[Shizuoka] FY2026 SME Overseas Expansion Support Subsidy (Foreign IP Filing Support)

(1) Overview: This subsidy program is implemented by Shizuoka Industrial Promotion Foundation as the designated subsidy body under METI's SME Overseas Expansion Support Subsidy (Foreign IP Filing Support) framework. It provides partial funding to small and medium enterprises with offices in Shizuoka prefecture for filing patent, utility model, design, or trademark applications abroad via Paris Convention, PCT, Hague Agreement, or Madrid Protocol routes. (2) Eligible Applicants: SMEs that have already filed a basic domestic application at the Japan Patent Office and plan to file overseas with priority claim. Applicants must have a feasible plan to use the right for business expansion overseas (or for defensive trademark filing), sufficient funding capacity, and pass a prior-art search showing reasonable chance of grant. Disqualified: SMEs where one large corporation owns 1/2 or more of issued shares (or multiple large corporations own 2/3 or more), or whose average taxable income over the past 3 years exceeds 1.5 billion yen, or with organized-crime ties. (3) Eligible Expenses: Foreign patent office filing fees (official fees), local agent fees, domestic agent fees, and translation fees. JPO-paid fees are excluded. For joint filings, only the applicant's pro-rata share is eligible. All work (agent contracts, application prep, filing) must start AFTER the grant decision; pre-start is prohibited. Patents falling under economic-security 'specified technology fields' subject to confidentiality designation are excluded. (4) Subsidy Rate / Cap / Schedule / Tips: Rate is up to 1/2 of eligible expenses. Caps: 3,000,000 yen per company per fiscal year; 1,500,000 yen per patent application; 600,000 yen per utility-model/design/regular-trademark application; 300,000 yen per defensive trademark. Apply via Form 1-1 (patent/utility/design/trademark) or Form 1-2 (defensive trademark). Required attachments: corporate registry, officer roster, financial statements, basic domestic application docs, cost estimate, funding plan, prior-art search results, and joint-filing agreements where applicable. Beneficiaries must cooperate with a 5-year follow-up survey.