RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/Q3/GRC/1
25 June 1998
(98-2561)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property Rights
REVIEW OF LEGISLATION IN THE FIELDS OF PATENTS, LAYOUT-DESIGNS
(TOPOGRAPHIES) OF INTEGRATED CIRCUITS, PROTECTION OF
UNDISCLOSED INFORMATION AND CONTROL OF
ANTI-COMPETITIVE PRACTICES IN
CONTRACTUAL LICENCES
Greece1
The present document reproduces the introductory statement made by the delegation of
Greece, the questions put to it and the responses given in the review of legislation on patents, layout-designs (topographies) of integrated circuits, protection of undisclosed information and control of
anti-competitive practices in contractual licences at the Council's meeting of 26-30 May 1997.
2
_______________
I. INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT
A. PATENTS
Law No. 1733/1987 is the main instrument providing for patent protection in the Hellenic
Republic.  The text of the Law has been notified to the World Trade Organization under Article 63.2
of the TRIPS Agreement in document, IP/N/1/GRC/P/1.
It contains provisions on the patentable subject matter, the conditions for patentability, the
filing requirements and procedure, the rights afford ed by a patent, remedies for patent infringement
and the structure and duties of the Industrial Proper ty Organization, which is the Greek Patent Office.
The patent law has recently been amended in 1995 to conform with Articles 27.1, 31 and 33
of the TRIPS Agreement.  According to the first am endment, a patent term of twenty years from the
filing date was introduced also for patents granted on applications filed prior to the entry into force ofLaw No. 1733/1987.
The second amendment is relevant to compulsory licences.  Under the previous provision,
importation of a patented product from a European Union Member-State was equated to working of
the patent in the Hellenic Republic.  The new provision provides also for importation from any WTO
country.
                                                     
1 As regards laws and regulations relevant to the areas under review and notified by Greece under
Article 63.2 of the Agreement, reference is made to document IP/N/1/GRC/1/Rev.1, IP/N/1/GRC/P/1-4,
IP/N/1/GRC/L/1-2.
2 The minutes of the meeting have been circulated in document IP/C/M/13.IP/Q3/GRC/1
Page 2
B. TOPOGRAPHIES OF SEMI -CONDUCTOR PRODUCTS
The protection of topographies of semi-conductor products is provided in Presidential
Decree No. 45/1191, as recently amended by Presidential Decree No. 415/1195.  The relevant
provisions have been notified to the World Trade Organization under Article 63.2 of the TRIPS
Agreement in documents IP/N/1/GRC/L/1 and IP/N/1/GRC/L/2.
Both decrees have been issued in compliance with Council Directive 87/54/EEC (EEL 24, 36)
of 16 December 1986 and Council Decision 90/510/EEC (EEL 285, 29) as amended by
Decisions 93/17/EEC (EEL 11, 22) of 26 October 1987, 94/700/EC (EEL 284, 61),
94/828/EC (EEL 351, 12) and 95/237/EC (EEL 158, 38) a nd define the conditions for protection, the
filing requirements, the rights afforded by registration and remedies against infringement.
II. REPLY TO THE GENERAL QUESTION ON PRIORITY RIGHTS3
Does your country recognize a right of priority on the basis of an earlier patent
application filed in any other WTO Member by a national of a WTO Member?
Pursuant to Article 9 of the Greek Patent Law (i.e. Law No. 1733/1987) a right of priority is
recognized on a reciprocal basis to all applicants having duly filed a prior patent application abroad.
According to the above-mentioned article, nationals of a country of the Paris Convention are entitled
to claim priority based on an earlier patent application filed in one of the countries of the Union.
Following the ratification of the TRIPS Agreement by the Hellenic Republic, which
incorporates Article 4 of the Paris Convention, a right of priority is recognized to all nationals of
WTO Members -whether members or not of the Paris Convention - by virtue of Articles 1.3 and 4 of
the TRIPS Agreement.  However, interpretation of all the above-mentioned articles lies within the
competent Greek courts.
III. REPLIES TO QUESTIONS POSED BY JAPAN
1. In your country, are the following subject matters protectable by patent:  (1) plants and
animals, and (2) plant and animal varieties?
No patent is granted for plant or animal varieties (Article 5 paragraph 8(b) of Law
No. 1733/1987) or biological processes for the production of plants or animals.  The only exceptionprovided is for microbiological processes or the products thereof which are patentable.
2. In your country, is the act of offering for sale included in the exclusive rights of patent?
Yes.  According to Article 10 paragraphs 1(a), (b) and (c) of Law No. 1733/1967, the act of
offering for sale is included among the exclusive rights of the patent holder.
3. In your country, what kinds of acts are recogn ized as exceptions to the exclusive rights
conferred by a patent right?
The patent holder cannot forbid the following activities according to Article 10 paragraph 2 of
Law No. 1733/1987:
(a) the use of the invention for non-professional or research purposes;
                                                     
3 At the meeting of the TRIPS Council of 27 February 1997, Members agreed to respond to this
question in the context of the present review (document IP/C/M/12, paragraph 18).IP/Q3/GRC/1
Page 3
(b) the use of the invention built in an automob ile, railway, vessel or airplane entering the
Greek territory on a temporary basis;
(c) the preparation of a pharmaceutical product in a pharmacy for a specific individual,
following medical prescription as well as the offer and use of said pharmaceutical
product;
(d) in case someone has already exploited his contrivance or proceeded with the
preparation required for said exploitation at the time of filing a patent application by a
third party or at the time of the priority date, this person is entitled to use said
contrivance for his business enterprise and its needs.
4. In your country, in which case is use with out the authorization of the right holder
permitted, including use by the government or by third parties authorized by the government?
Use of the invention without the authorization of the right holder is permitted in the following
three cases:
(a) Use by third parties is permitted on the following conditions:
- a period of three years has elapsed since the grant of the patent or a period of
four years since the filing date of the patent application;
- the relevant invention has not been exploited in Greece or, in case it has, the
production of the products thereof is insufficient to cover local demand;
- the third party is in a position to exploit productively the invention covered by
the patent;
- the third party notified the patentee, one month prior to the initiation of the
judicial proceedings, of his intention to request a non-contractual licence(Article 13 of Law No. 1733/1987)
(b) Use of the invention by the owner of a patent (second patent) in relation to an
invention claimed in a previous patent (first patent) is permitted on the following
conditions:
- the invention claimed in the second patent relates to the invention of the first
patent;
- the invention claimed in the second patent involves a significant advance in
relation to the invention claimed in the first patent;
- the productive exploitation of the second invention is not possible without
infringing the first patent.
- In such a case the owner of the first patent is entitled upon request to a cross-
licence of the second patent (Article 13 paragraph 4 of the LawNo. 1733/1987).
(c) Use of the invention by the government is permitted only for imperative reasons of
serving the public health or the national defence following a justified decision of the
Minister of Development and any competent Minister.IP/Q3/GRC/1
Page 4
A licence is granted only if the relevant invention has not been exploited productively
in Greece or the production is insufficient to meet local demand and on the condition
that the patent holder is paid remuneration.  Prior to the issue of the relevant decision,
the patentee is called upon to express his opinion (Article 14 of Law No. 1733/1987).
5. In your country, how is the obligation under Articles 34.1 and 34.2 of the TRIPS
Agreement regarding the shift of the burden of proof in civil proceedings for patent
infringement related to a process patent implemented?
According to Article 17 paragraph 6 of Law No. 1733/1987, if the invention relates to a
process for the manufacture of a product, every product of the same nature is presumed to have been
manufactured according to the patented process.
6. Please explain how undisclosed information is protected in your country, as required by
Article 39.2 of the TRIPS Agreement.
Undisclosed information is protected by Articles 16 and 17 of Law No.146/1914, which
provide for a penalty of imprisonment up to six months and/or a fine to any person who discloses
confidential information.
Further to that the Criminal Code (Article 249 and Article 252) provides for the imposition of
a general duty of confidentiality that binds public servants.
However, specific provisions in industrial property law protect against the disclosure of
confidential information:
(a) According to Article 22 paragraph 2 of Law No. 1733/1987 information contained in
technology transfer contracts is kept secret.  The technology transfer register and
record are confidential (Article 4 paragraph 2 of Law No. 1733/1987) and a penaltyof imprisonment up to six months and/or fine is provided against any disclosure by an
employee of the Industrial Property Organization.
(b) According to Article 4 paragraph 5 of Law No. 1733/1987 a penalty of up to ten years
imprisonment or in case of war, life imprisonment or the death penalty, is provided
against the disclosure of information containe d in the confidential register for patents,
which relate to the national defence, by any employee of the Industrial Property
Organization.  The obligation to keep se crecy exists during the course of the
employee's service and for a period of ten years following the discontinuation of
service.
(c) All information contained in patent applications is kept secret for eighteen months
following the filing date or the priority date, unless the patent has already been
granted (Article 7 paragraphs 12 and 13 of Law No. 1733/1987).
Also, guarantees and obligations of confidentiality are included in the following provisions:
(i) Greek Competition Act (Law 703/1997)
Article 27 of the Greek Competition Act refers to the Obligation of Secrecy.  According to
this Article any information submitted as a result of the application of this Act either voluntarily or
compulsorily, shall be treated as confidential info rmation.  This information shall be communicated to
the President of the Competition Committee by the authorized officials annexing in their report the
relevant documents.  This report and the documents annexed thereto may be included in the fileIP/Q3/GRC/1
Page 5
submitted to the Competition Committee, the Athens Administrative Court of Appeal and the Council
of State, thus ceasing to be confidential.  According to the provisions of Article 37(2) of the Code of
Criminal Procedure, in case of a criminal offence being detected this has to be reported immediately.
(ii) Company Law (Law 2190/1920)
Defines as confidential information "anything that has been noticed by a civil servant during
the exercise of his duties in controlling a private limited company".  Especially the Article 22a
paragraph 3, refers, regarding the Society Anonyme, that "every number of the Administrative
Council is obliged to strictly keep the secrets of  the company, which have been made known to him
due to his competency as consultant".
Also, from Article 39 paragraph 4 of the same law, the right for applying for information is
further granted and adjusted to a shareholder of a company, who has a percentage of 1 % on the
deposited capital.
The establishing framework regulating the excess, which the law doesn't permit, starts from
the concept that the development of the company's activity has to be protected from the
Administrative instruments of the Society Anonyme, the correction of which concerns the public
order.
Article 23 paragraph 1 of the same law also refers that "it is forbidden to Consultants who
participate in the Administration to operate actions that are subjected to certain aims of the company
without the permission of the General Assembly".
For the same reason in Article 63 paragraph 1 case ka of L. 2190/1920 is precisely referred
that, "a public servant, from those acting supe rvision on Society Anonyme, who won't keep the
absolute secrecy regarding the things that he obse rved during the operating of the company, should be
punished [...] with prison and with disciplinary punishment".
Finally, in Article 16 of L. 1599/86, the procedure for exercising of the "right for informing of
the administrative documents" is stated as a general provision.  More analytically, every citizen has
the right to take information of the administrative do cuments out of these which referred to the private
or family life of third party.  As administrative documents are deemed all the documents of the publicsector.
However, the services of the public sector may deny to satisfy this right on:
(a) Cases in which the secrecy of the calling together is overlooked, the secret of the
public credit of the national defence, of the public order, of currency, the medical,
banking, commercial or industrial secret or any other secret which is governed by
special provisions.
(b) Cases in which it will cause difficulties in the research of the judicial, police, army or
administrative authorities regarding the commitment of a crime or of administrative
violence.
(iii) Insurance enterprises and actuaries
The elements notified by the supervisory authority are these that, in accordance of the
provisions of Article 7 of Law 2190/1920 are possi ble to be published.  Provisions of Article 63,
paragraph 1 of the aforesaid law (see above paragraph 1, Company Law) are also applicable.IP/Q3/GRC/1
Page 6
By the provisions of Article 50 of PD 400/70 "Regarding the individual insurance enterprises"
as same valid, all persons exercising or having exercised any activity in favour of the relevant service
of the Ministry of Development are bound by the Professional Secrecy and are not permitted to notify
the secret information taken during the exercising of their duties to any other person or authority,
reserving the cases which falls in the penalty law.
The confidential information characterise all these information which are in knowledge of the
relevant Service of the Ministry of Development and are not registered in the registered book for
society anonyme.
In case of violation of provisions regarding the professional secret, the ratifications provided
by Article 371 of Penalty Code are applied.
(iv) Securities Law
Law 1806/88 defines as confidential any piece of information of a specific nature, concerning
a company quoted in the stock exchange, that has not been published, not become common
knowledge in any other way, and which is of such a nature, that had it been known, could have
influenced significantly the value of the shares of the company concerned.
(v) Banking Law
Law 1059/1971 states that all deposits held in deposit accounts with banks operating in
Greece are considered confidential, and no one is allowed to reveal any details concerning such
deposits to anyone, even with the permission of the account holder.  There are two main exceptions to
this rule.  Communication of such data is allowed:
(a) when a very serious crime case is either at the instruction phase or is pending before
the court, and then only on the strength of a duly supported request by either theprosecutor or the court, and
(b) when details of the deposits in question are to be revealed to employees of the Bank
of Greece or to any other official body entrusted with the supervision of banks and
their dealings, such employees being in turn bound by the same duty of
confidentiality.
(vi) Tax Law
Law 1828/1989 considers that the following information is to be kept secret, and its
publication, communication or transmission by any means to any third party, that is, any other party
that the person directly concerned, is prohibited:  1) the tax returns themselves 2) all taxation data 3)
all reports and relevant decisions of the Tax Inspector and 4) all elements contained in the taxation file
related directly or indirectly to the taxation concerned.  Areios Pagos  (the Supreme Court of Greece)
has held that if any crime is under investigation by the judicial authorities it is not legally possible toprevent such authorities from obtaining data relating to the tax affairs of the person concerned.
IV. REPLIES TO QUESTIONS POSED BY THE UNITED STATES
1. Subsection 2(c) of Article 5 of the Greek Law on "Technology transfer, inventions, and
technological innovation", makes computer programs unpatentable.  Please explain whether,
under this provision, inventions within the categories specified below are not eligible to bepatented under Greek law, notwithstanding the fa ct that the invention is novel, involves an
inventive step, and is useful:IP/Q3/GRC/1
Page 7
(a) process inventions which, in whole or in part, consist of steps that are performed
by a computer and are directed by a computer program;
(b) product inventions consisting of elements of a computer-implemented invention,
including in particular:
(i) machine-readable computer program code stored on a tangible
medium such as a floppy disk, computer hard drive or computer
memory; and
(ii) a general purpose computer whose novelty over the prior art
arises primarily due to its combination with a specific computer
program.
If any of these types of invention are excluded from eligibility to be patented, please
explain how the Greek Patent Law complies with the obligations of Article 27 of the TRIPSAgreement, which mandates patent eligibility for all categories of invention without
discrimination.
The non-patentability of computer programs as such under subsection 2(c) of Article 5 of
Law No. 1733/1987, does not preclude the patenting of  computer-related inventions.  Thus, inventions
within the categories specified in question No. 1(a)  and (b) may qualify for patent protection as long
as their technical contribution to the state of the art, as defined by the claims, can be ascertained.  If
the invention is to be regarded as solving a problem which is essentially technical, it may meet the
requirements for protection.
2. Please explain how Article 12 of Greece’s Law on "Technology transfer, inventions, and
technological innovation", which imposes a limitation on the right of a patent owner to assignrights or to conclude licensing contracts by making them effective only after they are entered
into the patent register, complies wi th Article 28.2 of the TRIPS Agreement.
The requirement under Article 12 paragraph 1 of Law No. 1733/1987, does not mean that the
transaction between the parties that have signed the agreement is not valid.  The registration is
required in order to notify third parties of the transfer of rights.
[Follow-up question from the US]
In answer to question No. 2 regarding the registration of licensing contracts and
assignments, Greece states that the requirement to register is intended to notify third parties of
the transfer or rights.  What penalties, if any, result from failure to register or what other
consequences arise?  Please explain how any such penalties or consequences conform with
Article 28.2 of the TRIPS Agreement.
No penalties are being provided by Law No. 1733/1987 for failure to register an assignment
of rights.  However, since the registration requirement is the only means of notification of the transfer
of rights towards third parties, failure to comply with this requirement may affect any claims of the
interested parties in a court proceeding towards third parties acting in good faith.  In a court dispute,
the patent holder has the burden of proof that the third party is not acting in good faith.  It is for the
judge to assess the validity of any such claim.  Thus, the registration requirement by no way imposesany restriction to the right of a patent holder to assign or transfer a patent or to conclude a licensing
agreement.IP/Q3/GRC/1
Page 8
3. Article 13 of Greece’s Law on "Technology  transfer, inventions, and technological
innovation" does not appear to require that th e applicant for a compulsory licence demonstrate
that he has made efforts to obtain authoriz ation from the patentee on reasonable commercial
terms and conditions.  The applicant apparently needs only to notify the patentee one month
prior to initiating judicial proceedings for a compulsory licence.  Please explain how theconditions for compulsory licensing set out in Article 31 of the TRIPS Agreement are met in
connection with Article 13.
The notification under Article 13 paragraph 1(d) of Law No. 1733/1987 aims at a possible
negotiation between the interested parties before any recourse to judicial proceedings.
[Follow-up question from the US]
While notice to a patentee that a party inte nds to apply for a compulsory licence might
be intended to stimulate possible negotiations between the patentee and the party interested inthe licence, it places the burden for negotiations on the patentee, if it wishes to avoid an imposed
licence.  Please explain how this provision is cons istent with Article 31(b) that the proposed user
of a patent, prior to seeking a compulsory license , make efforts to obtain authorization from the
patent owner on reasonable commercial terms, efforts which have not been successful within a
reasonable period of time?
By ratification of the TRIPS Agreement by the Greek Parliament the provision of
Article 31(b) has become an integral part of national legislation.
According to Article 28 paragraph 1 of the Constitution of the Hellenic Republic, ratified
provisions of international treaties prevail over any contrary provision of the law.
Even though Article 13 paragraph 1(d) of the Law No. 1733/1987 does not contain an express
requirement that the interest party should make efforts to obtain authorization from the patent holder
on reasonable commercial terms and conditions, the incorporation of Article 31 of the TRIPS
Agreement into Greek Law is to be understood as introducing such a requirement.
It should be noted however, that the relevant provision has never been used in Greece making
it difficult to assess any practical aspects of its implementation.  In any case, according to paragraph 5of Article 13 of Law No. 1733/1987, a petition fo r a non-contractual licence is always accompanied
by an opinion of the Industrial Property Organization on the terms of compensation to be paid to the
patent owner.  A further safeguard to the rights of the patent holder is provided by paragraph 6 of
Article 13 of Law No. 1733/1987, according to which any such licence can only be granted by a court
decision, containing among others the amount and the terms of the compensation to be paid.
4. Please indicate how many compulsory licence s on a yearly basis have been granted in
Greece since 1 January 1993.
No compulsory licence has been granted until today.
5. Please explain how undisclosed information is protected in Greece, and the legal basis
for such protection.  We have noted that no notification from Greece concerning protection of
undisclosed information had been distributed by the WTO Secretariat at the time these
questions were prepared.
Undisclosed information is protected by Articles 16 and 17 of Law No. 146/1914, which
provide for a penalty of imprisonment up to six months and/or a fine to any person who discloses
confidential information.IP/Q3/GRC/1
Page 9
Further to that the Criminal Code (Article 249 and Article 252) provides for the imposition of
a general duty of confidentiality that binds public servants.
However, specific provisions in industrial property law protect against the disclosure of
confidential information:
(a) According to Article 22 paragraph 2 of Law No. 1733/1987 information contained in
technology transfer contracts is kept secret.  The technology transfer register and
record are confidential (Article 4 paragraph 2 of Law No. 1733/ 1987) and a penalty
of imprisonment up to six months and/or fine is provided against any disclosure by an
employee of the Industrial Property Organization.
(b) According to Article 4 paragraph 5 of Law No. 1733/1987 a penalty of up to ten years
imprisonment or in case of war, life imprisonment or the death penalty, is provided
against the disclosure of information contained in the confidential register for patents,which relate to the national defence, by any employee of the Industrial Property
Organization.  The obligation to keep se crecy exists during the course of the
employee's service and for a period of ten years following the discontinuation of
service.
(c) All information contained in patent applications is kept secret for eighteen months
following the filing date or the priority date, unless the patent has already been
granted (Article 7 paragraphs 12 and 13 of Law No. 1733/1987).
Also, guarantees and obligations of confidentiality are included in the following provisions:
(i) Greek Competition Act (Law 703/1997)
Article 27 of the Greek Competition Act refers to the Obligation of Secrecy.  According to
this Article any information submitted as a result of the application of this Act either voluntarily or
compulsorily, shall be treated as confidential info rmation.  This information shall be communicated to
the President of the Competition Committee by the authorised officials annexing in their report the
relevant documents.  This report and the documents annexed thereto may be included in the file
submitted to the Competition Committee, the Athens Administrative Court of Appeal and the Council
of State, thus ceasing to be confidential.  According to the provisions of Article 37(2) of the Code of
Criminal Procedure, in case of a criminal offence being detected this has to be reported immediately.
(ii) Company Law (Law 2190/1920)
Defines as confidential information "anything that has been noticed by a civil servant during
the exercise of his duties in controlling a private limited company".  Especially the Article 22a
paragraph 3, refers, regarding the Society Anonyme, that "every number of the Administrative
Council is obliged to strictly keep the secrets of  the company, which have been made known to him
due to his competency as consultant".
Also, from Article 39 paragraph 4 of the same law, the right for applying for information is
further granted and adjusted to a shareholder of a company, who has a percentage of 1 % on the
deposited capital.
The establishing framework regulating the excess, which the law doesn't permit, starts from
the concept that the development of the company's activity has to be protected from the
Administrative instruments of the Society Anonyme, the correction of which concerns the public
order.IP/Q3/GRC/1
Page 10
Article 23 paragraph 1 of the same law also refers that "it is forbidden to Consultants who
participate in the Administration to operate actions that are subjected to certain aims of the company
without the permission of the General Assembly".
For the same reason in Article 63 paragraph 1 case ka of L. 2190/1920 is precisely referred
that "a public servant, from those acting supe rvision on Society Anonyme, who won't keep the
absolute secrecy regarding the things that he obse rved during the operating of the company, should be
punished [...] with prison and with disciplinary punishment".
Finally, in Article 16 of L. 1599/86, the procedure for exercising of the "right for informing of
the administrative documents" is stated as a general provision.  More analytically, every citizen has
the right to take information of the administrative do cuments out of these which referred to the private
or family life of third party.  As administrative documents are deemed all the documents of the public
sector.
However, the services of the public sector may deny to satisfy this right on:
(a) Cases in which the secrecy of the calling together is overlooked, the secret of the
public credit of the national defence, of the public order, of currency, the medical,
banking, commercial or industrial secret or any other secret which is governed by
special provisions.
(b) Cases in which it will cause difficulties in the research of the judicial, police, army or
administrative authorities regarding the commitment of a crime or of administrative
violence.
(iii) Insurance enterprises and actuaries
The elements notified by the supervisory authority are these that, in accordance of the
provisions of Article 7 of Law 2190/1920 are possi ble to be published.  Provisions of Article 63,
paragraph 1 of the aforesaid law (see above paragraph 1, Company Law) are also applicable.
By the provisions of Article 50 of PD 400/70 "Regarding the individual insurance enterprises"
as same valid, all persons exercising or having exercised any activity in favour of the relevant service
of the Ministry of Development are bound by the Professional Secrecy and are not permitted to notifythe secret information taken during the exercising of their duties to any other person or authority,
reserving the cases which falls in the penalty law.
The confidential information characterise all these information which are in knowledge of the
relevant Service of the Ministry of Development and are not registered in the registered book for
society anonyme.
In case of violation of provisions regarding the professional secret, the ratifications provided
by Article 371 of Penalty Code are applied.
(iv) Securities Law
Law 1806/88 defines as confidential any piece of information of a specific nature, concerning
a company quoted in the stock exchange, that has not been published, not become common
knowledge in any other way, and which is of such a nature, that had it been known, could have
influenced significantly the value of the shares of the company concerned.IP/Q3/GRC/1
Page 11
(v) Banking Law
Law 1059/1971 states that all deposits held in deposit accounts with banks operating in
Greece are considered confidential, and no one is allowed to reveal any details concerning such
deposits to anyone, even with the permission of the account holder.  There are two main exceptions to
this rule.  Communication of such data is allowed:
(a) when a very serious crime case is either at the instruction phase or is pending before
the court, and then only on the strength of a duly supported request by either the
prosecutor or the court, and
(b) when details of the deposits in question are to be revealed to employees of the Bank
of Greece or to any other official body entrusted with the supervision of banks and
their dealings, such employees being in turn bound by the same duty of
confidentiality.
(vi) Tax Law
Law 1828/1989 considers that the following information is to be kept secret, and its
publication, communication or transmission by any means to any third party that, is any, other party
that the person directly concerned, is prohibited: 1) the tax returns themselves 2) all taxation data 3)
all reports and relevant decisions of the Tax Inspector and 4) all elements contained in the taxation filerelated directly or indirectly to the taxation concerned.  Areios Pagos  (the Supreme Court of Greece)
has held that if any crime is under investigation by the judicial authorities it is not legally possible to
prevent such authorities from obtaining data relating to the tax affairs of the person concerned.
[Follow-up question from the US]
Article 39.2 requires that natural and legal persons are to be able to prevent undisclosed
information meeting specific conditions from being disclosed to, acquired by, or used by others
in a manner contrary to honest commercial pr actices.  Greece's answer to question No. 5
indicates that criminal penalties can be imposed on those who do disclose undisclosed
information without authorization, but the answ er implies that the natural or legal persons
controlling such undisclosed information cannot prevent such disclosure.  The description of
laws does not indicate that acquisition and use of undisclosed information by unauthorized
persons is even addressed.  Please explain in detail how, under Greek law, the party in control
of undisclosed information can prevent its disclosure to, or acquisition or use by unauthorized
persons in a manner contrary to honest commercial practices as required by Article 39.2.
According to Article 16 paragraph 1 of Law No. 146/1914 Against Unfair Competition, any
person who as an employee or a labourer or an apprentice of a commercial or business enterprise,
divulges to third parties, without authorization, trade or industrial secrets confided to him during histerm of employment for the purpose of competition of wilful damage to the owner of the commercial
or business enterprise, shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment not exceeding six months and/or
a fine.
The same penalty is provided according to Article 16 paragraph 2 of Law No. 146/1914
Against Unfair Competition, against any person wh o without authorization, exploits or communicates
to third parties for the purpose of competition, trade of industrial secrets of which he has knowledge
as a result of one of the communications mentioned in paragraph 1 or through an act of his own that is
contrary to law or morality.IP/Q3/GRC/1
Page 12
The same penalty is also provided according to Article 17 of Law No. 146/1914 against
Unfair Competition, against any person who without authorization, exploits or communicates to third
parties designs or rules of a technical nature that have been entrusted to him in the course of business.
Besides restraining the disclosure of trade secrets and confidential commercial information by
the provision of criminal charges, the same Law provides also in Article 18 paragraph 1 for an actionfor damages sustained by any of the above mentioned infringements.  However, it is more common
that the injured party will bring an action for breach of contract.
The remaining provisions as described in our initial answer to question No. 5 together with
the above mentioned articles provide a sufficient legal framework against the disclosure of
confidential information.
6. Please indicate the nature of measures, if an y, that are taken by judicial authorities in
Greece to protect the confidentiality of undisclosed information furnished by a party to thecourt during legal proceedings, when the informat ion has been provided either to enforce rights
in such information, or for other purposes.
According to Article 113 paragraph 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure court sessions are held
in public.  Only in exceptional cases a court may hold a trial in camera  in order to protect the public
order or morality.
However, by virtue of Article 402 paragraph 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure a witness can
deny to testify at a trial, if his testimony contains information related to a trade secret.  Furthermore,
according to Article 450 paragraph 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, litigants or any person can
refuse to produce a document that may be useful to the procedure as evidence, if the document
contains information related to a trade secret.
A general duty to testify is being imposed on any witness in a criminal trial (Article 209 of
the Code of Criminal Procedure), with the only exception provided in the case of privileged
information disclosed to certain people such as an attorney, a notary public or a technical consultant,
etc.  (Article 212 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).  Documents related to a criminal investigation
have to be delivered to judicial authorities, unless the person i.e. attorney, in possession of thedocument declares in writing that it contains privileged information related to his profession
(Article 261 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).
7. Please explain the measures, if any, that have been implemented in Greece to protect
against unfair competition those parties that ha ve provided confidential test or other data
concerning a pharmaceutical or agricultural chem ical product to Greek regulatory authorities
pursuant to a request for marketing approval and how such measures are consistent with
Article 39.3 of the TRIPS Agreement.
(i) Protection of the test data which are carried out for the marketing of chemical products used
in agriculture (Ministry of Agriculture)
(a) Regarding the protection of studies for the issue of approval for the circulation in the
market of compounds containing new active substances, the provisions of EC
Directive 91/414 and especially its Article 13 are observed.
(b) For the protection of studies on compounds containing active substances, known to
the European Union, the provisions of our national legislation are observed
(Law 721/77 and Law 1845/89 and the relative Ministerial Decisions) until they are
re-approved on the basis of EC Directive 91/414.IP/Q3/GRC/1
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According to our national legislation no specific time interval is foreseen for the
protection of the studies.  In order to issue a circulation approval however, for a
specific compound, all studies foreseen by the legislation must be submitted in the
compound's file.
According to our legislation therefore, it is not possible to use studies which have not
been ceded by their owner to the person who applies for the approval of the
circulation of a compound, since the former have to be included in the file of each
compound.
(c) According to the European Council's Regulation No. 1610/96, plant protection
products can also be protected.
(ii) Confidentiality of data relating to chemical products
The General Chemical State Laboratory is the Competent Authority in the EU scheme
accepting notification dossiers with all the testing data for new substance before these enter into the
market.  For this particular procedure full confidentiality is provided by the Greek law, for patented or
not patented chemicals.
(iii) Protection of the test data relating to medicinal products
(a) The National Drug Organization has adopted all the EU directives and regulations for
the procedures leading to a marketing authorization of medicinal products.  In
particular Directive 65/65 as amended in Article 4 paragraph 8 describes some
aspects of data protection which we have implemented.
(b) According to the Greek Law 1316/83 all National Drug Organization personnel
(including members of committees) is obliged to keep required confidentiality for allkind of information related with their duties.
4
[Follow-up question from the US]
Please verify that test data and other information submitted by an applicant for
marketing approval of pharmaceuticals and agricultural chemicals cannot be relied upon by
other applicants for marketing approval without the agreement of the party that submitted the
data.
See reply to Question No. 7 above.
                                                     
4The delegation of Greece has informed that this reply also covers the following follow-up question.IP/Q3/GRC/1
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8. Under the Greek Ministerial Decree 9392/91, protection of data provided to Greek
regulatory agency pursuant to party’s efforts to  obtain marketing approval is conditioned on
the co-existence of a patent covering the regulated product.  Please explain how this practice
complies with Article 39.3 of the TRIPS Agreement, which does not condition the availability ofprotection against unfair competition with regard to test data on the co-existence of patent
protection.
Regarding the above question, we asked the USTR Office in Geneva to give us some
necessary clarifications concerning their reference number of the Greek Ministerial Decision or
Presidential Decree 9392/91.
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