred in FY2017.
In addition to claiming costs in respect of overseas IP protection, marketing/promotion representatives and marketing consultants, applicants can claim the cost of overseas marketing visits. EMDG Applicants may also claim the costs of providing free samples of products intended for export, participation in trade fairs, seminars and in-store promotions, as well as promotional literature and advertising, and flying overseas residents to Australia for eligible export promotion purposes.
If an EMDG grant is approved by Austrade, it may be paid under a split-payment system, used to ensure that spending under the EMDG scheme is kept within an annual budget and that all eligible Applicants receive a grant.
Applications for expenses incurred during the 2018 financial year are open now until midnight AEDT on 30 November 2018. See www.austrade.gov.au for a full list of the eligibility criteria. For any queries relating to the EMDG scheme, contact Austrade directly on 13 28 78 or email emdg.help@austrade.gov.au.
If you wish to expand protection of your patents or trade marks into overseas jurisdictions this year (the costs for which may be eligible for reimbursement under the EMDG scheme next year), please contact mail@mbip.com.au or call +61 7 3369 2226.