Industrial & Intellectual Property Rights

Legislation

The applicable legislation on copyright and related rights in Greece is based on Law 2121/1993, as amended mainly by the following provisions: a) Article 81 of Law 3057/2002, implementing the Information Society Directive, b) Law 3524/2007 implementing the Directive on Resale Right and the Enforcement Directive, c) Article 46 of Law 3905/2010 concerning collective management and other copyright issues and d) Law 4212/2013 implementing the Directive concerning the extension of term protection for performers and sound recordings, as well as the Directive on orphan works.

The aim of the Greek Law 2121/1993 is the full and effective protection of authors, a principle manifested in many provisions, such as the broad protection of moral rights, the rule that only individuals may be considered as authors, the establishment of the percentage fee for authors, the written form of legal acts, the non-entitlement to conclude contracts which cover the whole of the future works or concerning future method of exploitation, the equitable remuneration for reproduction of works for private use, the interpretative rules concerning the term, purpose, extent and means of exploitation, the provisions concerning the enforcement of rights and in particular the civil sanctions.

What is a Trademark? What is the function of a trademark?

Under Greek law, the primary and fundamental purpose of a trademark is to serve as a source identifier, i.e. to indicate a particular origin of a good or service. This is not, however, the only function a trademark serves, given that trademarks also serve a guarantee and advertising/ marketing objective.

According to art. 123 of law 4072/2012, any sign capable of being represented graphically and of distinguishing the goods and/or services of one undertaking from those of another may be regarded as a trademark. In view of this definition, the term “Trademark” is used in relation to both goods and services.

What types of trademarks are recognized by law in Greece?

Trademarks may consist of, among other things, words, names of natural persons or legal entities, pseudonyms, devices/logos, designs, letters, numerals, colours, combinations of numbers or letters (acronyms), musical phrases, the shape of a product or of its packaging.

It is now expressly stated that slogans can also be protected as trademarks, provided that they possess distinctive power and can function as trademarks (e.g. the slogan “TOP PERFORMANCE, CLEANER ENVIRONMENT”, in Greek, was accepted as a trademark, whereas “EVERY DAY SOMETHING POSITIVE”, in Greek, was rejected). A trademark may consist of a combination of word/name and device/design elements (composite/combination trademarks).

What is the right on an invention and what is the difference to a patent right?

The right on an invention is an intangible property asset which evidences the connection between the natural person of an inventor and his/her intellectual creation. As such an invention is an industrially applicable idea solving a technical problem. Unlike a patent right, a right on an invention confers no negative powers to the inventor in terms of a right of exclusive exploitation of his/her inventive teaching. The latter right is reserved for the patentee. On the other hand, a patent is an act of administrative law in the form of a title issued by the Greek Patent Office (GPO) granting patent law protection to an invention. It is not mandatory that an invention be patented through the submission of a patent application. However, if a patent application is not filed with the GPO, an invention can only be protected according to general civil law rules concerning the right to personality as well as according to unfair competition law. It is only a patent application that is filed with and granted by the GPO that can confer full patent law protection to an invention.

What is the legal framework and the Authority administering patents in Greece?

Law 1733/1987 on Know-How Transfer, Inventions and Technological Innovation, as amended and valid today, is the main patent law followed by a number of implementing law provisions, presidential decrees, ministerial decisions as well as ratification acts for the incorporation of European law and international treaties into Greek law. The competent authority for patents, SPC’s, designs, utility models and relevant IP rights is the Industrial Property Organization (Organismos Viomichanikis Idioktisias, OBI), seated in Athens.

What is Copyright Law?

Copyright Law comprises rules by which authors of literary, artistic and scientific works are protected. Neighbor to Copyright are certain analogous or ‘related’ rights that regulate the activities directly related to the creation of literary, artistic and scientific works, i.e. activities of the performers and of investors in the creation, such as phonogram and video producers, broadcasters and publishers (as well as publishers of long-secreted works).

Subsistence of Greek Copyright Law

Greek Copyright Law (2121/1993 as amended and now in force): comprises a non-exclusive list of works, i.e. literary (written or oral), dramatic, choreographies, pantomimes, musical, films and audiovisual works, photographs, artistic (fine art), architectural works, works of artistic craftmanship, illustrations, maps, three-dimensional works related to geography, topography, architecture or science. Computer programs and databases (the latter defined by law as collections of independent works, data, or other materials arranged in a systematic way and individually accessible by electronic or other means) are also protected as special categories of works.

What constitutes piracy and/or counterfeiting in Greece?

Under the existing legal framework piracy and counterfeiting are not identical terms. Piracy on the one hand, is used in order to describe the infringement of copyright protected works such as music, audiovisual works, computer programs, publications and radio/television broadcasts, literary works, etc., through acts such as the unauthorized reproduction, broadcasting, distribution and sale of non authorized copies of such works.

Counterfeiting on the other hand, is defined as the practice of manufacturing, importing/ exporting, distributing, selling or otherwise dealing in goods, which are often of inferior quality, on which a sign, that is identical to a registered trademark, has been placed without authorization of the rightful trademark owner.

Placing a trademark on genuine products, which the trademark owner intended to place on the market as no-name products, also qualifies as counterfeiting. Counterfeits are most commonly called “fake goods”. This area is regulated by the Greek Trademark and Unfair Competition Laws, as well as more specific provisions in other bodies of law.

Counterfeiting is also used in order to describe the copying, imitating or using of a registered industrial design.

What is a Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC) and which categories of products does it cover?

An SPC title is granted for inventions concerning pharmaceuticals and plant protection agents. It safeguards extension of the 20-years patent protection term depending on the time elapsed between the date of filing of a patent application and the date of notification of a market authorization to the addressee thereof (in accordance with CJEU Decision C-471/14 Seattle Genetics Inc). The SPC title protects a specific product that falls within the scope of the basic patent. Said basic patent may protect a product, a manufacturing process and/or a use or application thereof.

The legislative ratio of SPC protection is to partially compensate the patent holder resp. manufacturer of a product for that period of the patent duration that remained commercially unexploited until grant of the necessary market authorization.

What is the term of protection of an SPC?

The maximum term of protection for an SPC title is 5 years. The calculation module for the SPC duration is the following: date of notification of the first market authorization to the addressee minus the date of filing of the basic patent application minus 5 years.

What is a design right?

A design right protects the outer visible appearance gained over the totality or a part of a product, consisting of its special characteristics, such as the shape, line, color, form and/ or the product’s material(s) or its ornamentation. Accordingly, design protection may be granted e.g. for fashion articles, kitchen utensils, jewelry, automobile parts provided that they do not fulfill exclusively a functional role.

What is the difference between an industrial design and an industrial model?

An industrial design protects a two-dimensional esthetic creation, whereas an industrial model is destined to protect three-dimensional creations.

Which are the formal requirements for obtaining a design right?

As soon as the creator has produced a prototype and prior to it becoming accessible to the public of the relevant market, a design application must be filed at the Greek Patent Office. The application may be filed either in the name of the creator or in the name of a third party to which the creator may assign his/her own right for various legal reasons, e.g. a contract for delivering a specific work or an employment contract. In case the applicant is other than the creator, a declaration by the latter must be filed at the Patent Office indicating the legal relationship between applicant and creator. Registrable designs may be represented through photos or sketches clearly showing the outer appearance of the product. International conventional priority may be claimed within a 6-months term as from the filing of the same design in another country member of the Paris Convention subject to submission of the Priority Certificate. A description of the design consisting of up to 100 words is optional. Deferment of publication may be requested by the applicant for up to twelve months as from the filing date of the design application.