One-liner: Spain's only official body for registering patents, trademarks and industrial designs — an autonomous organism attached to the Ministerio de Industria y Turismo; the free-first entry point for any founder who needs to protect a brand, invention or product design before going to market.
What a founder gets
- Trademark & trade-name registration (marcas y nombres comerciales) — distinguishes your product/brand from competitors'.
- Patent (20 yrs) and utility-model (10 yrs) protection for inventions — a device, product or process with a technical solution; blocks others from copying, selling or importing it without consent.
- Industrial design registration — protects the aesthetic/ornamental appearance of a product (including packaging, UI/webpage layout, or store interior design) for up to 20 years, distinct from patent protection of function.
- Free technology watch (vigilancia tecnológica gratuita) — technology alerts and sector bulletins built from worldwide patent-publication data; useful competitive/prior-art intelligence for deeptech founders at no cost.
- Annual patent & utility-model subsidies (subvenciones) — the 2026 call reimbursed 80–90% of official filing fees (national + international extension), total budget ~€5M+, de-minimis capped at €300k/company over 3 years. Full instrument now modeled at OEPM Subvenciones Patentes y Modelos de Utilidad 2026 — window closed 8 May 2026; recurring, watch for the 2027 edition around March.
- PYME/emprendedor support hub — dedicated guidance on how to protect IP, access aid/subsidies, expand abroad, and monetize IP titles (licensing/sale as an intangible asset); a direct "contacta con el servicio de apoyo a la empresa de la OEPM" channel.
- International routes: European patent validation, PCT international patent applications, EU trademark/design transformation into Spanish national rights, post-Brexit internationalization guidance.
- Regional Information Centres (Centros Regionales de Información en Propiedad Industrial) — one per Comunidad Autónoma, including Comunitat Valenciana — local first-line advisory without needing to travel to Madrid.
- Runs training (courses/materials on patents, trademarks, designs) and a Buscador de Agentes — directory of registered industrial-property agents for founders who want paid professional representation/filing.
- CEO/MIO portal for tracking your own case files; Open Data / OEPMESTAD for public patent statistics.
Who it's for
- Any founder in Spain who needs to protect a brand, invention, utility model, or industrial design — from idea-stage naming through to scale-stage patent portfolios.
- Especially relevant for deeptech, hardware, and research-spinout founders where the core value is IP (software-as-such is not patentable in Spain per Ley 24/2015 art. 4 — it is protected instead via copyright/Registro de la Propiedad Intelectual, a different body).
- Software-implemented inventions (where a computer/network is required to realize the technical effect) are patentable — relevant distinction for deeptech/AI founders.
How to engage
- Self-serve: search existing marks/patents/designs free at oepm.es before filing (avoid conflicts/wasted fees).
- File electronically (Sede Electrónica) or on paper; consult fee schedules (tasas) first — filing itself is paid, advisory is free.
- For research-based startups: go through your university OTRI (tech-transfer office) first — they often co-file and know the subsidy calendar; OEPM confirms this is a designed-in referral path.
- For complex cases, use the Buscador de Agentes to hire a registered industrial-property agent (paid).
- Infringement disputes: OEPM has no judicial powers — it refers founders to a specialist lawyer (via COAPI) or to WIPO/OEPM-backed mediation & arbitration (ADR) before litigation.
- Contact: oepm.es/es/contacto · social channels (Twitter/LinkedIn/YouTube/Instagram) · Blog OEPM.
Key facts
- Organismo Autónomo attached to the Ministerio de Industria y Turismo; mission includes impulsing research, development and technology transfer, not just registration.
- 2025 was a record year: 1,450 national patent applications (+12.1%) and a historic 2,255 Spanish applications to the EPO (+2.9%) ("La OEPM en cifras 2025", published May 2026).
- Runs the V Edición de los Premios OEPM a las Mejores Invenciones Protegidas (best-invention awards, winners announced June 2026) and a Magister Lvcentinvs program (35 graduates, per a June 2026 news item — an IP-specialization master, historically run jointly with University of Alicante).
- Publishes the BOPI (Boletín Oficial de la Propiedad Industrial) — official gazette of all IP administrative acts (filings, notifications, resolutions).
- Active public-awareness campaigns against counterfeiting ("La verdad de las falsificaciones", Día Mundial Antifalsificación) and warnings about AI misuse in patent applications and fraudulent invoicing letters targeting applicants (active as of July 2026).
- 30th anniversary marked with a commemorative postage stamp (per a 2023 news item retained in the scrape — office has multi-decade track record).
- Collaborates with WIPO/EPO (XIV Reunión Regional OMPI/EPO/OEPM held under the LATIPAT program, 2026) — ties Spain into Latin American IP cooperation.
Relations
- See also: Deeptech (niche)
- Runs: OEPM & University OTRIs IP Support
- Runs: OEPM Subvenciones Patentes y Modelos de Utilidad 2026
- See also: PERTE Chip
- See also: UPVfab