Possibility of Funding for Companies Involved in Intellectual Property Support and Commercialization

Aligned with the concepts established by the Oslo Manual—an international benchmark for innovation developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)—the Brazilian Innovation Agency (Finep - Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos) provides repayable and non-repayable funding to Brazilian research institutions and companies.

In addition to its standard support across various stages of the scientific and technological development cycle, including basic research, applied research, innovation, and the development of products, services, and processes, Finep also supports the incubation of technology-based companies, the implementation of technology parks, the structuring and consolidation of research, development, and innovation processes in established companies, and market development (http://www.finep.gov.br).

Among the various support and subsidy program modalities available on an ongoing basis is the Intellectual Property Commercialization Support Program. This program aims to grant economic subsidies to companies interested in acquiring or licensing granted patents, pending patent applications, or other intellectual property assets—specifically for innovative projects, including those involving technological risk, provided they meet specific approval criteria.

Within this framework, on September 15, 2023, Finep Analyst Andrea Leal, supported by the Prospecting and Valuation Core of PROINOVA – UFSM, conducted a workshop on the Finep call for proposals supporting Intellectual Property Commercialization. Targeted at researchers and companies interested in research and innovation funding opportunities, the session explained and clarified the various criteria involved in the call, as summarized below.

The awarding of economic subsidy funds seeks to enable companies to test the feasibility of innovative products, processes, and services that involve adding new functionalities or features to an existing product, service, or process, resulting in improvements and tangible gains in quality or performance.

Companies may submit more than one project, provided that each project involves a Scientific and Technological Institution (ICT) owning the patent or other intellectual property asset. The ICT is required to monitor the project's development and provide input and assistance for activities aimed at demonstrating the technology's commercial viability.

(Applicant institutional eligibility framework for the Intellectual Property Program – Source: Finep)

Expenses eligible for subsidies from Finep/FNDCT under each proposal must strictly fall between a minimum of BRL 1,500,000.00 and a maximum of BRL 5,000,000.00. Within the eligible funding items (such as third-party services, per diems and travel expenses, personnel costs, civil works and installations, consumables, and equipment and permanent materials), the following categories are included:

Expenses for the technical and commercial development of IP (EVTEs – Technical and Economic Feasibility Studies): in order to test "proofs of concept" in an operational environment that can reduce information asymmetry—that is, enabling the company to determine the value that the IP asset can deliver in a corporate or industrial environment; and

Any costs associated with accessing IP materials and content from the owning ICT: such as consulting services for conducting the proof of concept, including the participation of researchers associated with the IP and their teams, as negotiated with the ICTs' Technological Innovation Centers (NITs) or equivalent structures.

Minimum percentage requirements for financial counterpart contributions apply to each project based on the size of the beneficiary company, along with other qualification criteria and merit evaluation factors available in the guidelines and supporting materials (http://www.finep.gov.br/apoio-e-financiamento-externa/programas-e-linhas/finep-propriedade-intelectual).