1  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
INTRODUCTORY NOTE  
 
 
The revised and reviewed edition of this booklet aspires to offer an exten d-
ed presentation of the legal framework governing inve ntions, designs and 
models as well as technology transfer in Greece . 
 
Apart from more recent trans cripts, it contains full texts of the most i m-
portant laws or decrees and a reference to the relevant legisl ation. 
 
The Industrial Property Organisation (OBI) remains in hope that this booklet 
will stand for prompting and transferring the knowledge required  for the pr o-
tection of i nventions and inventors.    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2015   2 LEGISLATION RELATED TO INVENTIONS, DESIGNS AND MODELS,  
TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER AND  
TOPOGRAPHIES OF SEMICONDUCTOR PRODUCTS   
 
 
 
 
1.  Introductory  Note  ........................................ .................................  1 
2.  Contents  ......................................................................................  2 
3.  Law No 4325/1963 , “On National Defen se Patents and 
amendment to the Law of Patents No. 2527/1920 ” ……………..  7 
4.  Law No 1 733/1987 “Technology transfer, inventions and tec h-
nological innovation” ….............................................................. .. 12 
5.  Ministerial Decision No 15928/EFA/1253 “Filing of applic ations 
to OBI for the grant of patents or utility model certificates with 
OBI and keeping of record books" ..................................... ........  39 
6.  Ministerial Decision No 5326/EFA/485/1988 “Technology tran s-
fer contract registration form”  ................................................. ..... 44 
7.  Presidential Decree No 77/1988 “Implement ing regulations of 
the Convention on the grant of European patents as ratified by 
Law 1607/1986 ” ................................................ ............ ..............  45 
8.  Presidential Decree No 16/1991 “Implementi ng regulations of 
the P atent Cooperation Treaty as ratified by Law 1883/1990 ” … 54 
9.  Presidential Decree No 45/1991 “Legal protection of topogr a-
phies of semiconductor products in compliance with Council D i-
rective 87/54/EEC of 16th December 1986 as suppleme nted by 
Decisions 87/532/EEC and 88/311/EEC ” .......................... ..........   60 
10.  Council Regulation No 1768/1992 of 18th June 1992 “concer n-
ing the creation of a supplementary protection certificate for 
medicinal products ” ……………………………………… ………….  69 
11.  Presidential Decree  No 54/14.02.1992 “Amendment to the pr o-
vision of Law 1733/1987 (GG 171 A') ‘Transfer of technology, 
inventions, technological innovation and establishment of an 
Atomic Energy Committee’ in compliance with the EC Treaty 
(GG 22 A ’)” ....... ........... ................................................................  76  3 12.  Law No 2359/1995 on the “Amendment to the Government Bill 
on the Hellenic Bank of Industrial Development (ETVA) and 
other provisions” ………………………………………… .………….   77 
13.  Law No 2417/1 996 “Ratification of the convention of the Hague 
on the international lodging of industrial designs and specimens 
of 6 N ovember 1925, as revised at the Hague on 28 November 
1960 and the Supplementary Act of  Stockholm of 14 July 1967 
as amended at Stockholm  on 28th September 1979 ” ................. .  
 
 
 
78 
14.  European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1610/96 of 
23rd July 1996 “concerning the creation of a supplementary pr o-
tection certificate for plant protection products" ..........................    
 
80 
15.  Ministerial Decision No 30560/544 “Lodging of an application 
with the Industrial Property Organisation for the granting of a 
supplementary protection certificate for plant protection pro d-
ucts” ......................... .................................... ............................. .. 88 
16.  Presidential Decree No 259/1997 “Implementing Provisions of 
the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of 
Industrial Designs as ratified with Law 2417/1996 and Prov i-
sions Concerning the National Title of P rotection” ........... ...........  92 
17.  Law No 2557/1997 (GG 271, Α ’, 24.12.1997) “Institutions, 
measures and actions for cultural development”  ............... ......... 106 
18.  Joint Ministerial Decision No 14905/EFA/3058  “Lodging of an 
application with the OBI for the granting of a supplementary 
certifi cate for protection for pharmaceuticals”  ............. ................  107 
19.  Law No 2919/2001 (GG 128, Α ’, 25.06.2001) “Connecting r e-
search and technology with production and other provisions”  …  111 
20.  Law No  2943 (GG 203, Α ’, 12.09.2001) "Serving of sent ences 
by drug dealers and other provisions within the remit of the Mi n-
istry for Justice"  ........................ ................................................. .. 112 
21.  Presidential Decree No 321/24.09.2001 “Adaptation to Directive 
98/44/EC of the Europe an Parliament and of the Council on the 
legal protection of biotechnological inventions"  ....................... ...  
 
114 
  4 22.  Presidential Decree No 161/31.05.2002 “ Adaptation of Pres i-
dential Decree 259/1997 to the provisions of Directive 98/71/EC 
of the Eu ropean Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 
1998 on the legal protection of designs”  …….. .................... ........   
 
 
119 
23.  Joint Ministerial Decision  No 14113/EFA/3850/23.12.2002 
“Amen dment to the joint ministerial decision 12149/EFA/2248 
(GG Β ’ 1240/  11.10.2000) "Awards and financial support to i n-
vestors"  ............ ...................................................................... ..... 122 
24.  Regulation (EC) No 1891/2004 (EU OJ L 328 of 30.10.2004) of 
the  Commission of 21st October 2004  “Laying down prov isions 
for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC)  No 
1383/2003 concer ning customs action against goods suspected 
of infringing certain intellectual property rights and  the 
measures to be taken  against goods  found to have infringed 
such rights ” …………………… …………………….. ………………   
 
 
 
 
126 
25.  Law No  3396/2005 (GG 246, Α ’, 06.10.2005)  “Ratification of the 
act revising the Convention on the Grant of European Patents 
(European Patent Convention of 5 October 1973, as amended 
on 17 December 1991) of 2 9 November 2000”  ...........................   
 
 
131 
26.  Joint Ministerial Decision DYG3(a)  No 83657  (GG 59 Β of 
24.01.2006) on the “Harmonisation of Greek legislation with the 
equivalent community legislation in the fields of production and 
marketing of medi cines for human use, in compliance with  Di-
rective 2001/1983/EC on “the Community Code relating to m e-
dicinal products for human use”, as amended by Directives  
2004/27/EC, 2004/24/EC on traditional herbal medicinal pro d-
ucts and Article 31 of Directive  2002/1 998/EC on the adoption 
of standards of quality and safety for the collection, testing, 
processing, storage and distribution of human blood and blood 
components”  .............................. ................................. ................   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
132 
 
 
  5 27.  Commission Regulation (EC) No 1172/2007 of 5.10.2007 
“Amending Commission Regulation (EC)  No 1891/2004 of 
21.10.2004 laying down provisions for the implementation of 
Council Regulation (EC) No 1383/2003 concerning customs a c-
tion against goods suspected  of infringing certain intellectual 
property rights and the measures to be taken against goods 
found to have infringed such rights”   ………………………… ……  
 
 
 
 
 
133 
28.  Ministerial Decision  No 11475 /EFA/2388/ GG  B’ 
1165/25.06.2008 “Submission of an application with t he OBI for 
a six-month extension of the duration of the supplementary pr o-
tection certificate for paediatric pharmaceuticals”  ...................... . 135 
29.  Ministerial Decision  No 10374/GG Β ’ 1594, 04.08.09 “Proc e-
dure of search report or final search report  drawing by the I n-
dustrial Property Organi sation (ΟΒΙ)”  ................................. .........  141 
30.  Regulation (EC)  No 469/2009 of the European Parliament and 
of the Council of 6 May 2009 “Concerning the supplementary 
protection certificate for medici nal products”  ...............................  145 
31.  Law No 3842/ GG A’ 58/23.04.2010 “Restoring tax justice, a d-
dressing tax evasion and other provisions”  ........................... ...... 156 
32.  Ministerial Decision No 11970/B0012/POL.1203/10 (GG 2147 
B’/ 31.12.2010), “Determination of terms, prerequisites and pr o-
cedures regarding the implementation of the provisions of art i-
cle 71 ‘Patent tax incentives’ of Law No 3842/2010 (GG 
A/58/23.4.2010)”  ………… ………………………………………….   
 
 
158 
33.  Law No 3966 (GG 118 A’, 24.05.201 1) “Institutional framework 
of Model Pilot Schools, Establishment of an Institute of Educ a-
tional Policy, Organisation of the Institute of Computer Tec h-
nology and Publ ications ‘ DIOFANTOS’ and other provisions” …  161 
34.  Presidential Decree 46/23.04.2012 (GG  A’ 95), “Amendment of 
Presidential Decree 77/1988 (GG A’ 33) in application of the 
Act revi sing the Convention on the Grant of European Patents 
of 29 November 2000 that was ratified with  Law 3396/2005 
(GG A’ 246)”  …………… ………………………………………….. ..  
 
 
 
168  6 35.  Decisi on of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Development,  
Competitiveness, Infrastructures, Transport and Networks No 
30376/Δ106 721/5.7.2012 (GG Β’ 2094, 6.7.2012), “Assig n-
ment of competences to the Deputy Minister of Develo pment, 
Competitiveness, Infras tructures, Transport and Ne tworks, Mr. 
Athanasios Skord as” ………………………………… ……………..   
 
 
 
 
173 
36.  Law 4144/2013 (GG A’ 88, 18.4.2013) “ Fight against deli n-
quency in Social Security System, in labour market and other 
dispositions falling under the competence of the Ministry of L a-
bour, Social Insu rance and Welfare” , article 79 , 
“Regulatory issues of the Hellenic Industrial Property Organi sa-
tion” …………………………………… ………………………………  176 
37.  Ministerial Decision 12625/1/2014  (GG B’ 3258, 4.12.2014),  
"Electronic distribution of documents to and from the Industrial 
Property Organisation (OBI) and electron ic filing of industrial 
design or model registration"  ………………………………………  177 
38.  Annex ......................................................................................... . 183 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  7 LAW  No. 4325/1963  
“On National Defense Patents and amendment  
to the Law of Patents No. 2527/1920 ” 
 
PAUL KING OF GREECE  
We decide and order the following, as 
unanimously voted and passed by Pa r-
liament:  
Article 1  
1. All inventions and  discoveries deve l-
oped in Greece or in a foreign country 
by Greek nationals co ncerning Greece’s 
national defense, an ally’s national d e-
fense or this one of a group of allied 
countries of which Greece is part, may 
not be transmitted to any domestic or 
foreign legal or natural entity or di s-
closed in any way whatsoever in any 
country, even before such i nvention or 
discovery is classified as secret accor d-
ing to articles 2 and 3 herein.  Similarly, 
it is prohibited to transmit or disclose 
any technical i nformati on that can be 
related in any way whatsoever with such 
inventions or di scoveries.  
2. As an exception, the above prohib i-
tion shall not apply in the case where 
there is a specific and mutual agre ement 
between Greece and other inte rested 
Countries.  In this c ase, any matter r e-
lated to info rmation exchange procedure 
and confidentiality assurances for inve n-
tions, discovers and technical info r-
mation disclosed from both parties shall 
be governed by the terms and cond i-
tions of said agreement.  
3. Any agreement  ref erred to in the pr e-
vious paragraph 2, which is agreed upon 
or in process  of  being  agreed upon by   
Greece and anot her NATO country, as 
well as any relevant procedure of such 
agreement shall be ratified by Royal D e-
cree issued by the Ministers for Foreign  
Affairs, National Defense, and Co m-
merce.  Any agreement between the 
aforementioned countries regarding c o-
operation for weapon development pr o-
grams shall be ratified by similar Royal 
Decrees. Any classified agreement and 
the aforementioned proc edures as we ll 
shall be ratified upon decision issued by 
the aforesaid Ministers and shall be pu b-
lished in the Government Gazette.   
Article 2  
1. Any statement of grant of a patent 
(patent statement) will henceforth be 
deposited to a Specific Confidential I n-
vention Of fice b elonging to the Ministry 
of Co mmerce which is hereby founded 
(Industrial Property Depar tment).  
2. The documents stated in article 21 of 
Law of Patents No. 2527/1920 shall be 
submitted by the inventor himself or by a 
duly authorized representative.  
3. The Specific Confidential Inve ntion 
Office shall be operated by the Industrial 
Property D epartment’s employees as 
well as by other e mployees working in 
other services of the Ministry of Co m-
merce according to the provisions of A r-
ticle 14 herein.  
 
  8 Article  3 
1. Within five days – starting from the 
next day of patent statement’s submi s-
sion mentioned in Article 2 - a three - 
member committee of specialized offi c-
ers of the Ministry of National Defense, 
which is appointed and r eplaced upon 
decision of National D efense Minister 
and is chaired by the highest in rank or 
the most senior member in terms of age, 
shall co ntrol such statements. Those not 
meeting the provisions of Article 1 her e-
in are referred by means of an act 
adopted by the said committee to the 
comp etent service for further actions, 
wher eas those falling under Article 1are 
classified ‘as temporarily confide ntial’ by 
a similar act.  
2. In exceptionally difficult circumstan c-
es the above five -day dea dline may be 
prolonged up to a ma ximum of twenty 
five days  by an act of the committee, 
which shall be notified to the Specific 
Confide ntial Invention Office. Where the 
above period expires without the exam i-
nation having been completed, the ord i-
nary p atent granting procedure shall be 
applied.  
3. The same procedure  (paragraph 1 
and 2) applies to confidential i nventions 
which have been registered a ccording to 
article 30 of L. 2527/1920 and article 10 
of this Royal Implementing Decree. In 
such event, the file is stamped fo llowing 
a decision of the committee. The inve n-
tion is classified as non -confidential and 
it is r eferred to the competent service for 
further a ctions.  
 
 Article 4  
1. In the event that a patent stat ement is 
classified as temporarily confidential a c-
cording to article 3, the relevant file is 
stamped and w ithin five days follo wing 
the date of its classification, it is fo r-
warded to the competent service of the 
Ministry of National Defense for final a p-
proval or cancellation of this classific a-
tion.    
2. Following the opinion of the above 
committee, within thr ee months after the 
five-day period of paragraph 1, the Mi n-
ister of N ational Defense shall decide 
definitely and irrevocably about the cla s-
sification of this statement.  
3. Where the Minister considers that the 
statement falls under the prov isions of 
articl e 1, he classifies it as “definitely 
confidential” and n otifies the inventor or 
his/her representative (authorized pe r-
son) of his decision. Further, he ensures 
patent registration under the inventor 
name to the Mini stry of Commerce and 
he orders the file t o be sealed and kept 
safely.   
4. On the contrary, if the above three -
month deadline expires without any a c-
tion, the classification as ‘temporarily 
confidential’ is ca ncelled ipso jure and 
the file is sent back to the Ministry of 
Commerce for further actio ns.   
Article 5  
1. The patent statements classified as 
“confidential” as well as the relevant p a-
tents shall be filed in specific books (re g-
isters) with a serial number similar to 
those of ordinary books (re gisters); the 
pages which remain blank with an ind i-
cation C - namely Confidential - next to  9 the serial number, correspond to Conf i-
dential Inventions indicating the number 
of the book and the page of the specific 
confidential book where they have been 
filed. The Industrial Property Bulletin of 
the Governmen t Gazette publishes o nly 
the number of the patent with the indic a-
tion “conf idential”.  
2. The monitoring of confidential patent 
statements may be conducted o nly by 
the inventor himself or a specific atto r-
ney duly autho rized by the Minister of 
National D efense pursuant to article 14 
herein. 
Article 6  
According to the provisions of art icle 1, 
after the classification of a patent stat e-
ment as temporarily or definitely conf i-
dential, the inventor and any third party 
shall not di sclose or publish in any way 
whatso ever such statement and its co n-
tent. Otherwise the penalties d escribed 
in article 8 shall be i mposed.  
Article 7  
Provided that the conditions of art icle 1 
(2) are met and upon written approval by 
the Minister of National Defense, the i n-
ventor of a conf idential patent statement 
may file such statement in a foreign 
country so as to obtain in that country a 
relevant patent  
Article 8  
1. Those who deliberately and in breach 
of any of the provisions hereof transfer 
or disclose inve ntions or discoveries or 
technica l information in light of article 1 
herein,  are to be se ntenced up to ten 
years of imprisonment and during wa r-
time to life impri sonment or death, even if the said statement is not classified as 
‘temporarily confide ntial’ or ‘definitely 
confidential’. Thos e penalties shall be 
equally imposed to those who kno wingly 
obtain illegally such inventions, disco v-
eries or technical information.  Such 
penalties shall apply similarly to e m-
ployees who knowingly disclose any i n-
formation regarding the above inve n-
tions, di scoveries and technical info r-
mation of which he/she became aware 
due to his/her duties. Those who negl i-
gently violate the above pr ovisions will 
be subject to imprisonment.  
2. The provisions of this article are a p-
plicable as well to confidential inve n-
tions , discoveries and technical info r-
mation o btained abroad.  
Article 9  
1. The Minister of National Defense 
may, subject to a prior and just compe n-
sation of the inventor or his/her heirs 
and before fixing the amount of said 
compensation d etailed below, use the 
confidential p atent statements for state 
services and e nterprises defined by him.  
2. The said reasonable compens ation 
may be defined in any form whatsoe ver 
(lump sum payment, per piece of the 
produced item or a rate of its value etc.) 
and is determined up on agreement b e-
tween the Minster of National Defense 
and the beneficiaries of such compens a-
tion. 
3. If agreement is not concluded within 
six months after the patent statement’s 
filing date, the compensation is fixed 
upon d ecision of a committee, which is 
consisted by an appeal court judge (d e-
fined as the Chairman), a specia lized  10 high rank officer of the Ministry of N a-
tional Defense, a high rank e mployee of 
the industrial property department of the 
Ministry of Commerce and a member 
from the Technical Chamber  of Greece.  
They are appointed together with their 
alternates by the co mpetent Ministers 
and the Chairman of the technical 
Chamber of Greece r espectively.  
4. The above decision is notified to the 
inventor or his/her authorized repr e-
sentative and the Minis ter of National 
Defense. Within one month following the 
notification date to each one of them, 
the receivers may file an appeal against 
such decision.  
5. The appeal is reviewed by a commi t-
tee consisted by a supreme court judge 
(as Chairman), one high rank specia l-
ized officer, one high rank employee of 
the Ministry of Commerce and one 
member of the Technical Chamber of 
Greece. They are a ppointed together 
with their alte rnates by the competent 
Ministers and the Chairman of the 
T.C.G. respectively.  
6. Officers  are appointed as secreta ries 
to the above committee by the Mi nister 
of National Defense. The decisions of 
this committee shall be taken by a m a-
jority of members and the Chairman 
shall have the casting vote in case of 
equality of votes. The dec isions of th e 
Second Instance Committee are irrev o-
cable and there is neither judicial rem e-
dy available against them nor a request 
for cancellation before the Greek Cou n-
cil of State.  
7. The provisions of this article shall a p-
ply as well to the confide ntial inventions 
obtained abroad.  Article 10  
1. When a patent statement is class ified 
as “definitely confidential” and is not 
used for more than one year after the 
filing date to the Ministry of Co mmerce, 
the inventor is entitled to request a re a-
sonable compensation accord ing to art i-
cle 9 herein.  
2. If the patent statement is used b efore 
the expiry of the one -year time limit, the 
inventor is not entitled to request co m-
pensation for the period that such patent 
statement remained u nused.  
3. The provisions of this article do n ot 
apply to the confidential inventions o b-
tained abroad.  
Article 11  
Except for the compensation pr ovided 
for in article 9 and 10, the i nventor has 
no right to claim additional compens a-
tion with regard to the classification of 
his/her statement as “temporar ily or de f-
initely confidential”.  
Article 12  
1. If a confidential patent statement no 
longer has any interest in terms of d e-
fense, the Mi nister of National Defense 
lifts its classification as “confidential”, 
upon opinion of the competent service, 
orders the  notification of this decision to 
the inventor or his/her authorized repr e-
sentative, and returns the file to the Mi n-
istry of Commerce for further actions.  
2. Patent statements and technical i n-
formation obtained abroad remain conf i-
dential unless the Govern ment of the 
State of origin decides to lift such class i-
fication; in this case the specific agre e- 11 ments’ prov isions are in force as well as 
safety regulations of the hos ting country.  
Article 13  
1. The Minister of National Defense a p-
points, by contract, speci alized or not 
scientists in order to conduct n ational 
defense research projects.  Inventions 
realized in execution of such contract 
belong to the Greek State.  
2. The remuneration of said scie ntists 
may be agreed in any way whatsoe ver, 
namely in the form of  monthly payment, 
a lump sum amount, per piece of the 
produced item, a rate of its value or ot h-
erwise according to the Minister’s jud g-
ment.  
Article 14  
1. Issues relevant to the organiz ation of 
the services involved in the application 
of the present Decree,  the authorization 
procedure of attorneys regarding conf i-
dential inventions, the placement to e x-
isting posts of employees charged with 
handling confidential statements and 
relevant documents, as well as the s e-
curity of those documents and any other 
detail having regard to the implement a-tion of this Decree shall be regulated 
upon decisions of the competent Mini s-
ters which shall be published on the 
Government G azette, except for those 
referring to conf idential issues.  
Article 15  
All documents issued for the i mpleme n-
tation hereof are confidential, pr ovided 
that they involve data relating to conf i-
dential inventions, discoveries and tec h-
nical information falling under the pr e-
sent Decree.  
Article 16  
This Decree shall enter into force upon 
its publication in the Go vernment G a-
zette. The Law No.2441/1940, “on N a-
tional D efense Patents”, the Legislative 
Decree No. 431/1947 “amendment of 
Law No.2441/1940 on National D efense 
Patents” are annulled.  
This Law was passed by Parli ament and 
We ratify it today. It shall be pu blished in 
the Government Gazette and shall be 
implemented as a law of the State.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  12 LAW No 1733/87  (FEK 171 A’ of 22.09.1987)  
"Technology transfer, inventions, and technological innovation"  
as amended by  Art. 18, of Law No 1739/1987 ( GG 201, A’ of 20.11.1987)  
 
PART ONE  
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY ORGANISATION (OBI)  
Article 1  
Foundation - Aim 
1.  A legal entity under private law  [1] 
shall be founded und er the name “I n-
dustrial Property Organ isation” (OBI), 
with seat at Athens, and under the tut e-
lage of the Mini stry of Industry, Energy, 
and Tec hnology.  
2.  The aim of OBI is to contribute to the 
technological and industrial develo p-
ment of the country throug h the practice 
of the following comp etencies:  
a. Grant of patents, patents of modific a-
tion and utility model certif icates, as well 
as rendering opinions for the co nclusion 
of non -contractual licences within the 
meaning of article 13;  
b. Registration of con tracts co ncerning 
technology transfer;  
c. Cooperation with similar organ isations 
in other countries, international organ i-
sations, research and technological ce n-
ters of the country as well as connection 
with organ isations and data banks;  
d. Preparation and monitoring of the i m-
plementation of international conve n-
tions on matters related to patents and 
technology transfer;  
e. Representation of Greece at intern a-
tional organisations by dec ision of the 
                                                 
1 OBI has been exempted from the public sector u n-
der Presidential Decree No. 23 2/14.07.1992  competent Ministers, as the case may 
be. 
f. Rendering of cons ultation and info r-
mation on new technologies and 
knowhow, under reserve of the dispos i-
tions of this law with regard to the conf i-
dential registers, re cords, and rolls;  
g. Monitoring and follow -up of the use of 
inventions and technical innov ations, 
and of th e transferring technology in 
Greece and abroad;  
h. Classification of inventions and of 
contracts on technology transfer by ca t-
egory of use taking into account the i n-
ternationally esta blished criteria.  
Article 2  
Administrative Council  
Structure - Function -  
Compete ncies 
1.  OBI shall be directed by a seven - 
member Administrative Council co m-
posed of  [2]: 
a. Two representatives of the Mi nistry of 
Development;  
b. One jurist specialized in industrial 
property matters, one searcher from a 
research centre or a hi gher education 
institution, with knowledge and exper i-
ence in matters related to industrial 
property, and an executive from the i n-
                                                 
2 Paragraph 1 of Article 2 is cited as amended by Art i-
cle 27, Par.1 of Law No. 2516/1997   13 dustry with experience  and knowledge 
on industrial property matters.   The 
above -mentioned members are s elected 
by the Minister of Develo pment.  
c. One technical scientist with 
knowledge and experience on ma tters 
related to industrial property to be pr o-
posed by the Technical Chamber of 
Greece (TEE).  
d. One representative of OBI’s emplo y-
ees elected and recalled from the total ity 
of the working force.   In case the said 
representative is not elected, the Admi n-
istrative Council shall legally meet even 
without the participation of said repr e-
sentative.  
2. [1] 
3.  The Administrative Council of OBI 
and the Director General shall be a p-
pointed  by decision of the Minister of I n-
dustry, Energy, and Technology for a 
four-year term of office.   The Chairman 
and the Vice -Chairman of the Admini s-
trative Council shall be appointed by the 
same decision.   The Chairman of the 
Administrative Council may be a ssigned 
with the duties of the D irector General of 
OBI. The term of office of the members 
of the A dministrative Council and of the 
Director General of OBI may be r e-
newed  [2]. 
4.  The competencies of the Secr etary 
of the Administrative Council shall be 
practiced by an employee of OBI to be 
appointed along with his deputy by dec i-
sion of the Chairman of the Administr a-
tive Council.  
5.  The compensation per session of the 
Chairman, the Director Ge neral of OBI, 
the Vice -Chairman, the members and 
                                                 
1 Paragraph 2 of Article 2 is abolished by Art icle 27, 
Par. 2  of Law No. 2516/1997  
2 Paragraph 3 of Article 2 is cited as replaced by Art i-
cle 18, paragra ph a of Law No. 1739/1987  the Secretary of the Administrative 
Council is to be determined by joint d e-
cision of the Minister of Industry, Ene r-
gy, and Technology and the Minister of 
Finance.   The number of mee tings may 
not exceed a total of four per month.  
6.  The Administrative Council shall 
meet up on summons by its Chai rman, 
regularly twice per month and extraord i-
narily if so requested by the Chai rman 
or the majority of the members of the 
Administrative Council.   In the latter 
case the Chairman shall obligatorily 
convene the members of the Administr a-
tive Council within five days from the 
date of the written notification of the r e-
quest of the majority.   This notif ication 
shall also state the items on the agenda.  
7.  The Administrative Council shall be 
in quorum when at least four (4) of its 
members ar e present.   The decisions of 
the Administrative Council shall be 
made by absolute majority of its atten d-
ing members and in case of equality of 
votes the vote of the Chairman shall 
prevail.  
8.  The duties of reporter shall be fu l-
filled by the Director Gener al of OBI or 
the Deputy Director General and occ a-
sionally the directors as well as me m-
bers of the Administr ative Council also 
assigned with special tasks, if the 
Chairman of the Administrative Council 
has been also assigned to the d uties of 
the Director Ge neral  [3]. 
9.  The minutes of the Administrative 
Council shall be signed by the Chai r-
man, the members and the Secretary.  
10.  The Administrative Council shall 
decide on every subject rela ted to the 
practice of the competencies, the a d-
                                                 
3 Paragraph 8 of Article 2 is cited as replaced by Art i-
cle 18, paragraph a of Law No. 1739/1987  
  14 ministration and the s taff of OBI.   More 
specifically, it shall:  
a. Set up the regulation of organ isational 
structure of OBI, the regulation regar d-
ing the status of the staff of OBI, the f i-
nancial status of OBI, and the rules of 
procedure of the Administr ative Council 
of OBI, a nd shall submit them for appr o-
bation to the Minister of Industry, Ene r-
gy, and Technology;  
b. Decide with regard to the means for 
attaining its goals and elaborate its long 
term and short -term plans of action, 
which it shall submit for approbation to 
the Mi nister of Industry, Energy, and 
Technology;  
c. Decide on the annual budget and its 
necessary amendments and shall su b-
mit it for approval to the Minister of I n-
dustry, Energy, and Technology;  
d. Decide on the recruitment of staff, on 
their emoluments and the ir inde mnities, 
the emoluments of the Director General 
included, and on every matter concer n-
ing their pr ofessional status in office;  
e. Establish regional services and 
branch offices in Greece and abroad;  
f. Compile the annual balance sheet and 
annual fina ncial report of OBI, the rel e-
vant dispositions on Limited Co mpanies 
applied thereto;  
g. Determine the fees and rev enues of 
OBI arising form the rendering of se r-
vices;  
h. Entrust organisations and other nat u-
ral persons or legal entities with stu dies, 
invest igations, and works related to the 
realisation of the goals of OBI and d e-
termine the r emuneration to be paid.  
11. The Administrative Council may, by 
decision, assign part of its competencies to the Director Ge neral of OBI, to the 
Deputy Director General or  to other se n-
ior emplo yees of OBI.  
12. The Chairman of the Admini strative 
Council shall determine the items on the 
agenda under reserve of art. 2 par. 6, 
summon the members of the Admini s-
trative Council to meetings, and follow 
up the i mplementation of the decisions 
of the Administrative Council.   In case of 
absence of the Chairman or his i nability 
to attend the Vice -Chairman shall pr e-
side the meeting of the Administrative 
Council.  
13.  The Director General of OBI  [1] shall 
have the following compete ncies: 
a. He shall be responsible for the i m-
plementation of the decisions made by 
the Administrative Cou ncil; 
b. He shall head the units of OBI and 
provide for their normal and effective 
function;  
c. He shall extrajudicially or judicially 
represent OBI and be enti tled to entrust, 
by act, according to the case or categ o-
ry of case, the representation to the 
Deputy Director General or to a member 
of the Administrative Council, to a la w-
yer of OBI or, for specific ma tters, to an 
employee of OBI.  
d.  By his act and in co mpliance with the 
dispositions of the law, he shall grant 
patents, patents of modification and util i-
ty model certif icates, issue opinions in 
accordance with article 13 regarding 
grant on non -contractual l icences, as 
well as any other certif icate, affirmati on 
or document for su pply of information 
defined by the pr esent law.  
                                                 
1 The first period of par. 13 of Article 2 is cited as r e-
placed by Article 18, par. B of Law No. 1739/1987   15 Article 3  
Resources - Management -  
Supe rvision  
1.  OBI shall have the following regular 
and extraordinary r esources:  
a. Fees and income arising from rende r-
ing of services;  
b. Special fin ancing from the bud get of 
the Public Investments Pr ogramme;  
c. Special financing from subsidies, d o-
nations, inheritance, legacy, and contr i-
butions of any kind from legal entities 
and natural persons.  
2. Following approbation of the Minister 
of National Eco nomy and of the Minister 
of Industry, Energy, and Technology, 
OBI may contact loans with banks and 
credit organisations in Greece or 
abroad.  
The guarantee of the Greek state may 
be given for the grant of the aforeme n-
tioned loans.  
3.  The management and the  annual 
balance sheet of OBI shall be audited by 
Certified Accountants.  
4.  For the supervision of the fun ction of 
OBI, the Administrative Council shall 
submit to the Minister of Industry, Ene r-
gy and Technology an annual r eport of 
its activities, a report  of rev enues and 
expenses, the budget, and the balance 
sheet.  
Article 4  
Regulations - Rolls - Registers -  
Records 
1.  By decision of the Administrative 
Council of OBI, approved by the Mini ster 
of Industry, Energy, and Technology the 
following reg ulations shall be set up:  a. Regulation of organisational structure 
of OBI, which shall reg ulate its structure 
with regard to service units, their comp e-
tencies, and their function.  
The regulation of the organisational 
structure of OBI may provide for the e s-
tablishm ent of a committee which shall 
comprise specialized scientists of OBI 
with the purpose of examining p atent 
applications, wherever the exam ination 
of said applications requires specialized 
scientific knowledge.  
b. Regulation of the status of the staff of 
OBI, which shall determine the posts of 
the staff provided by the law and the 
qualifications for their recruitment; it will 
also regulate issues pertaining to the 
progress of the staff with regard to 
grade and salary, issues pe rtaining to 
retirement from the  service and in ge n-
eral all issues related to the service st a-
tus as well as the disciplinary respons i-
bility and discipl inary penalties.  
c.  Economic regulation which deals with 
matters of management, compi ling, and 
publication of the budget, the balance 
sheet and the annual report, issues r e-
lating to the cases and the procedures 
for payment of fees, income or rev e-
nues, and rendering e xpenses as well 
as to matters of su pplies of OBI.  
d. Regulation of function of the Admini s-
trative Council of OBI, which is no t sub-
ject to approbation by the Minister.  
2. OBI shall keep the following re gisters, 
records, and rolls:  
A. Registers:  
a. Confidential technology transfer regi s-
ter, within the meaning of art icle 21 of 
the present law;  
b. Common register for patents;   16 c. Confidential register for patents;  
d. Register for utility model certif icates;  
B. Records:  
a. Confidential record for technology 
transfer, within the meaning of    article 
21 of the present law;  
b. Ordinary record for patents;  
c. Confidential record for paten ts; 
d. Record for utility model certif icates;  
C. Rolls:  
a. Ordinary roll for reports;  
b. Confidential roll for reports.  
3. OBI shall issue the Industrial Property 
Bulletin and publications for briefing and 
spreading information relating to p a-
tents, innovat ions, and technology tran s-
fer. 4. The data which shall be included in 
the aforementioned registers, records 
and rolls and the mode of their redu ction 
and presentation shall be dete rmined by 
decision of the Minister of Industry, E n-
ergy, and Technology, foll owing a pr o-
posal of the Administrative Council of 
OBI.  The same decision shall determine 
the manner in which the Industrial Pro p-
erty Bulletin shall be kept and issued, as 
well as the d ata to be included therein.  
5.  As confidential register, record, and 
roll there are understood, those which 
exist subject to Law No. 4325/1963 “on 
inventions related to the national d e-
fence of the country”.   The disclosure of 
the confidential data kept in the conf i-
dential registers, records or rolls by the 
staff of OBI in th e course of their service 
and for a period of ten years following 
discontinuation of their service shall be 
punished by the penalties defined in a r-
ticle 8 of Law 4325/1963 “on inventions 
related to the national defence of the 
country”.  
 
PART TWO  
PATENTS  
CHAPTER ONE  
GENERAL DISPOSITIONS 
BENEFICIARIES  
Article 5  
Meaning  
1.  Patents shall be granted for any i n-
ventions which are new, which involve 
an inventive step, and which are su s-
ceptible of industrial application.   The 
invention may relate to a product, a pro-
cess or an industrial application.  2. The following shall not be regarded 
as inventions within the meaning of pa r-
agraph 1:  
a. discoveries, scientific theories, and 
mathematical methods;  
b.       aesthetic creations;  
c.       schemes, rules, and methods for 
performing mental acts, playing games 
or doing business, and programs for 
computers;  
d.       presentation of information.   17 3.  An invention shall be considered new 
if it does not form part of the state of the 
art.  The state of the art shall be held to  
comprise anything made available to the 
public a nywhere in the world by means 
of a written or oral d escription or in any 
other way, before the filing date of the 
patent application or the date of priority.  
4.  An invention shall be considered as 
involving  an inventive step if, having r e-
gard to the state of the art, it is not obv i-
ous to a person skilled in the art.  
5.  An invention shall be considered as 
susceptible of industrial applic ation if its 
subject matter may be produced or used 
in any sector of ind ustrial activity.  
6.  The following shall not be r egarded 
as inventions susceptible of industrial 
application within the meaning of par a-
graph 5:  
a.       Methods for treatment of the h u-
man or animal body by surgery or the r-
apy; 
b.       Diagnostic methods p racticed on 
the human or animal body.  
7.  The exceptions to paragraph 6 shall 
not apply to products and in particular to 
substances or comp ositions for use in 
any of these methods.  
8.  Patents shall not be granted in the 
following cases:  
a.   inventions th e publication or explo i-
tation of which would be contrary to pu b-
lic order (“ordre publique”) or m orality;  
b. plant or animal varieties or biological 
processes for the production of plants or 
animals; this provision does not apply to 
microbiological processe s or the pro d-
ucts thereof.  9.  Patents shall be granted also for an 
invention which has been di sclosed no 
earlier than six months preceding the 
filing of the patent application, if the di s-
closure was due to:  
a.  an evident abuse of the rights of the 
applic ant or his/her legal pr edecessor;  
b. the fact that the invention was di s-
played at an officially recognised inte r-
national exhibition falling within the 
terms of the convention on international 
exhibitions signed in Paris on 22 N o-
vember 1928 and ratified by Law 
5562/32 (Official Journal, 221).   In said 
case, when filing the application, the 
applicant should state that the invention 
has been so displayed and should file 
the rel evant supporting certificate.  
10.        The disclosure of paragraph 9 
does not affe ct the novelty of the inve n-
tion provided for in pa ragraph 3.  
Article 6  
Right to a patent  - 
Invention by an Employee -  
Claiming 
1.  The right to a patent shall belong to 
the inventor or to the beneficiary in a c-
cordance with paragraphs 4, 5, and 6 
and to hi s/her general or special su c-
cessors in title.   Whoever requests the 
grant of the patent shall be deemed to 
be the inventor.  
2.  If two or more persons have made an 
invention jointly and pr ovided that there 
exists no other agreement, the right 
shall belong to all of them jointly.   Each 
co- beneficiary may freely assign his 
share and take care of the maint enance 
of the joint patent.  
3.  If two or more persons have made 
the invention independently of each ot h-
er, the right to the patent shall belong to 
the pers on whose patent applic ation has  18 the earliest date of filing or to the person 
who has a priority right against the ot h-
ers in accordance with art icle 9.  
4.  An invention made by an e mployee 
shall belong to him/her (free invention) 
unless the invention is eit her a service 
invention, in which case it entirely b e-
longs to the employer, or is a depen dent 
invention in which case it belongs by 
40% to the employer and by 60% to the 
employee.  
5.  A service invention is the outcome of 
a contractual relation between the  em-
ployee and the employer for the deve l-
opment of inventive activity.   In case 
that a service inve ntion is accomplished, 
the employee shall have the right to r e-
quest an additional reasonable reco m-
pense if the invention is particularly pro f-
itable to the  employer.  
6. A dependent invention is the inve n-
tion made by an employee with the use 
of mater ials, means or information of the 
enterprise in which he/she is e mployed.   
The employer shall be entitled to exploit 
the dependent invention by priority 
against compe nsation to the inventor, 
proportional to the economic value of 
the invention and the profits it brings.   
The inventor of the dependent invention 
shall without neglect notify in writing the 
employer on the acco mplishment of the 
invention and shall give the necessary 
data for the filing of a joint patent appl i-
cation.   If the employer does not answer 
in writing within four months form said 
notification to the employee that he is 
interested in jointly filing the patent a p-
plication, the said application shall be  
filed by the employee only and in this 
case the invention belongs entirely to 
the e mployee.  
7. Any agreement which restricts the 
above mentioned rights of the emplo yee 
shall be considered null.  8. In all cases, the name of the inventor 
shall be mentioned in the patent and the 
inventor shall have the right vis -à-vis the 
applicant or the owner of the patent to 
demand his/her recogn ition as inventor.  
9. The beneficiary of the invention may, 
if a third party has filed wit hout his/her 
consent a patent applicati on relating to 
his invention or to essential constituents 
there of, d emand by legal action against 
said third party the recognition of his/her 
rights emanating from the patent appl i-
cation or, in case that a patent has been 
granted, his/her rights emanating  from 
the patent.  
10. The aforementioned legal action 
shall be brought before the court within 
a period of two years from the date of 
publication of the summary of the patent 
in the Industrial Property Bulletin.   This 
term does not apply if the paten tee is  
aware of the right of the claimant at the 
time of grant or assignment of the p a-
tent. 
11.  A summary of the irrevocable dec i-
sion stating the acceptance of the 
aforementioned action shall be re corded 
in the Patents Register.  
The licences and all other right s which 
have been granted on the patent shall 
be co nsidered null as from the date of 
said recordal.   The defeated litigant and 
third parties, if they have exploited the 
invention in good faith or had proceeded 
with the necessary preparations for said 
explo itation, may request from the re c-
ognised beneficiary the grant against 
compensation of a non -exclusive licence 
for a reasonable period of time.   In case 
of dispute of the parties the conditions 
shall be determined by the one -member 
court of first instance in the place of re s-
idence of the applicant, in a ccordance 
with the procedure laid out in article 741 
to 781 of the Code of Civil Procedure 
Law.   19 CHAPTER TWO  
PROCEDURE FOR GRANTING  
A PATENT  
Article 7  
Filing of application - Acceptability -
Publication  
1.  For the grant of a patent an applic a-
tion shall be filed with OBI i ncluding:  
a. Full name or name of legal entities, 
nationality, residence or seat, and a d-
dress of the applicant;  
b.       Description of the invention and 
determination of one or more claims.   
OBI may request completion or rewor d-
ing of the description or the claims in o r-
der to comply with the dispositions of 
the present law.   By claim shall be held 
in the present law the extent and the 
content of the reques ted protection;  
c. A request for the gr ant of a p atent. 
2. The application shall be acco mpanied 
by the drawings referred to in the claims 
or the description, an abstract of the i n-
vention, the explanations for the proper 
understan ding of the description, and 
the documents empowering the appl i-
cant to act in case of a legal entity or in 
case of a natural person if he/she is not 
the inventor.   It shall be further acco m-
panied by the receipts evidencing pa y-
ment of the application fee and of the 
first a nnual renewal fee.  
3. The claims of the invention shall be 
based on the description.  
4. The description of the invention shall 
be so compiled as to be sufficiently ca r-
ried out by a third person skilled in the 
art. 5.  The abstract of the invention serves 
only for the purpose of technical info r-
mation.  
6.  The application may relate either to a 
single or to multiple inve ntions so linked 
as to form a single general concept.   If 
the application is related to several i n-
ventions (compound application) the 
applicant may, up to the date of grant of 
the patent, div ide the application into 
more than one divisional appl ications, 
maintaining the filing date of the initial 
application as filing date of each div i-
sional application.  
7.  Upon filing the patent application, the 
applicant may state that he wishes his 
applica tion to be considered, in accor d-
ance with article 19, as an applic ation 
for the grant of a utility model certificate 
if the application shall be rejected as a 
patent application.  
8. The application shall be a ccented for 
filing provided that it meets the te rms 
laid down in paragraph 1 and that it is 
accompanied by the receipts of the fi ling 
fee and the first annual renewal fee.   In 
this case the filing of the application 
shall be considered as o rderly filed but 
not complete.  
9. Within a period of four months  from 
the filing date, the applicant should 
submit any missing drawings or other 
supporting documents, complete any 
lacking data, and co rrect any eventual 
errors in the draft of the documents and 
of other supporting documentation in 
accordance with paragra phs 2, 3, 4, and 
5.  In this case the filing of the applic a-
tion shall be considered complete.  
10. The date of the orderly filing of the 
application in accordance with par a-
graph 8 is considered as the filing date 
of the application.   20 11. The manner of drafti ng and filing of 
the patent application and of the doc u-
ments a ttached thereto as well as of any 
other detail relating to the proc edure for 
the grant of a patent shall be determined 
by decision of the Minister of Industry, 
Energy, and Technology, following pro-
posal of the Administrative Council of 
OBI. 
12. The patent application of paragraph 
1 as well as the documentation a ttached 
thereto provided for in paragraph 2 shall 
be made available to the public eighteen 
months fo llowing the filing date or the 
date o f priority, unless the patent has 
already been granted in which case they 
are made available to the public on the 
date of grant of the p atent. 
13.  As from the date on which the a p-
plication is made available to the pu blic, 
any third party may request infor mation 
and copies of the application, of the d e-
scription, of the drawings, and of any 
other relevant data.  
14.  Extracts of the application shall be 
published in the Industrial Property Bu l-
letin.  
Article 8  
Grant of the patent - Procedure  
1. If after the la pse of the term stated in 
paragraph 9 of the preceding article OBI 
discovers the orderly but not complete 
filing of the application, this shall be 
considered as not filed.  
2. If the filing of the application is orderly 
and complete, OBI shall exa mine: 
a. whether the subject matter of the a p-
plication relates to an invention which is 
obviously - patentable within the mea n-
ing of paragraphs 6 and 8 of article 5;  
b. whether the subject matter of the a p-
plication cannot be obviously considered as invention within the meaning of art i-
cle 5 paragraph 2.  
If either of the above cases occurs, OBI 
shall reject the patent applic ation in its 
entirety or in the part which falls under 
said cases.  
3. If the applications is not considered 
as non -filed or if it is not rejected, in ac-
cordance with the preceding par a-
graphs, OBI shall draft a search report 
based on the description of the inve n-
tion, the claims, and the attached dra w-
ings which shall mention all data of the 
state of the art necessary for the a s-
sessment of the novelty a nd the i n-
ventive step of the invention (search r e-
port).   The search report may be a c-
companied by comments or brief e x-
planatory remarks made by OBI which 
shall relate to the characteristics of the 
invention in accordance with article 5 
par. 1.  
4. The search  report shall be drafted o n-
ly if the applicant pays the search fee 
within four months from the filing date of 
the application.   In case said fee is not 
paid in time, the patent application is a u-
tomatically converted into an application 
for grant of a utili ty model certif icate.  
5. The search report, along with a copy 
of the documents accompanying it, shall 
be notified to the applicant who is ent i-
tled to present his/her comments within 
a period of three months from the date 
of the notification.  
6. On the basi s of the applicant’s co m-
ments, OBI shall draft a final search r e-
port inclu ding all data of the state of the 
art which have to be taken into consi d-
eration in a ppraising the patentability of 
the invention by granting a patent in a c-
cordance with the present l aw. 
7. The search report shall be made 
available to the public along with the p a- 21 tent applic ation or, if it has not yet been 
drawn -up, following its notific ation to the 
applicant.  
8. The search report or the final search 
report, ha ve an informative characte r. 
9. Upon drafting the search report, OBI 
may request form the European P atent 
Office or from any other international or 
national organisation the supply of i n-
formation or opinions which shall be 
freely eva luated.   Furthermore, OBI may 
request from the ap plicant additional i n-
formation, clarifications or co mments.  
10. All other matters related to the pr o-
cedure of drafting the search report or 
the final search report are regulated by 
decision of the Minister of Industry, E n-
ergy, and Tec hnology.  
11. OBI grant s a patent following co m-
pletion of the procedure of the preceding 
paragraphs.   The patent certifies the 
complete and orderly nature of the p a-
tent application.   The patent indicates its 
classification and its period of life, 
whereas the following shall be a ttached 
thereto:  
a. The original of the description of the 
invention together with the claims, the 
abstract, and drawings, if any;  
b. The search report or the final search 
report.  
12. The priority claim from an application 
in another country is i nscribed o n the 
patent, indicating also the country, the 
date, and the number of its filing abroad 
on which the priority is based.  
13. The patent shall be recorded in the 
Patents Register and its summary shall 
be published in the I ndustrial Property 
Bulletin.  14. A copy of the patent, together with 
the documents attached ther eto, shall 
be given to the applicant.  
15. Any third party shall be entitled to 
request information or copies of the p a-
tent, the description, the drawings or 
any relevant data.  
Article 9  
Internati onal priority  
1. If an orderly patent application or a p-
plication for grant of a utility model certi f-
icate has been filed abroad, the appl i-
cant or its beneficiary shall be entitled to 
claim priority pr ovided that, within twelve 
months from the filing date, he shall file 
an application in Greece for the same 
invention and that the condition of rec i-
procity a pplies.   In this new application 
he must state the date and the country 
of the first filing.   The right for priority 
goes back to the date of the first fil ing 
abroad.  
2. As orderly filing abroad there shall be 
considered every patent application 
which is considered orderly in compl i-
ance with the law of the country where it 
has been filed and provided that the fi l-
ing date ensues from its content.   The 
subsequ ent fate of said patent applic a-
tion is of no concern.  
3. Within sixteen months from the first 
orderly filing abroad, the following shall 
be su bmitted to OBI:  
a. Certificate by the competent authority 
from the country where the first applic a-
tion was filed, indicating the number and 
the filing date along with the d escription, 
claims, and any drawings attached 
thereto, certified by the fo reign authority, 
and 
b. Translation into Greek of the afor e-
mentioned certificate, description, 
claims, and drawings, by a la wyer or a u- 22 thority having the right to certify transl a-
tions.  
4. If several priorities are claimed, the 
terms starting from the date of priority 
are calc ulated as from the date of the 
earliest priority.  
 
CHAPTER THREE  
RIGHTS DERIVED FROM THE  
PATENT AND DURA TION OF ITS 
VALIDITY  
Article 10  
Contents of the right  
1.  The patent confers upon its owner, 
whether natural person or legal entity, 
the exclusive and time -limited, in a c-
cordance with article 11, right to produ c-
tively exploit the invention and partic u-
larly: 
a. To produce, offer or make available in 
the market, to use and to possess for 
said purpose the products protec ted by 
the patent;  
b. To apply, offer or make available in 
the market the process pr otected by the 
patent;  
c.  To produce, offer or make avail able 
in the market, to use and to possess for 
said purpose the product whose produ c-
tion results form the process protected 
by the p atent; 
d. To forbid each and every third party 
from productively exploiting the inve n-
tion, within the meaning   of    the abo ve 
passages, or to import, without prior 
consent of said owner, the products pr o-
tected by the patent.  
2. The owner of the patent may not fo r-
bid, in the meaning of the preceding 
paragraph, the following a ctivities:  a. The use of the invention for non -
profes sional or research purposes;  
b. The use of the invention built in an 
automobile, railway, vessel or airplane 
entering the Greek territory on a temp o-
rary basis;  
c. The preparation of a pharmaceutical 
product in a pharmacy for a specific i n-
dividual, followin g medical prescription 
as well as the dispensing and use of 
said pharm aceutical product under the 
reserv ation of article 25 paragraph 3 of 
the present Law.  
3. Whoever shall exploit his/her contri v-
ance or has proceeded with the prep a-
rations r equired for sai d exploitation, at 
the time the applic ation for a patent was 
filed by a third party or in accordance 
with the date of priority, shall have the 
right to go on using said contrivance for 
their enterprise and its needs.   This right 
may be only assigned along with the e n-
terprise.  
Article 11  
Duration of the Validity of the  
Patent 
1. The duration of the validity of the p a-
tent shall be twenty years starting the 
day follo wing the date of the filing of the 
patent application.  
2. In case of claim of priority on the ba-
sis of filing abroad, the duration of the 
validity of the patent shall be calculated 
from the day following its filing in 
Greece.  
 
 
 
  23 CHAPTER FOUR  
SUCCESSION AND LICENCES  
Article 12  
Assignment - Succession –  
Contractual Licence  
1.  The right on a patent  application and 
on the patent itself may be assigned fo l-
lowing written agreement or they may 
be inherited.   The assig nment shall be 
completed upon registration of the a s-
signment agreement or of the certif icate 
of inheritance in the Patent Register and 
it is published in the Industrial Property 
Bulletin.  
2. The joint owners of a patent may a s-
sign, each one separately, following 
written agreement, their share of the p a-
tent.  The same applies to the right in 
common for granting a patent.  
3. The patentee may g rant to a third pa r-
ty, following written agreement, a l i-
cence for e xploitation of the patent.   In 
case of a licence for a joint patent, the 
agreement of all the patentees is r e-
quired.  
4. Unless otherwise agreed, the licence 
is neither exclusive nor assigna ble nor 
inherit able. 
5.  The patentee may at any time state 
to the Industrial Property Organisation 
his co nsent to the grant of licences with 
or without exclusivity, against compe n-
sation.  
The statement shall be valid for a period 
of two years, shall be re corded in the 
Patents Register, and published in the 
Industrial Property Bulletin; the appr o-
priate note shall be written on the p a-
tent. 
6.  In the case of paragraph 5, for the 
period of time only for which the stat e-ment shall be valid, the patentee shall 
be entitled to a dedu ction from the sum 
of the annual fees paid for protection of 
the patent.   The deduction shall be d e-
termined in general or for specific cat e-
gories of cases by decision of the A d-
ministrative Council of the Industrial 
Property Organisation.  
Article 13  
Non-contractual licence  
1.  The competent court mentioned in 
paragraph 10 of the present art icle may 
grant to a third party, without prior co n-
sent of the patentee, a licence for e x-
ploitation of the patent in case that the 
following prerequisite s concur accum u-
latively:  
a. A period of three years has elapsed 
since the grant of the patent or a per iod 
of four years has elapsed since the filing 
date of the patent application;  
b. The relevant invention has not been 
exploited in Greece or, in case it h as, 
the pr oduction of the products thereof is 
insufficient to cover local demand;  
c. The third party is in a position to e x-
ploit productively the invention covered 
by the p atent; 
d. The third party notified the patentee, 
one month prior to the initi ation o f the 
judicial proceedings, regarding his inte n-
tion to request a non -contractual l i-
cence.  
2. The non -contractual licence shall not 
be granted in case the patentee justifies 
lack of exploitation or insufficient explo i-
tation in the country.   The importation of 
the product does not constitute an e x-
cuse for the i nvocation and application 
of this paragraph.   The regulation of 
item 1 above shall not apply to products 
imported from Member States of the E u- 24 ropean Union and the Member States of 
the World Trade O rganization  [1]. 
3. The grant of a non -contractual licence 
may not exclude other contractual or 
non-contractual licences.   The non -
contractual licence may be assigned o n-
ly along with the part of the enterprise 
which e xploits the invention.  
4. The owner of the p atent may request 
from the competent court mentioned in 
paragraph 10 the grant of a non -
contractual licence on an earlier patent, 
provided that his invention relates to the 
invention of the earlier patent, the pr o-
ductive exploitation of said invention is 
not possible without offen ding the rights 
of the owners of the earlier patent and 
his invention constitutes a significant 
progress in comparison with the inve n-
tion of the prior patent.   When the 
aforementioned non -contractual licence 
has been granted, the o wner of the ea r-
lier patent may request the granting of a 
non-contractual licence for the subs e-
quent invention.  
5. The non -contractual licence shall be 
granted following petition of the interes t-
ed party before the competent court 
mentioned in paragraph 10.  
The petition is accompanied by the opi n-
ion of the Industrial Property Organis a-
tion regarding the existence of the pr e-
requisites for granting the non -
contractual licence in a ccordance with 
the preceding paragraphs, the amount, 
the terms of the compensation to be 
given to the owner of the patent, and the 
exclusive or non exclusive chara cter of 
the exploitation of the invention.   The 
Industrial Property Organisation states 
its opinion fo llowing petition of the party 
interested in exploiting the patent.   The 
opinion of OBI is granted within one 
                                                 
1 Item 3 of paragraph 2 of  Article 13 is cited as r e-
placed by Article 2 of Presidential Decree No. 
54/1992 and Article 9 par. 4 of Law No. 2359/1995  month form the date the relevant petition 
is filed and is not binding for the comp e-
tent court.   Copy of the application for 
granting a non -contractual l icence along 
with the relevant opinion of OBI and the 
note fixing the  day of the trial shall be 
notified to the owner of the patent and to 
the beneficiaries of ot her contractual or 
non-contractual licences.  
6.  In case the petition is approved, the 
competent court grants a non -
contractual licence.   The licence pe r-
tains to t he extent of the exploitation 
rights of the invention, the duration of its 
validity, the date of commencement of 
the productive exploitation of the inve n-
tion in Greece and the amount and 
terms of compensation to be paid to the 
patentee by the beneficiary o f the l i-
cence.  
The amount and the terms of the co m-
pensation are determined in accor dance 
with the extent of the industrial exploit a-
tion of the pr otected invention.  
7. The decision of the court in accor d-
ance with paragraph 6 shall be recorded 
to the Patents  Register of OBI, pu b-
lished in the Industrial Property Bulletin 
and notified to the persons mentioned in 
paragraph 5.  
8. Following petition of the owner of the 
patent or the beneficiary of the non -
contractual licence, the competent court 
mentioned in parag raph 10 may amend 
the terms of granting of the licence if 
new data justify the amendment or r e-
voke the non -contractual l icence if its 
beneficiary does not respect the terms 
of the licence or if the pr erequisites for 
its granting have ceased existing.   If the 
immediate revocation brings about a 
signif icant damage to the beneficiary of 
the non -contractual licence, the court 
may allow the continuation of the explo i-
tation for a reasonable period of time.   25 9.  The non -contractual licence does not 
grant the right for importation of the 
products covered by the invention.  
10. The competent court for the grant, 
assignment, amendment or revocation 
of a non -contractual l icence is the three 
member court of first instance at the 
place of residence of the petitioner, 
which  judges in accordance with the 
procee ding of article 741 to 781 of the 
Code of Civil Procedure Law.  
Article 14  
Licence to the Public Sector  
1.  For imperative reason of serving pu b-
lic health and national defence after ju s-
tified decision of the Minister of Industry, 
Energy, and Technology and, a ccording 
to the case, any competent Ministers, a 
licence for exploitation of an invention 
can be granted to bodies of the public 
sector which may exploit the inve ntion in 
Greece, provided that the relevant i n-
vention h as not been productively e x-
ploited in Greece or the production of 
the products thereof is insufficient to 
cover local needs.  
2.  Prior to the issue of the relevant d e-
cision, the patentee and anyone who is 
in position to give useful advice, are 
called upon to express their views.  
3.  By the same decision, following the 
opinion of OBI, the amount and the 
terms of the compensation to the owner 
or the patent are determined.   The 
amount of the compensation is dete r-
mined in accor dance with the extent of 
the indus trial exploitation of the inve n-
tion.  In case of disagreement of the p a-
tentee as regards the amount of the 
compensation, the compensation is d e-
termined by the relevant one -member 
court of first instance of the jurisdiction, 
in the injunction procee dings.  
 CHAPTER FIVE 
NULLIFICATION - FORFEITURE  - 
PROTECTION  
Article 15  
Nullification  
1.  The patent shall be declared null by 
Court decision if:  
a. The owner of the patent is not the i n-
ventor or his assignee or beneficiary a c-
cording to article 6, paragraph 4, 5 a nd 
6; 
b. The invention is not patentable in a c-
cordance with article 5;  
c. The description attached to the patent 
is insufficient for the invention to be ca r-
ried out by a person skilled in the art;  
d. The subject matter of the granted p a-
tent extends beyond the content of the 
protection, as requested in the applic a-
tion. 
2.  The persons mentioned in passage 
(a) paragraph 1 are entitled to bring a c-
tion against the owner in the case of 
said passage, whereas in all other ca s-
es action may be brought before the 
court by whoever has legal interest.   
The nullific ation action shall be brought 
before the competent civil court.   Pa-
tentees who are not residents of Greece 
bring actions or are sued in the courts of 
the capital.  
3.  If the nullification is brought before 
the court only against part of the inve n-
tion, the patent is accordingly r estricted.  
Article 16  
Forfeiture  
1.  Whoever files a statement of waiver 
with OBI or whoever does not pay the  26 protection fee in due term, declines from 
the rights d erived form the patent . 
2.  OBI issues an act for the forfeiture 
published in the Industrial Property Bu l-
letin.   The forfeiture is valid as from the 
date of its public ation. 
3.  In case a non -contractual licence or 
a right to the invention has been gran t-
ed, the registration of the waiver further 
necessitates written consent of the be n-
eficiary of the licence or of the right.  
Article 17  
Actions before justice by the owner of 
the patent - False pretence  
1.  In any case of an infringement or 
threatened infringement of a copyright, 
the holder of such copyright (rightholder) 
may request the lifting of the infring e-
ment and its omi ssion in the future. The 
lifting of the infringement may include, 
on application by the rightholder, indic a-
tively and not restrictively, (a) the recall 
of the goods that were found to be i n-
fringing a right provided for under the 
present law and, as in appropriate ca s-
es, materials principally used in the cr e-
ation or manufacture of these goods 
from the cha nnels of commerce, (b) the 
definitive removal of these good s   and   
materials   from the channels of com -
merce or (c) the destruction of these 
goods and materials in accor dance with 
paragraph 5. In considering the applic a-
tion of the previous clause, the need for 
proportionality between the seriousness 
of the infr ingement and the remedies 
ordered, as well as the interests of third 
parties, shall be taken into account. The 
measures provided for under the second 
clause are car -ried out at the expense of 
the infringer, u nless particular reasons 
are invoked for not doi ng so. The 
rightholder may also exercise the rights 
provided for under the first clause of the 
present paragraph against intermedia r-
ies whose services are used by a third party to infringe the rights provided for 
under the present law (articles 10 and 
11 o f Directive 2004/ 48/EC). For each 
act of omission contributing to an in -
fringement, the court may impose a 
monetary pe nalty of up to ten thousand 
(10,000.00) Euros in favour of the 
rightholder, while in all other cases ar -
ticle 947 of the Hellenic Code of  Civil 
Procedure shall apply. In establis hing 
the infringement of the obligation not to 
act provided for under the preceding 
clause, the procedure provided for un -
der articles 686 et seq. of the Hellenic 
Code of Civil Procedure is a pplied.[1] 
2.  In case o f international i nfringement 
of the patent, its owner who suffered 
damage is entitled to demand restitution 
of the damage or return of the benefits 
derived from the unfair explo itation of 
the invention or the payment of an 
amount equal to the value of the licence 
for said exploitation.  
3. The same rights are granted to the 
beneficiary of an exclusive l icence, to 
whoever has a right on the invention, 
and to whoever has filed a patent appl i-
cation. In the la tter case the court may 
postpone the trial procedure of the case 
until said patent has been granted.  
4.  The aforementioned rights shall be 
prescribed after the lapse of five years 
from the date the owner of the patent 
took knowledge either of the infring e-
ment or of the damage and of whom is 
obliged to give compensation, and def i-
nitely after the lapse of twenty years 
since the infringement took place . 
5.  In case of condemnation of the d e-
fendant, the court may order the d e-
struction of the products man ufactured 
in violation of the dispositions of the 
present l aw.  The court may also, i n-
                                                 
1 Paragraph 1  of article 17, Law 1733/87 is cited as 
replaced by paragraph 1, article 53 of Law 3966/2011 
(GG A’ 118, 24.05.2011)   27 stead of the destruction, order that the 
products or a part thereof be rendered 
to the plaintiff for his total or partial 
compensation, upon request of the la t-
ter. 
6.  If the invention relates to a process 
for the manufacture of a pro duct, each 
product of the same nature is presumed 
to have been manufactured according to 
the pr otected process.  
7.  Whoever places on products or on 
their wrapping, or on any kind of co m-
mercial documents destined for the pu b-
lic or on other relevant me ans of publ i-
cising and adverti sing a false statement 
that the objects in question are protec t-
ed by patent, shall be pu nished by up to 
one year imprisonment or by fine 
amounting to at least fifty thousand 
drachmas or by both pena lties. 
Article 17A  
(Articles  6 and 8 of Directive 
2004/48/EC)  
Evidence and right of i nformation  
1. When a party has presented reaso n-
ably available evidence sufficient to 
support its claims of infringement or 
threat of infringement of the rights pr o-
vided for under this law, and has, i n 
substantiating those claims, specified 
evidence which lies in the control of the 
opposing party, the court may or -der, on 
application by the party, that such ev i-
dence be presented by the opposing 
party. The existence of a substantial 
number of copies, th e other circu m-
stances of the case having been co n-
sidered, shall be considered to const i-
tute reasonable evidence. If a party is 
summoned to produce the evidence 
provi ded for under the first clause and 
unjustifiably fails to produce such ev i-
dence, the claims  of the party that 
sought the production or communication 
of such evidence shall be co nsidered as 
confessed.  2. Under the conditions provided for u n-
der the first clause of the previous par a-
graph, in the case of infringement co m-
mitted on a co mmercial scale,  the court 
may also order, on application by a pa r-
ty, the notification of banking, f inancial 
or commercial documents in the control 
of the opposing party. The e xistence of 
a substantial number of copies, the ot h-
er circumstances of the case having 
been cons idered, shall be considered to 
const itute reasonable evidence of an 
infringement on a commercial scale. If a 
party is summoned to produce the do c-
uments provided for under the first 
clause and un -justifiably fails to produce 
such evidence, the claims of the  party 
that sought the production or commun i-
cation of such evidence shall be consi d-
ered as confessed.  
3. In any case, the court shall ensure 
the protection of confidential info r-
mation.  
4. In response to a justified request of 
the party, considered by the c ourt as to 
its pr oportionality, which is filed with the 
action or and on its own within the co n-
text of a case concerning an infring e-
ment of rights provided for under the 
present law, the president of the multi -
member court or the judge of the single -
member  court, trying pursuant to the 
proceedings provided for under articles 
686 et seq. of the Hellenic Code of Civil 
Procedure, may, prior to the hearing of 
the case, order that in -formation on the 
origin and di stribution networks of the 
goods or services whic h infringe a right 
provided for un -der this law be provided 
by the infringer. The same may be o r-
dered against any other person who (a) 
was found in possession of the infrin g-
ing goods on a commercial scale, (b) 
was found to be using the infringing se r-
vices on a commercial scale, (c) was 
found to be providing on a commercial 
scale services used in infringing a right 
or (d) was indicated by the person r e- 28 ferred to in point (a), (b) or (c) as being 
involved in the production, manufa cture 
or distribution of the g oods or the pro -
vision of the services. Any party that u n-
justifiably violates an order of the court 
as provided for under the present par a-
graph shall be sentenced to pay, in a d-
dition to the legal costs, a monetary 
penalty of up to one hundred thousand 
(100,000.00) Euros, which shall be d e-
posited in a public fund.  
5. The information referred to in par a-
graph 4 shall, as appropriate, comprise 
(a) the names and addresses of the 
producers, manufacturers, distrib utors, 
suppliers and other previous holders of 
the goods or services, as well as the i n-
tended wholesalers and retailers, (b) i n-
formation on the quantities pr oduced, 
manufactured, delivered, received or o r-
dered, as well as the price obtained for 
the goods or se rvices in question.  
6. Paragraphs 4 and 5 shall  apply wit h-
out prejudice to other prov isions which 
(a) grant the rightholder rights to receive 
fuller info rmation, (b) govern the use in 
civil or criminal proceedings of the i n-
formation communicated pursuant to 
paragraphs 2 and 3 of this article, (c) 
gover n responsibility for misuse of the 
right of information, or (d) afford an o p-
portunity for refusing to provide info r-
mation which would force the person r e-
ferred to in paragraph 4 to admit to 
his/her own participation or that of 
his/her close relatives in an  infringement 
of rights provided for under this law or 
(e) govern the protection of confidential i-
ty of information sources or the pr o-
cessing of personal data.  
7. If the party responsible to provide i n-
formation provides inaccurate info r-
mation inte ntionally or with negligence, 
he/she is liable for damages that were 
caused for this re ason. Article 17B  
(Articles 7 and 9 of Directive 
2004/48/EC)  
Precautionary evidence and other  
 injunction measures  
1. In case of alleged infringement of a 
right protected under th is law, the Single 
- Member Court of First Instance shall 
order, as an injunction measure, the 
precautionary seizure of items in the 
possession of the alleged infringer that 
constitute means of commitment or 
product or evidence of the infring ement. 
Instead  of precautionary seizure, the 
court may order the detailed description 
of such items, including the taking of 
photographs. In cases provided for u n-
der the present pa ragraph, paragraph 1 
of article 687 of the Hellenic Code of 
Civil Procedure shall be appli ed and, as 
appropriate, a prov isional order shall be 
issued pursuant to paragraph 2 of article 
691 of the Hellenic Code of Civil Proc e-
dure.  
2. The court may issue against the a l-
leged infringer injunction measures i n-
tended to prevent any imminent i n-
fringeme nt of the rights provided for u n-
der this law or to forbid, on a prov isional 
basis and subject, where appropriate, to 
a penalty payment provided for under 
article 947 of the Hellenic Code of Civil 
Procedure the continuation of the i n-
fringement, for each inf ringement or 
continuation of the i nfringements of such 
rights. In ascertaining that the conditions 
for the activation of the obligation to pay 
a monetary penalty have been met, pu r-
suant to the injunction measure ordered 
or the relative pr ovision of paragra ph 2 
of article 691 of the Hellenic Code of 
Civil Procedure, the proc edure provided 
for by articles 686 et seq. of the Hellenic 
Code of Civil Procedure shall apply. The 
court may make such continuation su b-
ject to the lodging of guarantees inten d-
ed to ensur e the compensation of the 
rightholder. The court may also order  29 the precautionary seizure or judicial s e-
questration of the goods suspected of 
infringing rights pr ovided for under this 
law so as to prevent their entry into or 
movement within the channels of  com-
merce.  
3. In the case of an infringement co m-
mitted on a commercial scale, the court 
may order, as an injunction measure, 
the precautionary seizure of the property 
of the alleged infringer, including the 
blocking of his bank ac -counts. To that 
end, the court may or -der any holder of 
such relevant information to commun i-
cate bank, financial or commercial do c-
uments, or ensure appropriate a ccess to 
the relevant in -formation.  
4. The decision on the injunction 
measures referred to in paragraphs 2 
and 3 may, in  appropriate cases, be 
taken without the defendant having 
been heard as provided for under par a-
graph 1 of article 687 of the Hellenic 
Code of Civil Proc edure, in particular 
where any delay would cause irrepar a-
ble harm to the rightholder. In that 
event, the  decision or the order of the 
court is not notified to the defendant b e-
fore or during its e nforcement, it shall be 
notified on the first business day follo w-
ing the enforcement, other -wise, any 
relevant procedural acts shall be null 
and void.  
5. In the case s of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, 
the court may make the measures su b-
ject to the lodging by the applicant of a 
security determined in the dec ision or 
provisional order or/and without a sec u-
rity and shall specify a time limit for the 
lodging of the action for the  main case 
as provided for under paragraph 1 of a r-
ticle 693 of the He llenic Code of Civil 
Procedure, which cannot exceed thirty 
(30) days. If no action is lodged within 
said time limit, the in -junction measure 
shall be lifted ipso jure.  6. The court shall order injunction 
measures or precautionary evidence 
without needing to specify the evidence 
proving the infringement or threat of i n-
fringement, only to deter -mine such ev i-
dence on a category b asis. 
7. In respect of paragraphs 1 to 6, the 
court shall have t he authority to require 
the appl icant to provide any reasonably 
available evidence in order to co nclude, 
on the basis of sufficient in -formation, 
that the a pplicant is the rightholder and 
that the applicant's right is being i n-
fringed, or that such infringe ment is i m-
minent.  
8. Where the injunction measures pr o-
vided for under this article are revoked 
due to any act or omission by the appl i-
cant or where it is su bsequently found 
that there has been no infringement or 
threat of infringement of the rights pr o-
vided for under this law, the court may 
order the applicant, if he acted abusiv e-
ly, upon request of the defendant, to 
provide the defend -ant appropriate 
compensation for any injury caused by 
those measures.  
Article 17C  
(Article 12 of Directive 2004/48/EC)  
Alternative measures  
On application by the person liable to be 
subject to the measures provided for 
under a rticles 17A and 17B, the court 
may order pecuniary compensation to 
be paid to the i njured party in -stead of 
applying the aforementioned measures 
if that person acted uni ntentionally or 
without negligence, if exec ution of the 
measures in question would cause him 
disproportionate harm and if pecuniary 
compensation to the injured party a p-
pears reasonably sati sfactory.  
  30 Article 17D  
(Articles 13, 14 and 15 of D irective 
2004/48/EC)  
Damages, legal costs and  
publication of judicial decisions  
1. On application by the injured party, 
the court may order the i nfringer who 
knowingly, or with reasonable grounds 
to know, engaged in an infringing activ i-
ty, to pay the righ tholder damages a p-
propriate to the actual prejudice su ffered 
by him as a result of the infringement of 
his right. In setting the compensation the 
court (a) shall take into account all a p-
propriate aspects, such as the negative 
economic cons equences, includi ng lost 
profits, which the injured party has su f-
fered, any un -fair profits made by the 
infringer and, in appropriate cases, el e-
ments other than economic factors, 
such as the moral prejudice caused to 
the rightholder by the infringement, or 
(b) as an altern ative to clause (a), may, 
in appropriate cases, set the compens a-
tion as a lump sum on the basis of el e-
ments such as at least the amount of 
royalties or fees which would have been 
due if the infringer had requested a u-
thoris ation to use the infringed right.  
2. In the cases provided for under the 
present law, the general legal costs and 
expen ses shall mandatorily include any 
other relative e xpenditure reasonably 
incurred by the successful party, such 
as wi tness costs, attorney fees, fees of 
the experts and tec hnical consultants of 
the parties and expen ses for finding the 
infringers. In all other cases, the prov i-
sions set forth in articles 173 et seq. of 
the Hellenic Code of Civil Procedure 
shall a pply. 
3. The court, on application by the party, 
may allow it to publish all or part of the 
decision concerning rights protected u n-
der the present law in the media or on 
the internet at the expense of the u n-
successful party.  Article 17E  
(Articles 17 and 19 of Directive 
2004/48/EC)  
Codes of conduct and  
Exchange of infor mation  
1. The interested trade or profe ssional 
associations develop codes of conduct 
aimed at contributing on a national, 
Community or intern ational level to -
wards the enforcement of the rights pr o-
vided for under the present law. The 
codes of conduct and a ny evaluations of 
the application of these codes of co n-
duct are submitted to the Com -mission 
of the European Union.  
2. The Industrial Property Organisation 
is designated the national correspon d-
ent for any question relating to the rights 
provided for u nder the pre -sent law.  
 
Article 17F  
(Article 4 of Directive 2004/48/EC)  
Persons entitled to apply for the  
application of measures  
The application of the measures provi d-
ed for under paragraph 1 of article 17 
and articles 17A, 17B, 17C, 17D and 
17E may also be so ught by:  
a. all other persons authorised to use 
those rights, in particular l icensees, in 
accordance with the provisions in 
force.  
b. professional defence bodies that are 
regularly recognised as having a right 
to represent holders of intellectual 
property rights, in accordance with 
the provisions in force.  
 
 
  31  
Article 17G  
Application on other indu strial 
property rights  
Paragraph 1 of article 17 and articles 
17A, 17B, 17C, 17D, 17E and 17F a lso 
apply to the protection of holders of an 
entitlement to a supple mentary prote c-
tion certificate for medicinal products 
and supplementary protection certificate 
for plant protection pro ducts, holders of 
statements of extension of the force of a 
supplementary protection ce rtificate for 
paediatric medicines and holders of enti-
tlements to plant varieties, design ations 
of origin and geographical indic ations .[1] 
 
CHAPTER SIX 
PATENT OF MODIFICATION  
Article 18  
Meaning - Procedure up to grant  
1. If an invention constitutes modific a-
tion of another invention already co v-
ered by a pa tent (main patent), the 
owner of the latter may request the 
grant of a new patent (patent of modif i-
cation) provided that the subject -matter 
of the new patent r elates to at least one 
claim of the main patent.  
2. The patent of modification shall follow 
the f ate of the main patent and expires 
therewith.  The patent of modification 
may be used by all beneficiaries of l i-
cences for exploitation of the main p a-
tent, unless otherwise stated in the l i-
cences.  
 
 
                                                 
1 Articles 17A, 17B, 17C, 17D, 17E, 17F and 17G  are 
added as of paragraph 2, article 53, Law 3966/2011 
(GG A’ 118,24.05.2011)   
 
 
3.  No annual renewal fees are to be 
paid for the pate nt of modific ation. 
4.  The patent of modification may be 
converted into a main patent, upon r e-
quest of its owner.   The duration of the 
validity of the converted patent shall be 
governed by a rticle 11.   As date of filing 
shall be regarded the filing date o f the 
application for grant of a patent of mod i-
fication.  
5.  The nullification of the main patent 
does not call for the nullific ation of the 
patent of modification.   In case the main 
patent is annulled, the fees to be paid 
for the main p atent shall be paid  for the 
patent of modification.  
6.  As regards all other matters, the r e-
spective dispositions of the pr esent law 
regarding patents shall apply.   32 PART THREE  
TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS  
CHAPTER ONE  
UTILITY MODEL CERTIFICATE  
Article 19  
Meaning - Procedure up to g rant 
1.  The utility model certificate shall be 
granted for each novel and i ndustrially 
applicable three -dimensional object with 
definite shape and form, such as a tool, 
an instrument, a device, an a pparatus or 
even parts thereof, pr oposed as novel 
and ind ustrially appl icable and capable 
of giving a solution to a technical pro b-
lem. 
2. Whoever files a patent application 
may request up to the date of grant of 
the patent the conversion of his patent 
application into appl ication for a utility 
model certificate.  
3.  The duration of validity of the utility 
model certificate is seven years from the 
day following the application for the 
grant of a utility model certificate or for 
the grant of a patent, in case of conve r-
sion in accordance with par agraph 2.  
4.  The ap plication for the grant of a util i-
ty model certificate shall be submitted to 
OBI.  The requirements for filing the a p-
plication, the relevant supporting doc u-
mentation, and all other pertinent details 
are determined by decision of the Mini s-
ter of Industry, E nergy, and Technology.  
5.  If the application for a utility model 
certificate complies with the requir e-
ments of paragraph 4, OBI grants a util i-
ty model certificate without prior exam i-
nation of the novelty and industrial a p-
plicability of the utility model a t the r e-
spons ibility of the applicant.  6.  As regards all other matters, the r e-
spective dispositions of the pr esent law 
regarding patents shall apply.  
 
CHAPTER TWO  
TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS AND 
AWARDS  
Article 20  
Technical innovation - Subsidies - 
Awards  
1.  A certificate of technical innov ation 
may be granted for a new sol ution of a 
specific technical problem (technical i n-
novation), proposed by one or more 
persons working for an enterprise and 
related to the activ ities of the latter.   The 
certificate of technic al innovation const i-
tutes an award to working persons i n-
volved for their creative contr ibution to 
the enterprise.  
2.  The details of the procedure for 
granting certificates of technical innov a-
tion shall be determined by joint dec i-
sion of the Ministers of L abour and of 
Industry, Energy, and Technology, pu b-
lished in the Official Journal of the Go v-
ernment.  
3.  The requirements for subsidising u n-
ions and associations of inventors or 
scientists as well as c ooperatives and 
unions of productive units which aim at 
the development of research and tec h-
nological i nstallations and models, at the 
joint reclamation of r esults derived from 
research, or at the presentation of i n-
ventions or new products and processes 
in exhibitions and co ngresses, shall be 
determined by join t decision of the Mi n-
isters of Finance and of Industry, Ene r-
gy, and Technology.   33 4.  The procedure for granting state 
awards and/or financial support to i n-
ventors, persons employed in enterpri s-
es and whoever may co ntribute to the 
development of technology, to the pop u-
larisation and propagation of scientific 
and tec hnical knowledge, as well as to 
the creation of technological places of 
display and museums, shall be go v-
erned by joint decision of the Ministers 
of National Economy, of F inance, and of 
Industry, E nergy, and Technology.  
5.  The research centers or inst itutes of 
the country may, following request of the 
party concerned, grant a leave of up to 
two years with salaries not exceeding 
fifty percent to a researcher of any d e-
gree who wishes to render indust rially 
and commercially productive his tec h-nical contrivances and inventions pr o-
vided they fall within the scope of the 
center or institute.   Following request of 
the person concerned, the research 
center or institute may extend the 
aforeme ntioned leave fo r a further total 
period of three years and with emol u-
ments up to twenty -five percent of the 
regular ones.   After the lapse of five 
years, the researcher shall choose e i-
ther to resign from the center or to return 
to the center as a full -timer.   The a s-
sessm ent of the pet itions for granting or 
extending such leave shall be effected 
by the Administrative Council of the r e-
search center or institute and the grant 
of the leave or its extension shall be a p-
proved by the Minister or Industry, E n-
ergy, and Technol ogy. 
 
PART FOUR  
TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER  
Article 21  
Meaning - Nullity of terms of the co ntract 
1.  By the contract on technology tran s-
fer the supplier of technology is called 
upon to supply technology to the recip i-
ent of technology, and the recipient is 
called up on to pay the value agreed u p-
on.  In particular, the following are co n-
ceived within the mea ning of this article 
as technology supply:  
a. The licence for exploitation of patents 
and utility model certif icates;  
b. The assignment of patents and of uti l-
ity mod el certificates;  
c. The supplying of technical construc t-
ing instructions, drawings or se rvices;  
d. The supplying of organisational and 
management services, as well as of specialised consulting services or se r-
vices for follow -up and control;  
e.  The disclos ure of industrial s ecrets 
with drawings, diagrams, specimens, 
models, instructions, proportions, cond i-
tions, processes, prescriptions and 
methods of production of products refe r-
ring to the productive exploitation.   Such 
industrial secrets are mainly tec hnical 
information, data or knowledge which 
relate to pr ocesses,  expertise  or skills,      
that have practical application   partic u-
larly to the pr oduction of goods and the 
rendering of services, provided that they 
have not become widely known;  
f. The joint  research or develo pment of 
new technology, demonstrative or e x-
perimental programs or works;  
g. Providing technical assistance in the 
form of briefing, instruction, and fo r-
mation of personnel.   34 2. The following terms shall be null and 
void:  
a. Terms in pate nt licences that i nclude 
dispositions which are co ntrary to those 
of article 3 of Regulation number 
2349/1984 of the Commission of Eur o-
pean Comm unities (Official Journal No. 
L 219/15) concerning the implement a-
tion of article 85 par. 3 of the EEC Co n-
vention , to classes of agreements rela t-
ing to the licence for exploitation of p a-
tents;  
b. Terms in contracts on technology 
transfer including ban of expo rtation.   
The Minister of Industry, Energy, and 
Technology may, by his decision, permit 
the conclusion of a co ntract containing a 
clause banning exportation, if this is i m-
posed by serious reasons of ec onomic 
development and public interest and 
provided that the ban is not contrary to 
international oblig ations of the country.  
Article 22  
Registration of the contract   
on tec hnology transfer  
1.  The contract on technology transfer 
shall be submitted to OBI by the co n-
tracting parties which have their domicile 
or seat in Greece, within one month 
form its conclusion and at the same time 
the dispositions of Law No. 1306/83  (Of-
ficial Journal No. 65) a pply. 
2.  The contract shall be registered in 
the register of technology tran sfer.  The 
registered contracts on technology 
transfer or the info rmation contained in 
the form provided in par agraph 5 of the 
present article shall be  kept secret.   
Whoever shall violate the present disp o-
sition shall be punished according to a r-
ticle 17 of Law No. 146/1914 on Unfair 
Competition.  3.  Contracts with the following su bject 
shall not be subject to the obl igation of 
being registered:  
a. Isolat ed use of foreign engineers and 
technicians for installation and r epair of 
factories or machinery;  
b. Advice, drawings or similar pr ovisions 
usually accompanying machinery or 
equipment, provided that they do not e n-
tail any special su rcharge for the one 
whom they are destined to;  
c. Urgent technical assistance or repair  
provided that they are carried out by 
reason of an earlier registered agre e-
ment.  
d. Technical training given by educ a-
tional organisations or enterprises to 
their personnel;  
e. Defence systems . 
4. The party responsible for regi stering 
the contract on technology transfer may 
either submit a copy of the contract or 
complete the special form in accordance 
with paragraph 5.   Suit or petition to the 
Court which concerns any difference b e-
tween the co ntracting pa rties and which 
relates to a contract on technology 
transfer cannon be di scussed before the 
court without a written confirmation of 
OBI indicating that the parties have 
complied with the r equirements of this 
paragraph.  
5.  The process of compil ing draf ting, 
and granting of the special form regar d-
ing contracts on technology tran sfer and 
the relevant prerequisites to be co m-
pleted for statistical use are d etermined 
by decision of the Minister of Industry, 
Energy, and Technology.  
6. The registration  of the technology 
transfer contract with OBI may entail a 
deduction of the fees due to OBI for the  35 party( -ies) having registered the agre e-
ment.   The percentage of the deduction shall be determined by d ecision of the 
Administrative Council of OBI.  
 
 
PART FIVE  
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONVENTION ON THE GRANT OF  
EUROPEAN P ATENTS  
Article 23  
European application - European  
patent - Reasons for Nullification  
1.  The application for the grant of a E u-
ropean patent shall be obligatorily su b-
mitted to OBI when the a pplicant is a 
Greek citizen unless claiming the priority 
of an earlier Greek application.  
2.  Since the date of its publication, in 
accordance with Law 1607/1986 (Off i-
cial Journal No. 85), article 93 of the 
convention concerning the European 
patent, the Eu ropean patent applic ation 
in Greece has the same effects as the 
Greek patent application.  
3. The provisional protection of par a-
graph 2 is provided only starting the 
date on which the applicant of the appl i-
cation of the European patent su bmits to 
OBI the re levant certified tran slation in 
Greek of the claims of the a pplication.  
4.  The European patent has the same 
effects in Greece as the Greek patent 
granted by OBI.  
5. The proprietor of the European patent 
shall supply OBI with the relevant cert i-
fied Greek t ranslation of the text on the 
basis of which the European Patent O f-
fice has gran ted the European patent or 
has maintained it with modifications.  
6.  The European patent is not valid in 
Greece unless the terms of pa ragraph 5 
are observed.  7. For as long as the reserve formula ted 
by Greece in accordance with article 
167 paragraph 2 passage (a) of the 
convention regarding the European p a-
tent remains in force, European p atents 
granting protection to pharmaceutical 
products are ineffective in Greece.  
8. A Europe an patent may be d eclared 
null in Greece only on the grounds of 
Law No. 1607/1986 a rticle 138 par . 1 of 
the Convention regarding the Eur opean 
patent.  
9.  If the grounds for nullification relate 
to the European patent only in part, the 
claims, the descripti on, and the dra w-
ings of the patent shall be limited a c-
cordingly.  
10. The following shall be dete rmined by 
Presidential Decree to be issued upon 
recommendation of the Minister of I n-
dustry, Energy, and Technology:  
a. The deadline and prerequisites for 
submit ting the translation of the applic a-
tion for the grant of a European p atent; 
b. The deadline and prerequisites for 
submitting the translation of the Europ e-
an patent;  
c. The terms for ascertaining the a u-
thenticity of the translation, it possible 
revision, an d the rights of third parties 
who, in good faith, are already exploi ting 
the patent;   36 d. The mode and the prerequisites for 
filing the European patent appl ication 
with OBI;  
e. The keeping of the register of Eur o-
pean patents;  
f. The prerequisites for convert ing the 
European patent application into a 
Greek patent application;  g. The prerequisites for represent ation 
before OBI concerning matters of Eur o-
pean patents;  
h. The regulation of cases of cum ulative 
protection of Greek and European p a-
tents.  
 
 
PART SIX  
FINAL AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS  
Article 24  
Fees  
1. Fees shall be paid for the regi stration 
of contracts on technology tran sfer, for 
the furnishing of advice and information 
with regard to technology transfer, and 
for the grant, assignment or amendment 
of rights on patents and utility model 
certificates.  
2.  For each patent application the filing 
fee, the annual fees for pr otection, the 
fee for the search r eport and fees for the 
registration of modifications shall be 
paid in a dvance to OBI   The receipts of  
payment of the filing fees and for fees 
covering the first year of protection shall 
be deposited along with the patent a p-
plication.   The annual fees for protection 
shall be paid in advance for each su b-
sequent year and the relevant receipt 
shall be su bmitted to OBI each year up 
to the last day of the month correspon d-
ing to the date on which the application 
was filed.   Following the lapse of the 
aforementioned term and within six 
months from said term the owner of the 
patent may pay the due fees i ncreased 
by fifty percent.  
 3.  Annual fees for protection shall also 
be paid in advance for each year for any 
patent application, as though the patent 
had been gran ted.  If these fees are not 
paid within the terms prescribed in pa r-
agraph 2, article 16 a pplies.  
4.  As date of payment of the fees there 
shall be regarded the date of fi ling of the 
application to which the rel evant receipt 
is attached.  
5. The above dispositions apply respe c-
tively to utility models and to all other 
cases for which the pa yment of fees is 
provided for by this law.  
6. The amount of the fees is dete rmined 
by decision of the Admini strative Council 
of OBI  
7. Fees for protection which have been 
paid in advance and which relate to a 
subsequent period of time shall be e x-
empted from all subsequent re adjus t-
ments.  
8.  In case of irrevocable rejection of the 
application, the proportion of the annual 
fees for protection paid in a dvance and 
corresponding to a period of inexploit a-
tion shall be re stituted.   37 Article 25  
Repealed - Transitional  
Dispos itions - Authorisations  
1.  For patent applications filed pr ior to 
the entry into force of this law, the di s-
positions being in force on the filing date 
of the application apply with r egard to 
the prerequisites for the granting proc e-
dure of the patent.   The patents s hall be 
granted by OBI   Patents granted on the 
basis of these applications and p atents 
already granted prior to the entry into 
force of the present law shall be reg u-
lated by the dispos itions of the present 
law, and any po ssible acquired rights 
shall be res erved  [1]. 
2.  Starting the date the present law e n-
ters into force, the following shall be r e-
pealed: Law   No. 2527/1920 “regar ding 
patents”, article 668 of the Civil Code, 
Royal Decree dated 22.11.1920 “regar d-
ing execution of Law No. 2527 concer n-
ing patent s”, articles 1 to 12 inclusive of 
Law No. 1023/1980 “regarding amen d-
ment and completion of Law No. 
2527/1920”, case of article 7 of Pres i-
dential Decree No. 574/1982 “Re -
assignment of competencies of the Mi n-
istries”, as well as other dispositions 
contrary t o those of the present Law or 
related to matters governed by the pr e-
sent.   Law No. 4325/1963 “regarding i n-
ventions concerning the national d e-
fence of the country” shall remain in 
force.   Wherever Law No. 4325/1963 
refers to the Ministry of Commerce it is 
understood as OBI and any re ferences 
to Law No. 2527/1920 shall be replaced 
by the corr esponding regulations of the 
present Law.  
                                                 
1 Item 3 of par.1 of Article 25 is cited as r eplaced by 
Article 9, par. 2 of law No. 2359/1995.  Item 4 of par.1 
of Article 25 is abo lished by article 9, par. 3 of law No. 
2359/1995. The duration of the patents granted pu r-
suant to law 2527/1920 on Patents is extended and 
shall remain in force on the 01.01.1969 until the co m-
pletion of twenty years as of the day of regular filing of 
the a pplication for grant of a patent. Regulations r e-
lated to fees are also applicable to these patents.  3.  As long as the reserve formula ted by 
Greece in accordance with article 167 
paragraph 2, passage (a) of the Co n-
vention for th e Eur opean patent shall 
remain in force, no patents for pharm a-
ceutical products shall be granted by 
OBI within the meaning of article 2 of 
Law No. 1316/1983.  
4. Upon publication of the present Law, 
by decision of the Minister, the staff of 
all categories s erving at the Patent Se c-
tion of the Ministry of Indu stry, Energy, 
and Technology, may be placed at the 
disposal of OBI in order to serve its 
functional needs, in devi ation from all 
other relevant dispos itions.   The period 
of their service at OBI shall be r egarded 
in each case as a period of real service 
with the Ministry of Industry, Energy, 
and Technol ogy.  In accordance with the 
same dec ision, the equipment of any 
nature of the said Section may be tran s-
ferred to OBI.  
5.  By presidential decree to be i ssued 
following recommendation of the Mini s-
ters of Commerce and of Industry, E n-
ergy, and Technology, the compete n-
cies of the Directorate of Commercial 
and Industrial Property of the Mi nistry of 
Commerce for registration and grant of 
trade marks may be transfer red to OBI.  
....................................................... . 
Article 26  
1.  a. With a presidential  decree,  
issued following a proposal of the Mini s-
ter of Presidency of the Go vernment, 
the Minister of National Economy and 
the Minister of Industry,  Energy and 
Technology, it is possible that the legal 
status of the Industrial Property Organ i-
sation (OBI) is converted to a public st a-
tus legal entity and that adjus tments are 
made regarding the introduction of pe r-
sonnel functions, the o rganisation, the 
operation, the resources, the financial  38 administr ation, and, overruling general 
and particular provisions regarding Pu b-
lic Finances, the disposition of the pro p-
erty of the converted legal ent ity as well 
as any other relevant matter.  
b. With similar presiden tial decree ma t-
ters concerning the service status of 
personnel serving the Indu strial Property 
Organisation (OBI) are a djusted, during 
the conversion period, such as plac e-
ment, transfer to the new functions d e-
fined, as well as concerning social sec u-
rity is sues related to such personnel.  
2. The application process of the pres i-
dential decree of the paragraph 1, b 
should be regulated by decision of the 
Minister of Industry, Energy and Tec h-
nology.  
 
 Article 29  
Entry into force  
The present Law shall enter into f orce 
upon its publication in the Official Jou r-
nal of the Government, with the exce p-
tion of the provisions of Parts Two, 
Three and Four as well as of A rticle 25 
paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Law, which 
shall enter into force as from 1 January 
1988.    
As from t he entry into force of the pr e-
sent law, the competencies of the P a-
tent Section of the Ministry of Industry, 
Energy and Technology shall be tran s-
ferred to OBI.  
NOTE:  
Paragraphs 6 and 7 of article 25, and 
article 27 and 28, do not co ncern OBI’s 
competences a nd are, therefore, omi t-
ted. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  39  
MINISTER IAL DECISION  No. 15928/EFA/1253 (GG 778, B’ of 21.12.1987)  
 “Filing of applications for the grant of patents or utility model  
certif icates with OBI and keeping of record books”  
THE MINISTE R OF INDUSTRY,  
ENERGY AND TECHNOLOGY  
Considering:  
1. The provisions of Article 4, par agraph 
4, 7 paragraph 11 and article 19 par a-
graph 14 of Law No. 1733/1987 related 
to “Technology transfer, inventions, 
technological innovation and establis h-
ment of an At omic Energy Committee” 
(Official Journal No. 171, A’);  
2. The provisions of Law No. 1558/1985 
related to “Government and Governing 
Bodies”;  
3.  The proposal of the Administr ative 
Council of OBI concerning filing of appl i-
cations with OBI for the grant of pa tents 
or utility model certificates and for kee p-
ing the books according to the minutes 
(No. 3), dated 22.12.1987, of the third 
session of the Administrative Council of 
OBI, 
decides on the following:  
CHAPTER ONE  
GENERAL PROVISIONS  
Article 1  
Definitions  
The following are meant for the applic a-
tion of this decision:  
a. By the name “OBI” the Industrial 
Property Organisation (OBI), with seat in 
Athens (Law No. 1733/1987).  
b. By the name “Patent applic ation”, the 
application for the grant of a p atent. c. By the na me “Utility model certi ficate 
application”, the application for the grant 
of a utility model certi ficate.  
Article 2  
Working days  
The number of the working days for OBI 
is identical to those followed by the Mi n-
istry of Industry, Energy, and Technol o-
gy. 
Article 3  
Representation  
1.  The right of appearing in person or 
filing documents before OBI is attributed 
to the beneficiaries of patent applic a-
tions or utility model applications or to 
their represent ative lawyer.  
2. The representative lawyer shall justify 
his authorisation by submi tting to OBI a 
power of attorney  [1]. 
3.  If the applicant of a patent or utility 
model certificate has no res idence or 
seat in Greece, he shall nominate a re p-
resentative and d eclare that he will be 
submitted to the jurisdiction of  the 
Courts of Athens.  
CHAPTER TWO  
FILING OF A PATENT APPLICATION  
Article 4  
Filing of the application  
1.  The patent application shall be filed 
with OBI in duplicate and shall meet the 
                                                 
1 Paragraph 2 of Article 3 is cited as replaced by Art i-
cle 1, par. 1 of Ministerial Decision 3111/EFA/433   40 prerequisites of article 7, paragraphs 1 
and 2 of Law No. 1733/1987.   The d e-
scription, the claims and the abstract 
may be filed either in Greek, or in En g-
lish, in French or in German.   In the 
second case the translation shall be 
provided within four months as provided 
by article 7, paragraph 9 of Law No. 
1733/1987.   According  to article 7, pa r-
agraph 2 of Law No. 1733/1987, the a p-
plicant may also provide any eventual 
explanation if necessary wit hin the said 
period.  
2.  OBI provides the application form for 
the completion of the pr erequisites of 
the relevant subject matter of th e appl i-
cation for the grant of patents or utility 
model certificates.   The form and the 
content of these application forms are 
determined by decision of the Admini s-
trative Council of OBI.  
3.  The patent application can be also 
filed by a registered letter.   In this case, 
as filing date is consi dered the date of 
receipt of the a pplication by OBI.  
4.  The filing of the patent applic ation 
and of all necessary (acco mpanying) 
documents and elements according to 
the provisions of the law, may be also 
effected by facsimile (fax) transmission.   
In the case where use of the facsimile 
(fax) transmission is made, all doc u-
ments transmitted must be clean and 
completely legible; the orig inals, duly 
signed by the applicant, must reach OBI 
within ten (10) working days from the 
day of the respective facsimile (fax) r e-
ception by OBI.   Should the above co n-
ditions are met, the day of reception by 
facsimile (fax) of the application and rest 
documents by the respo nsible service of 
OBI is considered as the filing date.   
Rece ption o f the facsimile (fax) by OBI 
is proved by a receipt which is sent by 
OBI to the applicant or his represent a-tive, on the same day, by facsimile (fax) 
or other means  [1]. 
Article 5  
Description of the Invention  
1.  The description of the invention shall 
first state the title of the invention me n-
tioned in the patent appl ication.  
2.  The description shall:  
a. Determine the technical field to which 
the invention relates.  
b. Indicate the state of the previous art 
which according to the applicant’s opi n-
ion, can be regarded as useful for u n-
derstanding the invention.   Eventual 
documents reflecting the state of the 
previous art may be noted in the d e-
scription.  
c. Determine the invention, as d efined in 
the claims by appropriate technical 
terms so that the problem and it s sol u-
tion can be understood.  
d. present the advantages of the inve n-
tion, if any, in relation to the prev ious 
state of the art.  
e. Briefly describe the figures in the 
drawings, if any.  
f. Define in details one way at least of 
carrying out the invention cla imed u sing 
examples.  
g. Explicitly clarify the way in which the 
invention can be applied in i ndustry.  
Article 6  
Claims of invention  
1.  The claims of the invention d efine the 
extent and the content of the r equired 
                                                 
1 Paragraph 4 of Article 4 as replaced by Art icle 1 par. 
2 of Ministerial Decision 3111/EFA/433   41 protection based on the technical fe a-
tures  of the inve ntion. 
2.  Wherever appropriate the claims 
shall contain:  
a. A statement indicating the design a-
tion of the subject matter of the inve n-
tion, and those technical fe atures which 
are necessary for the definition of the 
subject matter and which in c ombination 
are part of the state of the art.  
b. A characteristic part stating the tec h-
nical features of the invention which, in 
combination with sub - paragraph (a) 
determine the required pr otection.  
3.  The patent application shall co ntain 
one at least or  more claims.   If there are 
more than one claims, they shall be 
numbered consecutively in arabic n u-
merals.  
4. The claim referring to the main fe a-
tures of an invention (main claim) may 
be followed by another or other partic u-
lar claims containing all the fea tures of 
other claims (d ependent claims).  
5.  In the beginning of the depen dent 
claim there is mentioned, if possible, the 
principal or dependent claim or claims to 
which it relates and then the additional 
features for which protection is sought.  
6.  Claim s shall not rely on refe rences to 
the description or dra wings, such as: “as 
described ........ of the descri ption”, or 
“as illustrated in figure ........ of the dra w-
ings”.  
7. The patent application may, in pa r-
ticular, include:  
a.  A main claim for a produc t, a main 
claim for the method of pr oduction and a 
main claim for the use of said pro duct, 
or b.  A main claim for the method, a main 
claim for a mechanism or means speci f-
ically designed for carrying out the 
method, or  
c. A main claim for a product, a main  
claim for the method for the production 
and a main claim for a mechanism or 
means for carrying out the method.  
Article 7  
Abstract of the invention  
1. The abstract shall indicate the title of 
the invention and contain a brief me n-
tion of the information sta ted in the d e-
scription, in the claims and in the dra w-
ings.   In pa rticular, it contains:  
a. The definition of the technical field to 
which the invention relates thus facilita t-
ing its classification.  
b. Reference to the way of solving the 
technical problem o f the invention co n-
cerned.  
c. The principal use or uses of the i n-
vention. 
d. The chemical formula which chara c-
terises the invention, if any.  
2. The abstract shall not contain stat e-
ments of the alleged merits or awards 
for the evaluation of the inve ntion. 
3. If possible, the abstract shall not e x-
ceed one hundred and fifty words.  
4. The abstract must refer to the dra w-
ings accompanying the appl ication, if 
any. 
Article 8  
Form of the drawings  
1.  The usable surface area shall not 
exceed 26,2 cm x 7 cm.   These sh eets  42 shall not contain frames around the 
used surface.  
2. The minimum margins around the 
drawing shall be as follows:  
a. Top: 2,5 cm  
b. Left side:  2,5 cm  
c. Rights side:  1,5 cm  
d. Bottom:  1,0 cm  
3.  The drawings shall be subject to the 
following limitation s: 
a. Drawings shall be executed in black 
lines and durable signs.   The lines shall 
be dense, well defined, uniformly thick, 
without colourings.  
b. Cross -section shall be indicated by 
hatching which should not i mpede the 
clear reading of the lea ding lines.  
c. The scale of the drawings and their 
graphical execution shall be such that a 
photographic reproduction with a li near 
reduction in size to two -thirds would be 
carried out.  
d. Numbers, letters and reference signs 
may be used specifying the drawings.   
Brackets, circles, or inver ted commas 
shall not be used in association with 
numbers and le tters.  The height of the 
numbers and letters shall not be less 
than 0,32 cm.   For the lettering of dra w-
ings the Latin and Greek alphabets shall 
be used.  
e. The lines of  the drawings shall be 
drawn with the aid of drafting instr u-
ments.  
f. Drawings shall be numbered consec u-
tively in arabic numerals ind ependently 
of the numbering of the sheets.  
g. Diagrams are considered as dra w-
ings.  Article 9  
Presentation of the documents of the 
application  
1. The documents of the application 
form of the patent or the utility model 
certificate shall be susceptible to repr o-
duction by photography, electrostatic 
processes, photo of fset, and micro -
filming to an unlimited number of co p-
ies. The s heets shall be free from 
cracks, creases, and folds.   Only one 
side of the sheet shall be used.  
2. The documents shall be on A4 paper 
(29,7  cm x 24  cm), white smooth, matt, 
pliable and dur able. Each sheet shall be 
used from the top to the bo t-
tom. (Upright position).  
3.  Each document shall co mmence on 
a new sheet.   The sheets shall be co n-
nected with clips in such a way that they 
can be easily separated.  
4.  Subject to article 8, paragraph 2 of 
the present decision, the minimum ma r-
gins shall be as follows:  
a. Top: 2,0 cm  
b. Left side:  2,5 cm  
c. Right side:  2,0 cm  
d. Bottom:  2,0 cm  
The maximum margins of the sheets 
shall be as follows:  
a. Top: 4,0 cm  
b. Left side:  4,0 cm  
c. Right side:  3,0 cm  
d. Bottom:  3,0 cm  
5.  All application sheets must be nu m-
bered in con secutive Arabic  numerals.   
The numerals shall be placed at the top 
of the sheet, in the middle but not in the 
top ma rgin. 
6.  The lines of each sheet of the d e-
scription and of the claims shall be  43 numbered in sets of five.   The nu mbers 
shall be noted on the  left side to the 
right of the left margin.  
7.  All documents shall be typed or 
printed.   Only graphic symbols and 
chemical or mathematical formula may 
be written by hand.   The characters 
shall be in dark colour.  
8. Units of measures shall be e xpressed 
in terms of the metric system.   Temper a-
tures shall be expressed in Celsius d e-
grees.   For the other phys ical values the 
units recognised in i nternational practice 
shall be used.  
9.  The terminology and the signs of the 
application shall be co nsistent.  
10. The sheets shall be free from era s-
ures, overwriting and interlin eations.  
 
CHAPTER THREE 
FINAL DISPOSITIONS  
Article 10  
Registration of the patent applic ation 
The patent application shall be recor ded 
in the Register Book, Volume A’, “N a-
tional applications”, by p roportional a p-
plication of the dispositions of art icles 2 
and 3 of the Law No. 4325/1963 on “the 
inventions concerning the national d e-
fence of the country”.  Article 11  
Utility model certificate application  
1. The dispositions of the present dec i-
sion, with the exception of art icle 10, are 
applied also to the utility model certif i-
cate applications.  
2. The utility model application or the 
declaration for the conversion of a p a-
tent application to utility model applic a-
tion is recorded in the application Regi s-
ter Book with the indication “Utility Model 
Certificate Applications”.  
Article 12  
Practice details  
Regulations on keeping the Register 
Books and on other formal pr ocedures 
for the filing of the patent or utility model 
applications are set by decision of the 
Administrative Council of OBI.  
Article 13  
Entry into force  
The entry into force of the present dec i-
sion shall start as from the date of its 
publication in the Official Journal of the 
Government.  
The present decision shall be pu blished 
in the Official Journa l of the Gover n-
ment.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  44 MINISTER IAL DECISION No 5326/EFA/485 ( GG 247, B’ of 27.04.1988)  
 
“Technology transfer contract registration form”  
 
THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY,  
ENERGY AND TECHNOLOGY  
 
Considering:  
 
1. The provisions of article 22, par a-
graph 5 o f Law No. 1733/1987 r elated to 
“Technology transfer, inventions, tec h-
nological innovation, and establishment 
of an Atomic Energy Committee” (Off i-
cial Jou rnal,  GG 171, A’);  
 
2. The provisions of Law 1558/1985 
“Government and Governing Bo dies” 
(GG 13, A’);  
 
3. The minutes of the 12th session of the 
Administrative Council  of the I ndustrial 
Property Organisation dated 
13.03.1988,  
 
Decided on the following:  
 
Article 1  
Technology Transfer - Registration Form  
 
By virtue of Article 22 of Law No 
1733/1987, the Industrial  Property O r-
ganisation (OBI) provides a sp ecial form 
to be completed by the contacting party 
or parties.  
 
Article 2  
Obligatory Information  
 
The following shall be completed by the 
contacting party or parties in order for 
the technology transfer contract to  be 
registered : 
 
a. Full name or name of legal e ntity and 
complete address of the technology r e-
cipient.  
 
b. Full name or name of legal e ntity and 
complete address of the su pplier.  c. The subject matter of the contract 
and the products or services r eferred 
thereto.  
 
d. The date of the conclusion, the b e-
ginning of the practice and the expir a-
tion of the validity of the co ntract as well 
as its period of valid ity. 
 
e. The general content of the co ntract 
and the type of the co -operation with the 
technology supplier (license, te chnical 
assistance, management, administr a-
tion, turn key, associated production or 
other). 
 
Article 3  
Optional Information  
 
If desirable, the contacting party or pa r-
ties aiming at registering a techno logy 
transfer contract may state in the form 
any eventua l participation in % of the 
technology supplier to the share capital 
of the recipient.  
 
Article 4  
Elaboration of the form – Additions  
 
1. OBI shall elaborate and provide prin t-
ed the above mentioned form for tec h-
nology transfer contracts.  
 
2. The Administrative C ouncil of OBI 
may come to a decision on the add ition 
to the form of new optional info rmation.  
 
Article 5  
Entry into force  
The present decision shall enter into 
force upon its publication in the Official 
Journal of the Gover nment.   
The present decision shal l be published 
in the Official Journal of the Gover n-
ment.   45 PRESIDENTIAL  DECREE  No 77/1988  (GG 33, A’ of 25.02.1988)  
“Implementing regulations of the Convention on the grant of European patents as 
ratified by Law No 1607/1986”  
THE PRESIDENT  
OF THE HELLE NIC REPUBLIC  
Considering:  
1. The provisions of article 23, par a-
graph 10 of Law No. 1733/1987 on 
“Technology transfer, inventions, tec h-
nological innovation, and establis hment 
of an Atomic Energy Committee” (GG 
171, A’).  
2. The provisions of Law No. 1558/198 5 
“Government and Governing Bodies 
(GG 13, A’).  
3. The opinion No. 771/1987 of the 
Council of State, issued after a proposal 
by the Mi nister of Industry, Energy, and 
Technology, we decide on the follo w-
ing:[1] 
 
CHAPTER ONE  
                                                 
1 The following has been inserted as of the 
PD/46/23.04.2012 (GG A’ 95):  
“2.The provisions of paragraph 1 of article 8 of 
Presidential Decree 189/2009 on the ‘Definition 
and re -distribution of the competencies of Mini s-
ters’ (GG A’ 221), as it was replaced with article 
4 of  Preside ntial Decree 24/2010 on the ‘Re -
definition of the competencies of Ministers and 
amendments of Presidential Decree 189/2009' 
(GG A’ 56),  
3.The provisions of article 90 of the Code on 
Government and Government Bodies that was 
ratified with the first article of Presidential D e-
cree 63/2005 (GG A’ 98),  
4.Presidential Decree 22/2012 on the ‘Appoin t-
ment of Ministers and Deputy Mini sters’ (GG A’ 
47), 
5.The fact that the provisions of the presen t 
Presidential Decree do not burden the federal 
budget,  
6.Opinion Nos 236/2009 and 261/2011 of the 
Council of State with a proposal of the Minister 
of Education, Lif elong Learning and Religious 
Affairs . GENERAL PROVISIONS  
Article  1 
Appli cation field  
The present Presidential Decree shall 
be applied for applications for the grant 
of Eur opean patents and for European 
patents causing legal effects within the 
territory of Greece.  
Article 2  
Definitions  
For the application of the present Pres i-
dential Decree, the following terms shall 
have the meanings provi ded for herein  
below:  
a. ‘OBI’ means the Industrial Property 
Organisation, which has its regi s-
tered offices in Athens (article 1 of 
Law 1733/1987).  
b. ‘Convention’ means the Convention 
on the Grant o f European Patents 
that was rat ified by Greece with Law 
1607/1986 (Government Gazette A’ 
85). 
c. ‘Revision Act’ means the Act revising 
the Convention on the Grant of E u-
ropean Patents (European Patent 
Convention of 5 October 1973, which 
was amended on 17 Decem ber 
1991) of 29 November 2000 that was 
ratified by Greece with  Law 
3396/2005 (Government Gazette A’ 
246).  
d. ‘EPO’ means the European P atent 
Organisation as it is defined in the 
Convention, as said co nvention was 
amended with the Revision Act.  
e. ‘EPO’ means th e European Patent 
Office as it is defined in the Conve n-
tion, as said convention was amen d-
ed with the Revision Act.   46 f. ‘European application’ means an a p-
plication for the grant of a Eur opean 
patent.  
g. ‘Bulletin’ means the Industrial Pro p-
erty Bulletin that is iss ued by the OBI 
(article 4 of Law 1733/1987).  
h. ‘Certified translation’ means the 
translation that was done by a lawyer 
or authority that has the right to ratify 
translations.”[1] 
CHAPTER TWO  
RECEIVING OF A EUROPEAN  
APPLICATION BY OBI  
Article 3  
Filing of the  application  
1. European patent applications may be 
filed either with OBI at its seat in Athens 
or eventually at its branches.   Divisional 
European a pplications shall exempt as 
they are to be directly filed with EPO.  
2.  A European application must be file d 
with OBI in case the applicant is a 
Greek cit izen and there is not claimed a 
priority based on an earlier Greek appl i-
cation.  
Article 4  
Language of the Application  
1. The application for the grant of a E u-
ropean patent may be completed in any 
language. If the  application is not co m-
pleted in one of the official la nguages of 
the EPO, in other words German, En g-
lish or French, it must be translated into 
one of said official languages, pursuant 
to the provisions of the Convention, as 
said convention was amended wit h the 
Revision Act.  
2. Natural or legal persons who have 
their place of residence or registered o f-
                                                 
1 Article 2 of the PD/77/1988 is replaced by art i-
cle 1 of the PD/46/23.04.2012 (GG A’ 95).  fices in Greece, as well as Greek cit i-
zens who reside abroad, and file certain 
documents with the EPO in Greek are 
entitled to a refund of the fees that are 
due pursuant to the provisions of the 
Convention, as said convention was 
amended with the R evision Act.”[2] 
Article 5  
Documents of the Application  
The European application must include 
at least the following doc uments:  
a. A statement with which the grant of a 
European patent is reques ted. 
b. Particulars that confirm the appl i-
cant’s identity or particulars that co n-
tain the applicant’s contact info r-
mation.  
c. A description of the invention or re f-
erence to a previously submitted  ap-
plication for the grant of a European 
patent.”[3] 
Article 5a  
Priority Right  
1. Pursuant to article 87 of the Co n-
vention, as said article was amended 
with paragraph 34 of article 1 of the R e-
vision Act, within the framework of the 
procedure for the grant of a European 
patent, the priority right that th e appl i-
cant or his successor in title enjoys co n-
cerns all prior regular filings, regardless 
of whether these were filed in a state 
party to the Paris Convention for the 
Protection of Industrial Property of 20 
March 1883 (as said convention has 
been revised ) that was ratified with the 
first article of Law 213/1975 (Gover n-
ment Gazette A’ 258) on the ratification 
of the Paris Convention of 1883 for the 
Protection of Industrial Property, as said 
convention was revised in Stoc kholm on 
14 July 1967, or in a Membe r of the 
                                                 
2 Article 4 of the PD/77/1988 is replaced by art i-
cle 2 of the PD/46/23.04.2012 (GG A’ 95).  
3 Article 5 of the PD/77/1988 is replaced by art i-
cle 3 of the PD/4 6/23.04.2012 (GG A’ 95).   47 World Trade O rganisation.  
 
2. In application of articles 1 and 3 of 
the Agreement on Trade -Related A s-
pects of I ntellectual Property Rights that 
is contained in Law 2290/1995 on the 
‘Ratification of the final act concerning 
the results of the multilat eral commercial  
negotiations carried out in the fram e-
work of the Uruguay Round’ (Gover n-
ment Gazette A’ 28), par agraph 1 of the 
present article, for reasons of reciprocity 
and equal trea tment, also applies in the 
case the priority right is invoked during 
the procedure for the filing of applic a-
tions for the grant of a patent or utility 
model with the OBI  pursuant to  Law 
1733/1987.[1] 
Article 6  
Receiving of the application  
1.  The responsible employee of OBI 
shall receive the European a pplication, 
note the date of receiving thereon and 
on each supporting document as well 
as, give registr ation number out of the 
Register Book for European applic a-
tions, and immediately issue a receipt.  
2.  The number and the type of the su p-
porting documents as well as the date of 
filing must be written on the receipt.  
Article 7  
Registration of the application  
1.  The European application shall be 
registered in the Register Book kept by 
OBI in accordance with the national le g-
islation currently in force and the rules 
concerning th e secrecy for the national 
patents.  
2. The Book shall be indicated as Regi s-
ter Book, Volume B’, “European applic a-
tion”, part A’ and shall be kept separat e-
                                                 
1 Article 5a is  inserted  by article 4 of the 
PD/46 /23.04.2012 (GG A’ 95) .  ly from the respe ctive Book for national 
applications.   The numbering of the 
pages of the Book begins on the first 
day of each year and the numbering of 
the applications received by OBI follows 
the practice of EPO, in accor dance with 
article 6 of the present presidential d e-
cree.  
Article 8  
Forwarding of the European  
applications to the EPO  
Following the de adlines of articles 3 and 
4 of Law No. 4325/1963 “Regarding i n-
ventions concerning the national d e-
fence of the country”, OBI forwards 
without delay the Eur opean patents to 
the EPO.  
CHAPTER THREE  
TRANSLATIONS  
Article 9  
Filing of Translations  
1.  The translat ion of the claims of the 
European application must be filed in 
duplicate with OBI and be accompanied 
by the receipt of payment of the respe c-
tive applic ation fee.   In case of non -
payment of the fee, OBI reserves the 
right of not publishing in the Bull etin the 
notification mention for the filing of the 
translation of the claims.  
2.  The European application number, 
the name and the address of the appl i-
cant, the number of the publication of 
the European application by the EPO 
and the Greek tran slation of the t itle of 
the Invention must accompany the 
translation of the European appl ication 
claims and must be filed in duplicate 
along with the application with OBI.   In 
case of priority claim the respective i n-
formation must be also stated.   48 3. The translation and th e documents 
that are attached thereto shall be a c-
cepted by the OBI provided they meet 
the typical cond itions of presentation of 
designs and documents of articles 8 and 
9 of decision No. 15928/ΕFΑ/ 1253/ 
24.12.1987 of the Minister of I ndustry, 
Energy and Technology on the ‘Filing of 
applications for the grant of a patent or 
utility model certif icates with th e OBI and 
keeping of record books’ (GG A’ 778).[1] 
4. The translation of the European a p-
plication claims is recorded in the Regi s-
ter Book indicated Volume B’, Part B’ 
“European Applic ation Translations”.   
The numbering of the pages starts on 
the first day of each year.  
5. After the publication date, information 
or copies of the translation and the a c-
comp anying documents are available for 
consultation.  
Article 10  
Translation of European patents where 
Greece is designated  
The applicant of the European applic a-
tion is beneficiary of the provisional pr o-
tection in accordance with article 23 (2), 
Law No. 1733/1987 from the date the 
certified translation of the claims was 
field with OBI   As filing date is meant the 
date of publication of the relevant me n-
tion in the Bulletin.  
Article 10a  
Limitation or revocation of the  
provisional protection  
 
The provisional protection that is provi d-
ed for under article 10 of the present 
Preside ntial Decree does not produce 
results if the European patent has been 
revoked or limited i n accordance with 
                                                 
1 Paragraph 3  of article 9 of the PD/77/1988 is 
replaced by article 5 of the PD/4 6/23.04.2012 
(GG A’ 95) . opposition, limitation or revocation pr o-
ceedings before the EPO.[2] 
Article 11  
Translation of the European patent  
1. Within three months from the public a-
tion in the European Patent Bulletin of 
the me ntion of the grant of the European 
patent or of the decision for its maint e-
nance in force under modified form after 
examination of the relevant oppos ition, 
the patentee must file with OBI the cert i-
fied translation of the text that the EPO 
has been based on, in order to grant the 
European patent  or to maintain it under 
its mod ified form.  
2. The European patent shall be 
deemed automatically invalid in Greece, 
if the term set in paragraph 1 expires.  
Article 12  
Filing of the translation of the  
 European patent  
1. The translation of a European patent  
must be filed with OBI in duplicate and 
be accompanied by the fee payment r e-
ceipt.   In case of failure to pay the fee, 
OBI does not publish the mention of fi l-
ing the translation of the European p a-
tent. 
2. The translation and the documents 
that are attache d thereto shall be a c-
cepted by the O.B.I provided they meet 
the typical conditions of presentation of 
designs and doc uments of articles 8 and 
9 of decision No. 15928/ ΕFΑ/1253/ 
24.12.1987 of the Minister of Industry, 
Energy and Tec hnology.” [3] 
3. The transl ation must be accompanied 
by the European application number, 
                                                 
2 Article 10a is  inserted by article 6 of the 
PD/46 /23.04.2012 (GG A’ 95 ). 
3 Par. 2 of a rticle 12 of the PD/77/ 1988 is r e-
placed by article 7 of the PD/4 6/23.04.2012 (GG 
A’ 95) .  49 the name, and the address of the appl i-
cant and the number of the publication 
of the me ntion of grant of the European 
patent.   In case that the EPO maintains 
the European p atent as modified after  
the examination of the respective opp o-
sition, the modified translated text is a t-
tached to the initial translation.  
4. Two copies of the drawings in the E u-
ropean patent specification must be 
supplied with the translation, even if 
these contain no textual m atter requiring 
translation.   Moreover, two copies of the 
patent abstract translated into Greek 
must be also supplied.  
 
Article 12a  
Filing of a translation of a text for  
 limitation or revocation of a  
European patent  
 
1. Within three (3) months of the date o f 
publication of the announcement of the 
decision on the limitation or revocation 
of a European patent in the European 
Patent Bulletin, the proprietor of the E u-
ropean patent is required to file the cert i-
fied translation of the text on the basis of 
which th e EPO limited or revoked the 
European patent de signating Greece 
with the OBI  
2. If the deadline set out in paragraph 1 
of the present article lapses without e f-
fect, the European p atent is deemed to 
be void ab initio within the territory of 
Greece.  
3. The transla tion provided for under 
paragraph 1 of the present art icle is filed 
with the OBI only if the European patent 
has effect in Greece, in applic ation of 
paragraph 4 of article 23 of Law 
1733/1987 and article 11 of the present 
Presidential Decree, and an act fo r for-
feiture has not been published, pursuant 
to article 16 of Law 1733/1987.  4. For the filing of the translation provi d-
ed for under paragraph 1 of the present 
article with the OBI, as well as for the 
publication of said translation in the Bu l-
letin, the pro visions of articles 12 and 13 
of the present Presidential Decree, r e-
spectively, shall apply.  
5. For the authenticity of the text provi d-
ed for under paragraph 1 of the present 
article, articles 14 and 15 of the present 
Presidential D ecree shall apply.  
6. If an ac t for forfeiture is pu blished, 
pursuant to article 16 of Law 1733/1987, 
prior to the date of publication of the a n-
nouncement of the decision on the lim i-
tation or revocation of a European p a-
tent in the E uropean Patent Bulletin, the 
OBI shall record ex offic io the a n-
nouncement of the decision of the EPO 
on the limitation or revocation of the E u-
ropean patent in the Register of Patents, 
Volume B’, with the indication ‘Europ e-
an’. Pa rticulars of this announcement 
are pu blished in the Bulletin.  
7. The decision on the  limitation or re v-
ocation of a European patent e nters into 
effect from the date of publication of the 
announcement of the decision in the E u-
ropean P atent Bulletin.  
8. The European patent is deemed as 
not having ab initio the rights, in part or 
in whole, provi ded for under article 64 of 
the Convention, as said convention was 
amended with the Revision Act, if for 
said patent a decision for limitation or 
revocation has been pu blished pursuant 
to paragraph 7 of the present article.  
9. In all other cases, the provisio ns pr o-
vided for hereunder shall apply.1 
 
                                                 
1 Article 12a is inserted by article 8 of the 
PD/46 /23.04.2012 (GG A’ 95 ). 
  50 Article 13  
Publication of the translation of the  
European patent  
1.  OBI publishes in the Bulletin the 
mention of the filing of the translation of 
the Eur opean patent.  
2.  After the publication date, third pa r-
ties can be supplied with info rmation or 
copies of the translation and the acco m-
panying documents upon request.  
3.  OBI may proceed to publishing a p e-
riodical or special issue containing the 
translations of the European patents 
and/or the European applic ations.  
4.  Spelling or syntax mistakes in the 
text of the translations may be corrected 
at any time by the applicant.   For the 
correction the appl icant must designate 
the issue number and the date of publ i-
cation of the mention in the Bulletin, if 
the incorrect t ranslation has already 
been published.  
CHAPTER FOUR  
AUTHENTIC TEXTS - RIGHTS OF 
THIRD PARTIES  
Article 14  
Authentic text of a European patent a p-
plication or European patent  
1.  Authentic text for any proceedings 
before the Greek authorities is consi d-
ered th e text of the European applic a-
tion or European patent as compiled in 
the language of the pr oceedings of the 
EPO.  
2.  With the exception of paragraph 1, if 
the text translated in Greek in accor d-
ance with articles 9 and 11 of the pr e-
sent decree provides for a narrower pr o-
tection than in the text according to the 
language of the procedure before the 
EPO, as authentic is consi dered the text in Greek for any procedure before the 
Hellenic authorities.   Actions of nullific a-
tion are exempt ther efrom.  
Article 15  
Reviewing of translation  
In the case of paragraph 2 of article 14, 
the beneficiary of the European applic a-
tion or European patent may file with 
OBI, whenever desirable a reviewed 
translation of the Europ ean application 
or European patent.   The reviewed 
transl ation shall be in force from the 
date that the prere quisites of articles 9, 
10, 11 and 12 of this decree are met.  
Article 16  
Rights emanating from a previous  
exploitation  
A person using an invention in good 
faith or who has proceeded to all nece s-
sary acti on for the explo itation thereof, 
without infringing any right emanating 
from the European application or Eur o-
pean patent based on the text of the in i-
tial translation, may co ntinue such use 
without payment in the course of his 
business or for the needs ther eof, even 
after the entry into force of the reviewed 
translation.  
CHAPTER FIVE  
FEES - REPRESENTATION  
Article 17  
Payment of fees - Consequences  
1.  For the maintenance of a European 
patent in force in Greece a nnual fees 
must be paid to OBI in advance.   The 
article 24 of Law No. 1733/1987 co n-
cerning annual protection fees for n a-
tional patents is respectively applied 
thereto.  
2.  The first instalment of annual prote c-
tion fees for a European patent with  51 force in Greece is due to OBI for the 
year following the p ublication in the E u-
ropean Patent Bull etin of the mention of 
the grant of the European patent.   The 
calculation of the years starts from the 
date of filing of the European applic a-
tion. 
3.  In case that article 16 of Law No. 
1733/1987 is applied, the loss o f rights 
is published in the Bulletin and regi s-
tered in the common Patent Register, 
Volume B’, “European P atents”.  
Article 18  
Fees  
The amount of fees payable to OBI for 
the translation of the European applic a-
tion or the European patent is dete r-
mined by dec ision of the Administrative 
Council of OBI in a ccordance with article 
24 (6) of Law No. 1733/1987.  
 
Article 18a  
Retroactive payment of annual fees  
 
1. In the case of acceptance by the E n-
larged Board of Appeal of the European 
Patent Office of a petition for re view of a 
prior decision of the Board of Appeal of 
the party a dversely affected pursuant to 
article 112a of the Convention, as said 
article was comple ted with paragraph 55 
of article 1 of the Revision Act, and rei n-
statement of a revoked European patent 
with a subsequent decision of the Board 
of Appeal of the EPO, the a nnual fees of 
the previous years of protection that are 
due, together with the surcharges pr o-
vided for under the law, shall be paid to 
the OBI . 
2. The above fees shall be paid in a c-
cordance with the terms and proc edure 
provided for under sub -paragraph (g) of 
paragraph 10 of article 2 and article 24 
of Law 1733/1987 and the amounts that 
correspond to those amounts that are paid in the case of late payment are 
paid in accordance with the last clause  
of paragraph 2 of article 24 of Law 
1733/1987.  
3. The OBI shall record in the Register 
of Patents, Volume B’, with the indic a-
tion ‘Eur opean’, the announcement of 
the decision of the EPO on the rei n-
statement of the European patent. Pa r-
ticulars of this announc ement are pu b-
lished in the Bulletin.[1] 
 
Article 19  
Representation  
1. For the application of this presidential 
decree, the right of appea ring in person 
of filing documents with OBI is given 
solely to the beneficiary of a European 
application or European pa tent or a re p-
resentative lawyer.  
2. The right of filing of an application for 
the grant of European p atents with OBI 
is also acknowledged to the professional 
representatives in accordance with art i-
cles 133 and 134 of the Conve ntion. 
3. Any beneficiary with  neither res idence 
nor seat in Greece must nominate a 
domestic represent ative. 
 
CHAPTER SIX  
CONVERSION -  
CUMULATIVE PROTECTION  
Article 20  
Circumstances for conversion  
The beneficiary of a European applic a-
tion may request in writing the conve r-
sion of the E uropean application into a 
national patent application.   This co n-
                                                 
1 Article 18a is insert ed by article 9 of the 
PD/46 /23.04.2012 (GG A’ 95 ).  52 version is allowed when the European 
application is deemed withdrawn for one 
of the following reasons:  
a. The application has not been sent to 
the EPO within 14 months following the 
filing or  the priority date, if priority is 
claimed;  
b. The European application was filed in 
Greek and its translation, pursuant to 
paragraph 2 of article 14 of the Conve n-
tion, as it was amended with paragraph 
3 of art icle 1 of the Revision Act, was 
not filed with  the EPO within a deadline 
of two (2) months of the date of filing of 
the application for the grant of a Eur o-
pean patent.[1] 
Article 21  
Procedure for the Conversion  
1.  The request for the conversion in a c-
cordance with article 20 of this preside n-
tial decre e must be filed with OBI in d u-
plicate within an exclusive deadline of 
three months from the date that the 
EPO notified the applicant that the a p-
plication has been deemed withdrawn.   
Articles 135 and 137 of the Conve ntion, 
as said articles were amended with  par-
agraphs 72 and 74, respectively, of art i-
cle 1 of the Revision Act, apply accor d-
ingly.[2]   
2.  Within four months of the filing of the 
application for conversion, the a pplicant 
must file in duplicate a Greek translation 
of the European application.   Otherwise 
the application shall be deemed wit h-
drawn.  
                                                 
1 Sub-paragraph (b) of article 20 of PD  77/1988 
is replaced by article10 of PD/46 /23.04.2012 
(GG A’ 95 ). 
2 The second clause of the first paragraph of 
article 21 of Presidential Decree 77/1988 is r e-
placed by art icle 11  of PD/4 6/23.04.2012 (GG A’ 
95). 3. Requests for conversion are entered 
in the Records Book, Volume A’, “N a-
tional a pplication”.  
Article 22  
Cases of cumulative protection  
1.  If a national and a European patent 
with force in Greece have be en gran ted 
for the same invention to the same i n-
ventor or patentee u nder the same filing 
or priority date, the Greek patent shall 
cease being in force as from the date on 
which:  
a. The term for filing an opposition with 
EPO has expired or,  
b. The examinati on procedure of the 
opposition has come to an end and the 
European patent remains in force.  
2.  Later nullification or cease of force of 
the European patent does not affect the 
application of par agraph 1.  
3.  The Greek Courts are comp etent to 
ascertain the  cease of force of the 
Greek patent.  
 
CHAPTER SEVEN  
REGISTER - FINAL REGULATIONS  
Article 23  
Registering  
1.  The OBI shall record in the Register 
of Patents, Volume B’, with the indic a-
tion ‘European’, the particulars that co n-
cern European patents and that a re re c-
orded in the Register of European P a-
tents, pursuant to article 127 of the 
Convention, as said article was amen d- 53 ed with paragraph 65 of article 1 of the 
Revision Act.[1] 
2. The Register shall include only those 
European patents which have been pu b-
lished in the European Patent Bulletin, 
are in -force in Greece and for which the 
procedure of articles 11 and 12 of the 
present decree has been respec ted. 
3. European patents recorded in the P a-
tent Register shall be pu blished in the 
Industrial Property Bu lletin. 
Article 23a  
Confirmation of registration in  
the Register  
1. The OBI shall grant the proprietor of 
the certificate of filing of a translation of 
a Eur opean patent a ratified copy of the 
filing and of all possible changes in the 
ownership st atus of the c ertificate from 
the Register of Patents, Volume B’, with 
the indication ‘European’, that the O r-
ganisation keeps. The ratified copy shall 
be accompanied by the co rresponding 
publications in the Bulletin.  
2. The ratified copy provided for under 
paragraph 1 o f the present article, which 
bears the title ‘Confirmation of registr a-
tion in the Registers of the OBI’, is pr o-
vided on the same day for use before 
the EPO within the framework of the 
proceedings for the limitation or revoc a-
tion of a European p atent. 
3. The ratified copy provided for under 
paragraph 1 of the present article is a c-
companied by its tran slation into English 
by the Services of the OBI.[2] 
 
                                                 
1 Par. 1 of a rticle 2 3 of the PD/77/1988 is re-
placed by article 1 2 of the PD/46 /23.04.2012 
(GG A’ 95) . 
2 Article 23a is inserted by  article 13 of the 
PD/46 /23.04.2012 (GG A’ 95).  Article 24  
Entry into Force  
The presidential decree shall enter into 
force on the date of its public ation i n the 
Official Journal of the Government.  
The publication and execution of this 
decree shall be accomplished by the 
Minister of Industry, Energy and Tec h-
nology.[3] 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
3 In article 24 of PD/77/1988 is inserted article 
14 of PD/46 /23.04.2012 (GG A’ 95)  as follows: 
“Without prejudice to the  transitional provisions 
of article 7 of the Revision Act, the present Pre s-
idential Decree is valid from the date the Rev i-
sion Act enters into force, in other words from 13 
Dece mber 2007.  
We hereby assign the publication of the present 
Presidential Decree in the Go vernment Gazette 
and its execution to the Minister of Education, 
Lifelong Learning and Religious Affairs ”.  54 PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No 16/1991  
"Implementing regulations of the Patent Cooperation  Treaty  
as ratified by L aw No 1883/1990"  
THE PRESIDENT  
OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC  
Having regard to Article 4 of Law  No. 
1883/1990 on the Ratification of the P a-
tent Cooperation Treaty done at Was h-
ington on June 19, 1990 and modified 
on October 20, 1979 and  February 3, 
1984 (Official Journal - GG No. 45, A’).  
Having regard to the provisions of Law  
No 1558/1985 on “Government and 
Governing Bodies” (Off icial Journal - GG 
No. 137, A’).  
Having regard to the opinion No. 
619/1990 of the Council of State follo w-
ing proposal from the Minister of Indu s-
try, 
HEREBY DECIDES:  
 
CHAPTER ONE  
GENERAL PROVISIONS  
Article 1  
Scope  
This Presidential Decree shall be i m-
plemented in applications filed in a c-
cordance with the regulations under the 
Patent Cooperation Tre aty (PCT) which 
may result in the grant of a p atent in or 
for one of the Contracting States.  
Article 2  
Definitions  
For the purposes of this Decree:  
a. “Cooperation Treaty” shall mean the 
convention on the Patent C ooperation 
Treaty (PCT) done at Washington on June 19, 1970 and modified on Oct ober 
2, 1979 and February 3, 1984 t ogether 
with the Regulations thereof and ratified 
in Greece by Law No. 1883/1990 (Off i-
cial Journal - GG No. 45 A’/29.03.1990).  
b. “international application” shall mean 
the application filed under this Treaty.  
c. “certified translation” shall mean the 
translation done by a lawyer or any a u-
thority entitled to certify translations.  
d. “EPO” shall mean the European P a-
tent Office as defined in the E uropean 
Patent Convention (Co nvention on the 
Grant of Europe an Patents) ratified in 
Greece by Law 1607/1986 (Official 
Journal - GG No. 85 A’).  
 
CHAPTER TWO  
RECEIPT OF THE INTERNATIONAL 
APPLICATION BY THE OBI  
Article 3  
Filing of the Application  
1. The international application may be 
filed either at the Athens - seated Offi c-
es of the Industrial Property Organis a-
tion (OBI) or at the branches thereof, if 
any, or altern atively with the European 
Patent O ffice in Munich or the Branch 
thereof at The Hague.  
2. The international application must be 
filed with the OBI if the applicant is a 
Greek citizen and provided that no prio r-
ity for an earlier Greek application is 
claimed (art. 1 and 2 of Law No. 
4325/1963 on “inventions concerning 
the national defence”).   55 3.  An international application may be 
also filed through a registe red letter u p-
on receipt as provided for in Article 4, 
paragraph 3 of the Mi nister’s Decision 
No. 15928/  EFA/  1253 on the filing of 
national appl ications.  
Article 4  
Language of the Application  
1.  Any international application must be 
filed in one of the wo rking languages of 
the EPO as the a uthority competent for 
the international searc hing pursuant to 
Article 16 and Rule 12 of the Treaty and 
Article 12 of this Decree.   The working 
languages of the EPO are English, 
French, and Ge rman.  
2.  If the application must be filed with 
the OBI pursuant to Article 3, paragraph 
2 of this Decree, the international appl i-
cation must be also filed in Greek.  
Article 5  
Contents of the Application  
1.  The international application shall 
contain at least the elements defined in 
Article 11, paragraph 1, iii of the Treaty, 
namely:  
a. an indication that the application is 
intended as an international applic ation, 
b. the designation of at least one Co n-
tracting State,  
c. the name or the corporate name, the 
nationality, and the home or  seat a d-
dress of the applicant in a way that his 
identity may be esta blished,  
d. a part which on the face of it a ppears 
to be a description,  
e. a part which on the face of it a ppears 
to be a claim or claims.  2. The international application shall 
have atta ched thereto the drawings to 
which refer the claims or the descri ption, 
the title of the invention, the abstract 
and the documents of legitim ation of the 
applicant in the case of a legal pe rson or 
in the case of a natural pe rson if he is 
not the inventor.  
3.  The particulars of the intern ational 
application must be completed on a 
printed form furnished by the OBI free of 
charge to the appl icant(s).   The form is 
accompanied by a check list stating the 
item(s) contained in the application.   
The check list sha ll be completed either 
by the applicant himself or by the OBI in 
accordance with Rule 3, paragraph 3 of 
the Treaty.  
4. The international application and the 
documents contained therein must meet 
the physical requirements purs uant to 
Rule 11 of the Treaty.  
5. The international application and the 
documents referred to in the check list, 
except the receipt for the fees paid, shall 
be filed in three copies of which the one 
shall be the record copy.   If the copies 
are less than those r equired, they are 
complete d ex officio by the OBI.  
Article 6  
Designation of Inventor  
The provisions concerning the n ational 
applications for the grant of a patent 
shall apply to the designation of inve n-
tor. 
Article 7  
Receipt for International Application  
1.  The formalities officer  of the OBI 
shall receive the application i ntended as 
an international, shall write down on it 
and on any a ccompanying document 
the filing date and the international a p-
plication serial number provided by the  56 World Intellectual Property Organ ization 
(WIPO) and shall issue a r eceipt for the 
enclosed documents.  
2.  The receipt for documents co ntains 
the application number, the accompan y-
ing items and the date of receipt.   A 
signed copy of the check list referred to 
in Rule 3, paragraph 3 of the Treaty 
shall be good as a receipt for an intern a-
tional application.  
Article 8  
Filing date of the  
International Application  
1.  The OBI shall accord a filing date to 
the international application provided 
that it has found that the following r e-
quirements are met on a cumu lative b a-
sis: 
a. the applicant does not lack, for re a-
sons of residence or nationality, the right 
to file an international a pplication with 
the OBI.  
b. the international application is in the 
languages prescribed in Article 4, par a-
graphs 1 and 2 of this D ecree. 
c. the international application co ntains 
the elements prescribed in Article 5, 
paragraph 1 of this D ecree.  
2. If the OBI finds that the requir ements 
listed in the above paragraph are fu l-
filled at the time of r eceipt, the OBI shall 
accord as the inter national filing date the 
date of receipt.  
3.  If the international application fulfils 
the requirements listed in paragraph 1 of 
this Article, the fo rmalities officer of the 
OBI shall mark the margin of the appl i-
cations form with the seal of the Organ i-
zation and shall write down the words 
“PCT International Application”.   The so -
sealed copy of the application shall thereafter be considered the true copy 
of the international application.  
Article 9  
Registration of the  
International Application  
The internatio nal application shall be 
recorded in the Patents Register as pr e-
scribed in the national legi slation and 
the rules concerning the secrecy of the 
national patents.  
Article 10  
Transmittal of the  
International Appl ication  
Following expiry of the deadlines set  out 
by Articles 3 and 4 of Law 4325/1963 on 
“inventions concerning the national d e-
fence” and provided that the internatio n-
al applic ation shall have been deemed 
to be of no interest to the national d e-
fence of the country, the OBI shall i m-
mediately transmit : 
a. the record copy of the intern ational 
application and the accompanying do c-
uments to the WIPO.  
b. a copy of the international appl ication 
and the accompanying do cuments to 
the EPO as the Searc hing Authority.  
c. a communication to the applicant i n-
forming  him of the filing date a ccorded 
by the OBI for the international applic a-
tion. 
Article 11  
Correction of Defects in the  
Intern ational Application  
1.  If the OBI finds that:  
a. the accompanying documents of the 
international application r eferred to in 
Article 5, paragraph 2 of this Decree are 
not completed, or   57 b. the international application is not 
signed, or  
c. the documents of the application do 
not comply with the prescri ptions of Rule 
11 of the Treaty, or  
d.  the name of the applicant or the re f-
erence t o his address clearly state his 
identity but are not co mplete, invites the 
applicant to correct the application wit h-
in a month from the invitation date.   If 
the completion is made within the pr e-
scribed time limit, the i nternational filing 
date shall be the  date accor ded under 
Article 8, paragraph 2 of this Decree.   
Otherwise, the application shall be co n-
sidered withdrawn and the OBI shall a c-
cordin gly notify the applicant, the WIPO, 
and the EPO.  
2.  If the international application refers 
to drawings which, in fact, are not i n-
cluded in that application, the OBI shall 
notify the applicant accordingly and he 
may furnish them within 30 days from 
the date of receipt of the application 
and, if he does, the intern ational filing 
date shall be the date on which the 
drawings are received by the OBI.   Oth-
erwise, any reference to the said dra w-
ings shall be considered non -existent.  
3.  If the requirements listed in par a-
graph 1 above are not complied with, 
the OBI invites the applicant to correct 
and complete the appl ication within 30 
days from the inv itation for correction 
and, if he does within the prescribed 
time limit, the filing date shall be the 
date of r eceipt of the corrections by the 
OBI.  Otherwise, the international appl i-
cation shall be considered to be wit h-
drawn  and the applicant is so not ified. 
 
 
 CHAPTER THREE  
DESIGNATION OF GREECE - 
TRANSLATIONS  
Article 12  
Designation of Greece  
1.  If the international application co n-
tains a designation of Greece as a Co n-
tracting State of the PCT and protection 
is sought in it s terr itory, this application 
shall be considered as a European P a-
tent a pplication intended for protection 
in Greece.  
2.  Following its transmittal to the EPO, 
the international application with desi g-
nation of Greece shall be subjected to 
the provisions of  Law No. 1607/1986 on 
the “ratification of the European Patent 
Conve ntion” (Official Journal - GG 85 A’) 
and of the Presidential Decree No. 
77/1988 “impl ementing regulations on 
the grant of European Patents” (Official 
Journal - GG 33 A’).  
Article 13  
Filing  of the Translation  
The filing of the translation of the claims 
of the international applic ation and the 
manner of claiming shall be subjected to 
the provisions of Article 9 of the Pres i-
dential Decree No. 77/1988 “implemen t-
ing regulations on the grant of E uropean 
Patents”.  
Article 14  
Provisional Protection  
Whoever avails themselves of the rights 
deriving from the international applic a-
tion they shall be entitled to the prov i-
sional protection purs uant to Article 23, 
paragraph 2 of Law No. 1733/1987 as of 
the date of filing of the certified transl a-
tion with the OBI.   The publication date 
of the intern ational application shall be  58 the date of publication of the mention in 
the Indu strial Property Bulletin.  
Article 15  
The implementation of Article 12, par a-
graph 1 o f this Decree co ncerning the 
grant of a European Patent valid in 
Greece following the filing of an intern a-
tional application shall fall within the 
provisions of Presidential Decree No. 
77/1988.  
CHAPTER FOUR  
FEES - REPRESENTATION  
Article 16  
Payment of Fees - Consequences  
1.  The filing of the international applic a-
tion with the OBI shall be accomp anied 
by the payment of a transmittal fee to it, 
for its own be nefit, pursuant to Rule 14 
of the Treaty.  
The amount of the transmittal fee shall 
by due within one mo nth from the r e-
ceipt of the international a pplication by 
the OBI  
2.  Additionally, the filing of the intern a-
tional application requires the payment 
of an international fee for the benefit of 
the WIPO and of a search fee for the 
benefit of the EPO.  
Article 17 
Fees for the benefit of the OBI  
(The Transmittal Fee)  
1.  The transmittal fee for the intern a-
tional application shall be paid for the 
benefit of the OBI and the amount shall 
be fixed in accordance with Art icle 24, 
paragraph 6 of Law No. 1733/1987 by 
decision of the administrative council of 
the OBI.   This fee shall be refunded in 
full to the applicant if the intern ational 
application fails to be tran smitted to the WIPO within the time limit prescribed by 
Rule 22, par agraph 3 of the Treaty.  
2.  The mode o f payment and the 
amount due for the rest of the fees to be 
paid for the benefit of the OBI as pr e-
scribed in this Decree are as set out in 
the current Fee Regul ations of the OBI  
Article 18  
Fees for the benefit of the WIPO  
(The International Fee)  
1.  The OB I requires that each intern a-
tional application shall be su bject to the 
payment of an intern ational fee for the 
benefit of the WIPO consisting of:  
a. a “basic fee”, and  
b. as many “designation fees” as there 
are national patents and regional p a-
tents sought by the application in the i n-
ternational applic ation, except that if a 
regional patent is selected, only one 
designation fee shall be due.  
2.  The amount of the basic fee and of 
the designation fee shall be paid to the 
OBI in Greek drachmas in the equiv a-
lent of the amount in Swiss currency as 
set out in the Schedule of Fees  of the 
WIPO and established by decision of 
the Director General of this Intern ational 
Organization.  
3.  The basic fee shall be paid to the 
OBI within a month from the date of r e-
ceipt of t he international application.  
4.  The designation fee shall be paid:  
a. within one year from the date of r e-
ceipt of the international application 
where the application does not contain a 
priority claim, or  
b. within one year from the priority date 
or withi n one month from the date of r e-
ceipt of the international application  59 where the application contains a priority 
claim.  
5. The international fee shall be refun d-
ed in full to the applicant only if the OBI 
establishes the opinion that the prov i-
sions of Articl e 8 of this Decree are not 
met and the inte rnational application is 
deemed to be withdrawn.  
Article 19  
Fees for the benefit of the EPO  
(The Search Fee)  
1.  For each international applic ation a 
search fee for the benefit of the EPO 
shall be paid to the OBI  
2.  The international fee is paid to the 
OBI in Greek drachmas in the equiv a-
lent of the amount in Ge rman currency 
as established by the EPO after consu l-
tation with the WIPO.  
3.  The search fee shall be paid to the 
OBI within one month from the date of 
receipt of the international application.  
Article 20  
Transmittal of Fees  
1. The total of fees collected by the OBI, 
either for the benefit of the WIPO or of 
the EPO, are transmi tted directly to the 
respective accounting depar tments.  2. Where, by the time they are due, the 
fees under Article 16 of this Decree are 
not paid within the pr escribed time limit, 
the OBI shall notify the competent se r-
vice of the International Bureau, shall 
charge the amount required, and shall 
consider the said amount as if it had 
been paid by the applicant at the due 
time under Rule 16a of the Treaty.  
Article 21  
Representation  
1. The right to appearing in person or 
filing documents with the OBI shall be 
conferred to the appointed beneficia ries 
of the international application or to thei r 
represent ative lawyer.  
2.  If the beneficiary of an intern ational 
application has no residence or seat in 
Greece, he shall appoint an agent.  
CHAPTER FIVE  
FINAL PROVISIONS  
Article 22  
Entry into Force  
This Decree shall enter into force upon 
publication the reof in the Official Jou rnal 
(GG). 
The publication and implementation of 
this Decree are assigned to the Mini ster 
of Industry, Energy and Technol ogy. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  60 PRESIDENTIAL DECREE  No 45/1991  
"Legal protection of topographies of semiconductor products  
in compl iance with Council Directive 87/54/EEC of 16 December 1986  
as suppl emented by Decision 87/532/EEC and 88/311/EEC"  
THE PRESIDENT  
OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC  
1.  Having regard to Articles 4 and 5 of 
Law 1338/1983 on the Impl ementation 
of Community Law (Greek Government 
Journal 34, vol. A) as amended and 
suppl emented with Article 6(4) of Law 
1440/1984 on participation of Greece 
in the Capital, Reserves and Commi t-
ments of the European Coal and Steel 
Community and the Euratom Supply 
Organisation (GG 70 , vol. A), as 
amended with Article 7 of Law 
1775/1988 on companies providing 
venture capital and other provisions 
(GG 101, vol. A);  
2.  Having regard to Law 945/1979 on 
Ratification of the Treaty of a ccession 
of Greece to the European Economic 
Community (G G 170, vol. A) of 27 July 
1979;  
3. Having regard to the Act of Acce s-
sion of the Kingdom of Spain and the 
Portuguese Republic to the European 
Economic Community and the Europ e-
an Economic Energy Community (Off i-
cial Journal No. 302/15.01.1985) as 
ratified by Law 1572/1985 ( GG 193, 
vol. A, 1985);  
4.  Having regard to Article 1(2) of Law 
1733/1987 on the Transfer of Techno l-
ogy, Inventions, Technological Innov a-
tion and the Creation of an Atomic E n-
ergy Committee ( GG 171, vol. A);  
5.  Having regard to Decision of t he 
Prime Minister G 1250 of 15 Jan uary 
1991 ( GG vol. B, 10) supplementing 
decision G 1201 of 5 O ctober 1990,  6.  Having regard to the opinion No. 
628/1990 of the Council of State fo llowing 
proposal from the Deputy Mini ster of the 
National Economy and the M inisters of 
Justice, Industry, Energy and Technol o-
gy, 
HEREBY DECIDES:  
CHAPTER ONE  
GENERAL PROVISIONS  
Article 1  
Objective  
The objective of this Decree is to tran s-
pose Council Directive 87/54/EEC of 16 
December 1986 on the legal pr otection of 
topographies of  semicondu ctor products, 
published in Greek in the Official Journal 
of the European Communities on 27 Ja n-
uary 1987 (Official Journal NO. 24), as 
amended by Dec ision 87/532/EEC of 26 
October 1987 published in Greek in the 
Official Journal of the European Co mmu-
nities on 4 November 1987 (Official Jou r-
nal No.131) and Decision 88/311/EEC of 
31 May 1988.  
Article 2  
Definitions  
For the purposes of this Decree:  
a. a “semiconductor product” shall mean 
the final or an intermediate form of any 
product:  
i)  consisting o f a body of material which 
includes a layer of semiconducting mat e-
rial; and   61 ii) having one or more other layers 
composed of conducting, insulating or 
semiconducting material, the layers 
being arranged in accor dance with a 
predetermined three -dimensional p at-
tern; and  
iii)  intended to perform, exclusively or 
together with other functions, an ele c-
tronic function;  
b. the “topography” of a semico nductor 
product shall mean a series of related 
images, however fixed or encoded;  
i)  representing the three -dimensio nal 
pattern of the layers of which a sem i-
condu ctor product is composed; and  
ii)  in which series, each image has the 
pattern or part of the pattern of a su r-
face of the semiconductor product at 
any stage of its man ufacture;  
c. a “commercial exploitation” me ans 
the sale, rental, leasing or any other 
method of commercial distribution, or 
an offer for these purposes.  
The above -mentioned commercial e x-
ploitation shall not include explo itation 
under conditions of confide ntiality to 
the extent that no further distr ibution to 
third parties occurs, unless the explo i-
tation of a topography occurs under 
conditions of confidentiality for the pr o-
tection of the essential interests of 
State security which are connected 
with the production or trade of arms, 
munition and war m aterial in accor d-
ance with the provisions of Article 
223(1)(b) of the EEC Treaty.  
d. “OBI” is the Athens -based Indu strial 
Property Organisation (Law No. 
1733/1987).  
 Article 3  
Conditions of protection  
1.  The topography of a semico nductor 
product shall be protected in accor dance 
with the provisions of this Decree, provi d-
ed 
a. it is the result of its creator’s own inte l-
lectual effort; and  
b. it is not commonplace in the semico n-
ductor industry.  
2. Topographies which consist of el e-
ments that are commonplace in  the sem i-
conductor industry shall be pr otected only 
to the extent that the co mbination of such 
elements, taken as a whole, fulfils the 
conditions set out in paragraph 1.  
3.  The true copy of a topography shall 
not be a product of intellectual effort.  
4.  Protection of a topography does not 
extend to the principles, procedures, sy s-
tems, technology or coded info rmation 
incorporated in that topogr aphy. 
CHAPTER TWO  
ENTITLEMENTS AND  
PROC EDURES  
Article 4  
Right to acquire protection  
1.  The creator or owner pursu ant to Art i-
cle 7 of this Decree, and his su ccessors, 
shall be entitled to have their topogr aphy 
protected.  
2.  The creator is the person who first files 
an application for registration of a topog-
raphy  in accordance with Article 6 of this 
Decree.  
  62 Article 5  
Co-ownership of a topography  
If several persons created the topogr a-
phy together and provided no agre e-
ment specifying otherwise e xists, the 
right shall belong to them all jointly.   
Each co -owner may freely transfer his 
share and attend to the protection of  
the common t opography. [1]   
Article 6  
Right to register a topography  
1. The following persons shall have the 
right to file an application for registr a-
tion w ith the OBI and to protection of 
topography in accordance with Art icles 
4 and 9 of this Decree:  
a.  natural persons who are natio nals 
of a member State of Eur opean Union 
or have their habitual res idence on the 
territory of a Member State or of a 
Member Sta te of the European Free 
Trade Association (EFTA), with the e x-
ception of Switze rland; [2] 
b. companies or other legal persons 
which have a real and effective indus-
trial or commercial establishment on 
the territory of a Me mber State of the 
Union or of a Member State of the E u-
ropean Free Trade Association 
(EFTA), with the exception of Switze r-
land. [3]  
2. The right referred to in paragraph 1 
shall also extend to natural persons 
who are nationals of one of the follo w-
ing countries or have their habitual re s-
idence there in such a country, and to 
companies or other legal  persons 
                                                 
1 Paragraph 2 of Article 5 is abolished by Art icle 2(a) 
of PD 415/1995  
2 As amended by Article 2b of PD 415/1995  
3 As amended by Article 2b of PD 415/1995  which have commercial or industrial e s-
tablis hment there:  
 Australia  
 Collectivité territoriale de Saint -Pierre 
et Miguelon      
 French Polynesia    
 French Southern and Antarctic Te rrito-
ries 
 Iceland  
 Japan  
 Liechtenstein  
 New Caledonia  and depende ncies 
 Norway  
 Canada  
 Switzerland  
 Wallis and Futuna Islands  
3. a. The right to protection under par a-
graph 1 shall also extend to natural pe r-
sons who are nationals of the United 
States of America or nationals of one of 
the following territories or have their h a-
bitual  residence in one of the follo wing 
territories:  
 Anguilla  
 Aruba  
 Bermuda  
 British Indian Ocean Territory  
 British Virgin Islands  
 Cayman Islands  
 English Normand Islands  
 Falkland Islands  
 Hong Kong  
 Man Island  
 Montserrat  
 Pitcairn  
 St Helena  
 St Helena dependencies ( Asce nsion, 
Tristan da Cunha I slands)  
 South Georgia and the South San d-
wich Islands  
 Turks and Caicos Islands  
 Netherlands Antilles  
b. The right referred to in paragraph 1 
shall also extend to companies or ot her 
legal persons of a country of the United 
States of America or of any of the territ o- 63 ries which are listed in paragraph a. 
and  have an effective industrial or 
commercial establishment in the Uni t-
ed States or in one of these territories  
subject to the condition that Greek 
companies which have the right t o pro-
tection under the terms of this Decree 
benefit from pr otection in the United 
States or in the specific territory and as 
long as the fu lfilment of this condition is 
ascertained by the Co mmission of the 
Council and is officially stated to the 
member – states.  
4. If under the terms of above par a-
graphs no right to protection is provi d-
ed, this right shall also apply in favour 
of natural pe rsons who are nationals or 
residents of a Member State, or in f a-
vour of legal persons who have a real 
and e ffective ind ustrial or commercial 
establishment in such a Member State, 
and who  
a. first commercially exploit within 
Greece or another Member State of 
the Union a topography which has not 
yet been exploited commercially an y-
where in the world; and  
b. have been exclusiv ely autho rised to 
exploit commercially the topography 
throughout the Union by the persons 
entitled to dispose of it. [1] 
5.  The right to protection referred to in 
paragraph 1 shall also apply in favour 
of the successors in title of the persons 
mentioned i n par agraphs 1, 2, 3 and 4.  
As regards conditions of represe ntation 
vis-à-vis the OBI and other data, the 
provisions in force relating to patents 
set out in Law No. 1733/1987 and the 
administr ative acts in implementation 
of this law shall apply.  
                                                 
1 As amended by Article 2(c) PD 415/1995  Article 7  
Topographies created  
by emplo yees 
1. A topography created by an e mployee 
shall belong to him (free topography) u n-
less it is either a service topography 
which belongs e ntirely to the employer or 
a dependent topography, of which 40% 
belongs to the employer and 60% to the 
employee.  
2. A service topography is the product of 
a contractual relationship between e m-
ployee and employer concerning the d e-
velopment of intellectual effort.  
In the event of creation of a service t o-
pography, the employee shall be ent itled 
to fair supplementary remuner ation, if the 
topography is particularly profitable to the 
employer.  
3.  A dependent topography is a topogr a-
phy which is created by the employee 
with the aid of materials, means or info r-
mation provided by the firm or the legal 
entity employing him.   The e mployer shall 
be entitled to exploit the dependent t o-
pography provided he remunerates the 
creator, in line with the economic value of 
the topography and the resultant profits.   
The creator of a dependent topography 
shall i mmedia tely inform the employer in 
writing that he has created the topogr a-
phy and provide the necessary data for 
filing a joint applic ation for registration.   If 
the employer does not declare in wri ting 
to the employee wit hin four months of the 
above communicatio n that he is interes t-
ed in co -filing the application, this may be 
submitted by the employee alone, in 
which case the topography shall b elong 
to the e mployee alone.  
4. The protection right of par agraphs 2 
and 3 is applied only in the case that 
there is no c ontrary regulatory agre ement  64 concluded by the employer and e m-
ployee. [1] 
5. At all events the name of the creator 
shall be mentioned in the registration 
certificate and the creator shall be ent i-
tled to request protection from the a p-
plicant or to request re cognition as 
creator from the holder of the certif i-
cate.  
Article 8  
Vindication  
1. The rightful owner of the topo graphy 
may, whenever a third party has filed 
without his consent an application for 
registration of a t opography relating to 
his topography or e ssential elements of 
this topography, file a claim against 
this third party for recognition of the 
rights d eriving from his application and, 
if a certif icate of registration has been 
granted, of the rights which derive from 
this certif icate.  
2.  This claim  must be filed within two 
years of publication of the registration 
particulars in the Industrial Property 
Bulletin.  This deadline shall not apply 
if the holder of the certificate was 
aware at the time the certificate was 
registered or at the time of trans fer of 
the topography of the right of the 
claimant.  
3.  A summary of this irrevocable dec i-
sion in recognition of such a claim shall 
be deposited with the Register of T o-
pographies.  
4.  From the date of deposition the l i-
cences as well as any other right co n-
cerning the topography are considered 
null and void.   The lo sing party as well 
as third parties may request from the 
recognised owner the concession, 
against remuneration, of a non excl u-
                                                 
1 As amended by Article 3 PD 415/1995  sive license for a reasonable period, pr o-
vided that they are utilising the t opogra-
phy in good faith or had taken the nece s-
sary precautions for its utilis ation.  If the 
parties fail to reach agreement, the cond i-
tions fixed by the Court of First Instance 
of the clai mant’s place of residence, in 
conformity with the proc edure lai d down 
in Art icles 741 to 781 of the Code of Civil 
Procedure, shall apply.  
CHAPTER THREE  
REGISTRATION PROCEDURE - 
CERTIFICATE  
Article 9  
Filing of applications  
1. Whoever wishes to register a topogr a-
phy must file an application with the OBI, 
which must cont ain: 
a. the full name, nationality, place of res i-
dence or head office and a ddress of the 
depositor for the purposes of A rticle 6 of 
this Preside ntial Decree.  
b. a description of the topography in a c-
cordance with Article 2 of this Pres idential 
Decree.  
c. a declaration of the date when the t o-
pography was first exploited on a non -
confidential commercial basis, when this 
date is earlier than that of the date of re g-
istration.   This declar ation must prove that 
the time limit stip ulated in paragraph 4 
above has be en respec ted; 
d.  an application for registration of the 
topography.   This application shall be a c-
companied by proof of payment of the 
deposition and registration fee for the t o-
pography.  
2.  Insofar as the application sati sfies all 
the conditions of paragr aph 1, it shall be 
accepted for filing, it shall be consi dered  65 regular, and a date of filing shall be 
recorded in the register.  
3. The application shall be accomp a-
nied by the following documents:  
a.  the drawings or images to which the 
description refers  
b.   where relevant, the material repr e-
senting the topography  
c. the depositor’s documents of legit i-
mation in the case of a legal person or 
in the case of a natural person if he is 
not the creator.  
4.  Within a period of two years follo w-
ing the first commer cial exploitation of 
a topography, the creator of the topo g-
raphy shall submit an application for 
registration of the topography with the 
OBI.  Othe rwise, the application shall 
be deemed to be overdue, no date of 
registration will be granted by the OBI, 
nor exclusive rights shall be granted.  
5.  The provisions of Law No. 
1733/1987 on patents shall apply m u-
tatis mutandis.  
Article 10  
Secrecy of a topography  
1.  If during registration with the OBI of 
the particulars referred to in Article 
9(1)(b) and (3)(a) and  (b) of this D e-
cree the d epositor declares that these 
particulars constitute commercial s e-
crets, the OBI shall attribute the cha r-
acter “secret” and shall keep the pa r-
ticulars in a special sealed envelope.   
The secret particulars shall not be d i-
vulged or ma de available to the public.   
Divulging of secret particulars shall be 
punishable u nder the terms of Article 
17 of Law No. 146/1914 on Unfair 
Compet ition ( GG 30). 2.  The secrecy referred to in par agraph 1 
is deemed to be withdrawn a fter a ruling 
by the res ponsible court on parties to di s-
putes concerning the validity or infring e-
ment of exclusive rights derived from a 
protected topo graphy.  
Article 11  
Additional particulars  
1.  Within ten months of the orderly dep o-
sition, the depositor shall submit to the 
OBI the annexed pa rticulars as described 
in Article 9(3) of this Decree, in which 
case the application shall be consi dered 
complete.  
2.  If, on expiry of this time limit, the OBI 
establishes that not all of the pa rticulars 
have been submitted, the application 
shall be considered as not filed.  
Article 12  
Certificate of registration  
1.  If the application for registration of a 
topography is complete and o rderly, in 
accordance with Articles 9 and 11 of this 
Decree, the OBI shall grant a ce rtificate of 
registration  of a semicondu ctor product 
topography, without dete rmining whether 
the conditions of Art icle 3 of this Decree 
have been satisfied, at the depositor’s r e-
sponsibility.  
2.  Under reserve of Article 10, on gran t-
ing of the certificate of registr ation, third 
parties may request info rmation on and 
copies of the application and additional 
particulars concerning the protected t o-
pography.  
3.  The data of the application shall be 
published in the Industrial Property Bull e-
tin. 
 
  66 CHAPTER FOUR  
RIGHTS DERIVING FROM THE 
PROTECTED TOPOGRAPHY -  
DURATION OF PROTECTION -  
INHERITANCE AND 
AUTHORISATION  
OF EXPLOIT ATION  
Article 13  
Content of the right  
1. The creator of a protected semico n-
ductor product topography shall have 
the exclusive right to authorise or pr o-
hibit any of th e following acts within the 
time limit set out in Article 14:  
a. reproduction of a topography i nsofar 
as it is protected under Article 3 of this 
Decree;  
b. commercial exploitation or the i m-
portation for that purpose of a topogr a-
phy or a semiconductor produ ct man u-
factured by using the protected topo g-
raphy.  
2.  For the purposes of the above pa r-
agraph, the creator of the protected 
topography may not prohibit the follo w-
ing a ctivities:  
a. private reproduction or use of the 
topography for non -commercial pu r-
poses  
b. the reproduction of a topography 
with a view to analysis, evaluation or 
teaching the concepts, processes, sy s-
tems or techniques embo died in the 
topography or the topo graphy itself.  
3. If analysis or evaluation in accor d-
ance with Paragraph 2(b) of a prot ect-
ed topo graphy leads to the creation of 
another t opography which satisfies the 
prerequisites of Article 3 of this D e-
cree, the exclusive rights deriving from 
the protected topography shall not be extended to the newly created topo gra-
phy. 
4.  The exclusive  rights referred to in pa r-
agraph 1 shall not apply when the topo g-
raphy or the semicondu ctor product has 
been put on the market in a Member 
State of the European Union by the pe r-
son ent itled to authorise its marketing or 
with his consent [1]. 
5.  A person w ho, commercially e xploits a 
semiconductor product or a t opography, 
does not know, or has no reasonable 
grounds to believe that the product or the 
topography are protec ted by an exclusive 
right conferred by a Member State in co n-
formity with this decision, s hall be entitled 
to continue to comme rcially exploit that 
product.  
6.  The person holding the excl usive right 
may require the payment of adequate 
compensation for acts commi tted after 
that person exploiting the t opography or 
the semiconductor pro duct in ac cordance 
with paragraph 5 knows, or has reason a-
ble grounds to believe that the semico n-
ductor is so protected.  
7.  The court responsible for hearing 
claims under Paragraph 6 of this D ecree 
shall be the Extended Court of First I n-
stance at the plai ntiff’s pla ce of residence 
and shall rule in conformity with the pr o-
cedure set out in Articles 741 to 781 of 
the Code of Civil Proc edure.  
Article 14  
Beginning and end of protection  
1.  The exclusive right granted under Art i-
cle 13 of this Decree shall co mmence on 
the day following the day of orderly fi ling 
with the OBI of the application for regi s-
tration of the topogr aphy [1]. 
                                                 
1 As amended by article 4 of PD 415/1995   67 2. Whenever the date of first comme r-
cial exploitation of the topogr aphy is 
later than the date referred to in par a-
graph 1, the said exclusive ri ght shall 
come into exis tence on the day follo w-
ing the date of first commercial explo i-
tation. [1] 
3.  The exclusive rights referred to in 
Article 13 shall come to an end ten 
years from the earlier of the fo llowing 
dates:  
a. the end of the calendar year dur ing 
which the topography is first comme r-
cially exploited anywhere in the world;  
b. the end of the calendar year during 
which the application for regi stration 
has been filed with the OBI  
4.  Where a topography has not been 
commercially exploited an ywhere in  
the world within a period of 15 years 
from its first fixation or encoding, any 
exclusive rights in existence pursuant 
to paragraph 1 shall come to an end.  
Article 15  
Succession - licenses  
1.  The right to registration of a topo g-
raphy and the exclusive rig hts deriving 
from a protected topography may be 
transferred through written agreement 
or through inheritance.   Transfer shall 
consist of the registration of the 
agreement or the inheritance certificate 
with the Topographies Register and 
shall be published in the Industrial 
Property Bulletin.   Paragraphs 2, 3, 4, 
5 and 6 of law No. 1733/1987 shall a p-
ply mutatis mutandis.  
2.  Articles 12, 13 and 14 of Law No. 
1733/1987 shall also apply to the right 
concerning topography.  
 
 CHAPTER FIVE  
NULLITY - INFRINGEMENT  
Article 16  
Nullity  
The right to the topography shall be d e-
clared null and void by court o rder if:  
a. the holder of the certificate of the pr o-
tected topography is not the creator or the 
transferee or the person entitled in a c-
cordance with A rticle 7  
b. the topography is not entitled to prote c-
tion under Article 3  
c. the application for registration of the 
topography is submitted after expiry of 
the time limit set out in Article 9, par a-
graph 4  
d. the depositor of the application for re g-
istration does not belong  to the ca tegory 
of persons defined in Article 6.  
 
Otherwise Article 15(2) and (3) of Law 
No. 1733/1987 shall apply.  
Article 17  
Action before justice - infringement  
1. In any case of an infringement or 
threatened infringement of exclusive 
rights that eman ate from a protected t o-
pography, the holder of such topo graphy 
(rightholder) may request the lif ting of the 
infringement and its omission in the f u-
ture. The lifting of the infring ement may 
include, on application by the rightholder, 
indicatively and not re strictively, (a) the 
recall of the goods that were found to be 
infringing a right pr ovided for under the 
present decree and, as in appropriate 
cases, materials principally used in the 
creation or ma nufacture of these goods 
from the cha nnels of commerce, (b ) the 
definitive removal of these goods and m a-
terials from the channels of commerce or  68 (c) the destruction of these goods and 
materials. In considering the applic a-
tion of the previous clause, the need 
for proportionality between the ser i-
ousness of the infr ingement and the 
remedies ordered, as well as the inte r-
ests of third parties, shall be taken into 
account. The measures provided for 
under the se cond clause are carried 
out at the expense of the infringer, u n-
less particular reasons are invoked for 
not doin g so. The rightholder may also 
exercise the rights provided for under 
the first clause of the present par a-
graph against intermediaries whose 
services are used by a third party to 
infringe the rights provided for u nder 
the present law (articles 10 and 11 of  
Directive 2004/48/EC). For each act of 
omission contributing to an infring e-
ment, the court may impose a mon e-
tary penalty of up to ten thousand 
(10,000.00) Euros in favour of the 
rightholder, while in all other cases a r-
ticle 947 of the He llenic Code of Civ il 
Procedure shall a pply. In establishing 
the infringement of the obl igation not to 
act provided for under the preceding 
clause, the proc edure provided for un -
der articles 686 et seq. of the Hellenic 
Code of Civil Pr ocedure is applied. [1] 
2.  In case of in tentional infring ement, 
the plaintiff shall be entitled to demand 
restitution of the damage or return of 
the benefit deriving from the illicit e x-
ploitation of the protected topography 
or payment of a sum corresponding to 
the value of the l icense.  
3. The pr ovisions set forth in par a-
graphs 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of article 17 of 
Hellenic Law 1733/1987, as well as 
those set forth in articles 17A to 17F of 
                                                 
1 Paragraph 1 is cited as replaced by par. 3, article 
53 of Law 3966/2011 (GG A’ 181, 24.05.2011)  the same law, are accordingly a pplied .[2] 
4.  The rights set out in paragraph 2 shall 
also be recognised in resp ect of any pe r-
son who has re ason to believe that the 
topography is protected if a third party r e-
produces, commercially exploits or i m-
ports it in bad faith.  
Article 18  
Final provisions  
1.  The provisions of this Decree shall not 
affect the implementation of  any other l e-
gal provisions concerning industrial pro p-
erty. 
2.  Protection of topographies u nder the 
terms of provisions concerning i ntellectual 
property shall not be applic able whenever 
the topographies have been created after 
the entry into force of this  Decree.  
Article 19  
Entry into force  
This Presidential Decree shall enter into 
force upon publication in the Go vernment 
Gazette.  
The Minister of Industry, Energy and 
Technology shall be responsible for pu b-
lishing this Decree.  
                                                 
2 Paragraph 3 is cited as replaced by par . 4, article 53 
of Law 3966/2011 (GG A’  181, 24.05.2011)   69 COUNCIL  REGULATION  (EEC) No 1768/1992 of June 18, 1992  
"Concerning the Creation of a Supplementary Protection Certificate  
for Medic inal Products*"  
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN 
COMMUNITIES  
Having regard  to the Treaty esta blishing 
the European Economic Commun ity, 
and in particular A rticle 100a ther eof, 
Having regard to t he proposal from the 
Commission [1], 
In cooperation with the European Pa r-
liament  [2],  
Having regard to the opinion of the Ec o-
nomic and Social Committee  [3],   
Whereas pharmaceutical research plays 
a decisive role in the continuing i m-
provement in public health;  
Whereas medicinal products, especia lly 
those that are the result of long, costly 
research will not continue to be deve l-
oped in the Co mmunity and in Europe 
unless they are covered by favourable 
rules that provide  for sufficient prote c-
tion to encourage such r esearch;  
Whereas at the moment the period that 
elapses between the filing of an applic a-
tion for a patent for a new medicinal 
product and author ization to place the 
medicinal pro duct on the market makes 
the peri od of effective protection under 
                                                 
1 EU No. C 114 of 08.05.1990, p. 10  
2 EU No. C 19 of 28.01.1991, p. 94 and EU No.  C 
150 of 18.16.1992  
3 EU No. C 69 of 18.03.1991, p. 22  
* Official English title  
 Entry into force:  January 2, 1993, see also   Article 
21 
   Source: Official journal of the European Commun i-
ties, No. L 182, July 2, 1992, pp 1 et seq.  
 the patent insufficient to cover the i n-
vestment put into the research;  
Whereas this situation leads to a lack of 
protection which penalizes pharmace u-
tical research;  
Whereas the current situation is creating 
the risk of rese arch centres situa ted in 
the Member States relocating to cou n-
tries that already offer greater prote c-
tion; 
Whereas a uniform solution at Comm u-
nity level should be provi ded for, there 
by preventing the heterogeneous deve l-
opment of national laws leading to fur-
ther dispa rities which would be likely to 
create obstacles to the free movement 
of medicinal products within the Co m-
munity and thus directly affect the esta b-
lishment and the functioning of the i n-
ternal market;  
Whereas, therefore, the creation of a 
supplem entary protection certificate 
granted, under the same co nditions, by 
each of the Member States at the r e-
quest of the holder of a national or E u-
ropean patent relating to a medicinal 
products for which marketing authoriz a-
tion has been granted in necessary; 
whereas a Regulation is therefore the 
most appropriate legal instr ument;  
Whereas the duration of the prote ction 
granted by the certificate should be such 
as to provide adequate effective prote c-
tion; whereas, for this purpose, the 
holder of both a patent and  a certi ficate 
should be able to enjoy an overall ma x-
imum of 15 years of exclusivity from the 
time the medicinal product in que stion 
first obtains authorization to be placed 
on the market in the Co mmunity;   70 Whereas all the interests at stake, i n-
cluding thos e of public health, in a se c-
tor as complex and sensitive as the 
pharmaceutical sector must neverth e-
less be taken into account; whereas, for 
this purpose, the ce rtificate cannot be 
granted for a period exceeding five 
years; whereas the protection granted 
should fu rthermore be strictly confined 
to the product which obtained authoriz a-
tion to be placed on the market as a 
medicinal product;  
Whereas a fair balance should also be 
struck with regard to the dete rmination 
of the transitional arrangements; wher e-
as suc h arrangements should enable 
the Community pharmaceutical indu stry 
to catch up to some extent with its main 
competitors who, for a number of years, 
have been covered by laws guarante e-
ing them more adequate protection, 
while making sure that the arrang e-
ment s do not compromise the achiev e-
ment of other l egitimate objectives both 
at national and Community level;  
Whereas the transitional arrang ements 
applicable to applications for certif icates 
filed and to certificates granted under 
national legislation prior to  the entry into 
force of this Regulation should be d e-
fined;  
Whereas special arrangements should 
be allowed in Member States whose 
laws introduced the patentability of 
pharmaceutical products only very r e-
cently;  
Whereas provision should be made for 
appropri ate limitation of the d uration of 
the certificate in the sp ecial case where 
a patent term has already been exten d-
ed under a specific national law,  has 
adopted this Regulation:  
 Article 1   
Definitions  
For the purposes of this Regul ation: 
a.  “medicinal prod uct” means any su b-
stance or combination of substances 
presented for treating or preventing di s-
ease in human b eings or animals and 
any substance or combination of su b-
stances which may be administered to 
human beings or an imals with a view to 
making a medica l diagnosis or to resto r-
ing, correcting or modifying physiolog i-
cal functions in humans or in animals;  
b. “product” means the active ingred ient 
or combination of active ingred ients of a 
medicinal product;  
c.  “basic patent” means a patent which 
protects a p roduct as defined in (b) as 
such, a process to obtain a product or 
an application or a product, and which is 
designated by its holder for the purpose 
of the procedure for grant of a certif i-
cate;  
d. “certificate” means the suppl ementary 
protection certifica te. 
Article 2  
Scope  
Any product protected by a patent in the 
territory of a Member State and subject, 
prior to being placed on the market as a 
medicinal pro duct, to an administrative 
authoriz ation procedure as laid down in 
Council Directive 65/65/EEC or D irective 
81/851/EEC may, under the terms and 
conditions provided for in this Regul a-
tion, be the subject of a certificate.  
Article 3   
Conditions for Obtaining a Certif icate 
A certificate shall be granted if, in the 
Member State in which the a pplication  71 referred to in Article 7 is submitted and 
at the date of that application:  
a. the product is protected by a basic 
patent in force;  
b. a valid authorization to place the 
product on the market as a medic inal 
product has been granted in accordance 
with Directive 6 5/65/EEC [1] or Directive 
81/851/EEC, 2 as appropr iate; 
c. the product has not already been the 
subject of a certificate;  
d. the authorization referred to in (b) is 
the first authorization to place the pro d-
ucts on the market as a medicinal pro d-
uct. 
Article  4 
Subject Matter of Protection  
Within the limits of the protection co n-
ferred by the basic patent, the prote ction 
conferred by a certificate shall extend 
only to the product covered by the a u-
thorization to place the corr esponding 
medicinal product on the m arket and for 
any use of the product as a medicinal 
product that has been authorized before 
the expiry of the ce rtificate.  
Article 5  
Effects of the Certificate  
Subject to the provisions of Article 4, the 
certificate shall confer the same rights 
as conferre d by the basic patent and 
shall be subject to the same lim itations 
and the same obligations.  
                                                 
1 EU No. L 22 of 09.12.1965, p. 369/65, Directive 
amended by Directive 89/341/EEC (EU No. 142 of 
25.05.1989, p. 11)  
2 EU No. L 317 of 06.11.1981, p. 1, Directive amen d-
ed by Directive 90/676/EEC (EU No. L 373 of 
31.12.1990, p. 15)  Article 6  
Entitlement to the Certificate  
The certificate shall be granted to the 
holder of the basic patent or his succe s-
sor in title.  
Article 7  
Application for a Certificate  
1. The application for a certificate shall 
be lodged within six months of the date 
on which the authorization r eferred to in 
Article 3(b) to place the product on the 
market as a medicinal product was 
granted.  
2.  Notwithstanding paragraph 1, wh ere 
the authorization to place the product on 
the market is gran ted before the basic 
patent is gran ted, the application for a 
certificate shall be lodged within six 
months of the date on which the patent 
is granted.  
Article 8  
Content of the Application for  a  
Certif icate 
1. The application for a certificate shall 
contain:  
a. a request for the grant of a certi ficate, 
stating in particular:  
i) the name and address of the appl i-
cant;  
ii) if he has appointed a represent ative, 
the name and address of the repr e-
sentative;  
iii) the number of the basic patent and 
the title of the invention;  
iv) the number and date of the first a u-
thorization to place the product on the 
market, as referred to in A rticle 3(b) and, 
if this authorization is not the first a u-
thorization for placing the product on the  72 market in the Community, the number 
and date of that authorization;  
b.  a copy of the authorization to place 
the product on the market, as referred to 
in Article 3(b), in which the product is 
identified, containing in particular the 
number and date of the authorization 
and the summary of the product chara c-
teristics listed in Article 4a of D irective 
65/65/EEC or Article 5a of Directive 
81/851/EEC;  
c. if the authorization referred to in (b) is 
not the first authorization for placing  the 
product on the market as a medicinal 
product in the Community, info rmation 
regarding the identity of the product thus 
authorized and the legal provision u nder 
which the authorization proc edure took 
place, together with a copy of the notice 
publishing the authorization in the a p-
propriate o fficial publication.  
2.  Member States may provide that a 
fee is to be payable upon application for 
a certificate.  
Article 9  
Lodging of an Application for a  
Certif icate 
1.  The application for a certificate shall 
be lodged with the competent industrial 
property office of the Member State 
which granted the basic patent or on 
whose behalf it was granted and in 
which the authorization referred to in A r-
ticle 3(b) to place the product on the 
market was obtained, unless the Mem-
ber State designates another authority 
for the purpose.  
2.  Notification of the application for a 
certificate shall be published by the a u-
thority referred to in par agraph 1.   The 
notification shall contain at least the fo l-
lowing info rmation:  a. the name  and address of the appl i-
cant;  
b. the number of the basic patent;  
c. the title of the invention;  
d. the number and date of the authoriz a-
tion to place the product on the market, 
referred to in Article 3(b), and the pro d-
uct identified in that authoriz ation; 
e. where relevant,   the number   and 
date of the first authorization to place 
the product on the market in the Co m-
munity.  
Article 10  
Grant of the Certificate or Rejection of 
the Application  
1. Where the application for a ce rtificate 
and the product to whi ch it relates meet 
the conditions laid down in this Regul a-
tion, the autho rity referred to in Article 
9(1) shall grant the certificate.  
2. The authority referred to in Art icle 9(1) 
shall, subject to paragraph 3, reject the 
application for a certificate if t he applic a-
tion or the product to which it relates 
does not meet the conditions laid down 
in this Regulation.  
3. Where the application for a ce rtificate 
does not meet the cond itions laid down 
in Article 8, the a uthority referred to in 
Article 9(1) shall ask  the applicant to 
rectify the irregularity, or to settle the 
fee, within a stated time.  
4. If the irregularity is not rectified or the 
fee is not settled under paragraph 3 
within the stated time, the authority shall 
reject the applic ation. 
5. Member States  may provide that the 
authority referred to in Article 9(1) is to 
grant certificates without verifying that  73 the conditions laid down in Article 3(c) 
and (d) are met.  
Article 11  
Publication  
1. Notification of the fact that a certif i-
cate has been granted sha ll be pu b-
lished by the authority referred to in Art i-
cle 9(1).   The notification shall co ntain at 
least the following information:  
a. the name and address of the holder 
of the certificate;  
b. the number of the basic patent;  
c. the title of the invention;  
d. the number and date of the authoriz a-
tion to place the product on the market 
referred to in Article 3(b) and the pro d-
uct identified in that authoriz ation; 
e. where relevant, the number and date 
of the first authorization to place the 
product on the market in the   Commun i-
ty; 
f. the duration of the certificate.  
2.  Notification of the fact that the appl i-
cation for a certificate has been r ejected 
shall be published by the authority r e-
ferred to in Article 9(1).  The notification 
shall contain at least the infor mation 
listed in A rticle 9(2).  
Article 12  
Annual Fees  
Member States may require that the ce r-
tificate be subject to the payment of a n-
nual fees.  
Article 13  
Duration of the Certificate  
1.  The certificate shall take effect at the 
end of the lawful term of the  basic p a-tent for a period equal to the period 
which elapsed between the date on 
which the application for a basic patent 
was lodged and the date of the first a u-
thorization to place the product on the 
market in the Community reduced by a 
period of five yea rs. 
2.   Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the 
duration of the certificate may not e x-
ceed five years from the date on which it 
takes effect.  
Article 14  
Expiry of the Certificate  
The certificate shall lapse:  
a. at the end of the period provided for 
in Article 13 ; 
b. if the certificate -holder surre nders it;  
c. if the annual fee laid down in accor d-
ance with Article 12 is not paid in time;  
d.  if and as long as the product covered 
by the certificate may no longer be 
placed on the market following the wit h-
drawal of t he appr opriate authorization 
or authoriz ations to place on the market 
in accordance with Directive 65/65/EEC 
or Directive 81/851/EEC.   The a uthority 
referred to in Article 9(1) may decide on 
the lapse of the certif icate either of its 
own motion or at the r equest of a third 
party.  
Article 15  
Invalidity of the Certificate  
1. The certificate shall be invalid if:  
a. it was granted contrary to the prov i-
sions of Article 3;  
b. the basic patent has lapsed b efore its 
lawful term expires;   74 c.  the basic patent is revo ked or limited 
to the extent that the pro duct for which 
the certificate was granted would no 
longer be pr otected by the claims of the 
basic patent or, after the basic patent 
has expired, grounds for revocation e x-
ist which would have justified such rev o-
cation or limitation.  
2. Any person may submit an applic a-
tion or bring an action for a declaration 
of invalidity of the certi ficate before the 
body responsible under national law for 
the revocation of the corresponding 
basic p atent. 
Article 16  
Notification of Lapse or Invalidity  
If the certificate lapses in accor dance 
with Article 14(b), (c) or (d) or is invalid 
in accordance with Article 15, notific a-
tion thereof shall be published by the 
authority referred to in Article 9(1).  
Article 17  
Appeals  
The decisions o f the authority r eferred to 
in Article 9(1) or of the body referred to 
in Article 15(2) taken under this Regul a-
tion shall be open to the same appeals 
as those provided for in national law 
against similar decisions taken in r e-
spect of national patents.  
Article 18  
Procedure  
1. In the absence of procedural prov i-
sions in this Regulation, the procedural 
provisions applicable under national law 
to the corr esponding basic patent shall 
apply to the certificate, unless that law 
lays down special procedural prov isions 
for certificates.  
2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the 
procedure for opposition to the granting 
of a certificate shall be e xcluded.  TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS  
Article 19  
1.  Any product which, on the date on 
which this Regulation enters into force, 
is protec ted by a valid basic patent and 
for which the first a uthorization to place 
it on the market as a medicinal product 
in the Community was obtained after 
January 1, 1985, may be granted a ce r-
tificate.  
In the case of certificates to be granted 
in Denmark and i n Germ any, the date of 
January 1, 1985, shall be replaced by 
that of January 1, 1988.  
In the case of certificates to be granted 
in Belgium and in Italy, the date of Ja n-
uary 1, 1985, shall be replaced by that 
of January 1, 1982.  
2.  An application for a cer tificate as r e-
ferred to in paragraph 1 shall be submi t-
ted within six months of the date on 
which this Regulation enters into force.  
Article 20  
This Regulation shall not apply to certif i-
cates granted in accordance with the 
national legislation of a Member S tate 
before the date on which this Regulation 
enters into force or to applications for a 
certificate filed in a ccordance with that 
legislation before the date of publ ication 
of this Regulation in the Off icial Journal 
of the European Co mmunities.  
Article 21  
In those Member States whose n ational 
law did not on January 1, 1990, provide 
for the patentability of pha rmaceutical 
products, this Regulation shall apply five 
years after the entry into force of this 
Regulation.  Article 19 shall not apply in 
those Me mber States.   75 Article 22  
Where a certificate is granted for a 
product protected by a patent which, b e-
fore the date on which this Regul ation 
enters into force, has had its term e x-
tended or for which such extension was 
applied for, under national patent law, 
the term of protection to be afforded u n-
der this certificate shall be r educed by 
the number of years by which the term 
of the patent e xceeds 20 years.  
 FINAL PROVISION  
Article 23  
Entry into Force  
This Regulation shall enter into force six 
months after its pub lication in the Official 
Journal of the European Co mmunities.  
This Regulation shall be binding in its 
entirety and directly applicable in all 
Member States.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  76 PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No 54/14.02.1992  
“Amendment to the provision of Law No 1733/1987 (GG 171 A')  
‘Transfer of tec hnology, inventions, technological innovation and establishment 
of an Atomic E nergy Committee’ in compliance with the EC Treaty  
(GG 22 A)”  
 
THE PRESIDENT  
OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC  
 
Having regard to:  
1. Article 3 of La w 1338/1983 “Impl e-
mentation of Community Law” ( Α/34) 
as amended by Article 6 of Law 
1440/1984 “Participation of Greece in 
the capital, the reserves and the prov i-
sions of the Eur opean Coal and Steel 
Community and the EURATOM Supply 
Agency” ( Α/70), Article 7 of Law 
1775/88 (GG 101 Α’) and A rticle 65 of 
Law 1892/1990 “Regarding moderniz a-
tion and development and other prov i-
sions” ( Α/101).  
2. Law 945/1979 “Regarding Ratific a-
tion of the Treaty of Accession of 
Greece to the European Economic 
Community” (G G 170, Α’, 27.7.1979).  
3. The opinion no. 454/91 of th e Cou n-
cil of State, following a proposal by the 
Ministers for National Economy and for 
Industry, Energy and Technology, we 
hereby decide:  
 
 Article 1  
The purpose of this Presidential D ecree is 
to ensure the compliance of the Greek 
legislation with the pro visions of Article 30 
et seq. of the EC Treaty.  
Article 2  
Article 13(2) of Law 1733/1987 shall be 
replaced as follows:  
“2. The non -contractual license shall not 
be provided if the beneficiary of the p a-
tent documents the non -exploitation or 
the inadequate  exploitation in the country. 
The product’s import shall not constitute a 
reason for invoking and implementing this 
provision. The prov ision of the previous 
sub-paragraph shall not apply to imports 
of pro ducts from the Member States of 
the European Comm unities”.  
Article 3  
This presidential decree shall enter in e f-
fect upon its publication in the Gover n-
ment’s Gazette.  
The Minister for Industry, Energy and 
Technology is hereby assigned to pu blish 
and execute this Decree.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  77 LAW No 2359/1995  
“On the Am endment to the government bill on the Hellenic Bank for  
Industrial Development (ETVA) and other provisions”  
 
Article 9  
 
The following article is added:  
 
1. The duration of the patents granted 
to Law 2527/1920 on Patents is e x-
tended and shall remain in for ce on the 
01.01.1996 until the completion of 
twenty years as of the day of regular 
filing of the application for grant of a 
patent. Reg ulations related to fees are 
also applic able to these patents.  
 
2. Article 25.1.3 of Law 1733/1987 on 
“Inventions, Technolog y Transfer and 
Technological Innovation” is amended 
as follows: “Patents granted on the b a-
sis of these appl ications and patents 
already granted prior to the entry into 
force of the present law shall be reg u-
lated by the di spositions of the present 
law and a ny po ssible acquired rights 
shall be r eserved.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
3. Article 25.1.4 of Law 1733/1987 on 
“Technology Transfer, Inventions and 
Technological Innov ation” is repealed.  
 
4. Article 13.2.3 of Law 1733/1987 on 
“Technology Transfer, Inventions and 
Technological Innov ation” is amended as 
follows “The regulation of item 1 above 
shall not apply to products i mported from 
Member States of the E uropean Union 
and Member States of the World Trade 
Organization”.  
 
5. The present article shall enter into 
force as o f 01.01.1996.  
                                                 
 disposition   78 LAW No 2417/1996  
“Ratification of the Convention of The Hague on the international lodging  
of industrial designs and specimens of 6 November 1925,  
as revised at The Hague on 28 November 1967,  
and of the Supplementary Act of Stockholm of 14 July 1967,  
as amended at Stockholm on 28 September 1979”  [1] 
 
Article 3  
Definition of a design or specimen  
1.  For the purposes of the implement a-
tion of national legislation, by the follo w-
ing shall be meant:  
a.  'Design or specimen': the exte rnal 
visible image of the whole or a part of a 
product which results from the ind ividual 
characteristics which it po ssesses, and 
particularly, the line, the outline, the co l-
our, the pattern, the form and/or the m a-
terials of the pro duct itself and/or of the 
decorati on which it bears.  
b. 'Product': any industrial or craft indu s-
try product, included in which are co n-
stituents intended for a ssembly into a 
composite product, the packaging, 
presentation, graphic symbols, and t y-
pographical features, but computer pr o-
grammes are excluded.  
2.  A design or specimen is pr otected if 
it is new and has an individual chara c-
ter. 
3. There shall be no right in a d esign or 
specimen which is contrary to public o r-
der or good morals.  
 
1 The provisions which concern national entitlement to pro-
tection are given  
 
  
 
4.  National entitlement to prote ction of a 
design or specimen shall be go verned 
mutatis mutandis by the same prov i-
sions on acquisition, succession, explo i-
tation, invalidity,  
forfeiture, and entry in the registers  
of the Industri al Property Organis ation 
(OBI) which have force as to patents by 
virtue of Law 1733/1987 'Transfer of 
technology, inventions, and technolog i-
cal innovation' (Government Gazette 
171 A’), Articles 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 12, 15, 
16, 17 and 24.  
Article 4  
Delegation s 
Presidential Decrees, issued on the 
proposal of the Minister of Deve lopment, 
to whom the Board of Management of 
the Industrial Property Organisation 
shall act as rapporteur, shall regulate 
the details of the implement ation of this 
law and of the Conventi on of The Hague 
as to Greece, and particularly the lod g-
ing and procedure for acceptance of i n-
ternational and n ational applications by 
the OBI, the beneficiaries of entitlement 
to protection, the commencement, dur a-
tion and content of the national prote c-
tion afforded to designs and specimens, 
the entering of designs and specimens 
in the registers of the OBI, and the pu b-
lication of their particulars in the Special 
Industrial Property Bulletin, invalidity or 
preclusion of registration, the colle ction 
of procedu ral duties and r enewal duties 
by the OBI, transitio nal regulations, and 
matters co ncerning the accumulation of 
protection by means of other rights of  79 industrial or intellectual property, the d e-
tailed definition of the new cha racter and 
individuality of the  national design as 
terms for the pr otection of the design or 
specimen, the terms for the granting of a 
certificate of national protection, the 
terms for protection, the effects of inte r-
national registration in the case of 
Greece, and any other related mat ter. 
 Article 5  
The present law shall come into force 
from its publication in the Government 
Gazette and of the Convention and 
Supplementary Act which are rat ified in 
accordance with the provisions of Art i-
cles 26 and 9, respe ctively.  
We order the publicati on of the present 
law in the Government G azette and its 
execution as a law of the State.  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  80  
REGULATION (EC) No 1610/1996 OF THE EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT AND OF THE 
COUNCIL OF JULY 23, 1996  
"Concerning the Creation of a Su pplementary Protection Certificate  
for plant pr otection products"  
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  
AND THE COUNCIL OF  
THE EUR OPEAN UNION,  
Having regard to the Treaty establis hing 
the European Community, and in parti c-
ular Article 100a ther eof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the 
Commission  [1], 
Having regard to the opinion of the Ec o-
nomic and Social Committee [2], 
Acting in accordance with the pr ocedure 
referred to in Article 189b of the Treaty  
[3], 
1.  Whereas research into protection 
products contributes to  the continuing 
improvement in the production and pr o-
curement of plentiful food of good qual i-
ty at afford able prices;  
2.  Whereas plant protection r esearch 
contributes to the continuing improv e-
ment in crop production;  
3.  Whereas plant protection pro ducts,  
especially those that are the result of 
long, costly research, will continue to be 
developed in the Community and in E u-
rope if they are covered by favourable 
rules that provide for sufficient prote c-
tion to encourage such research;  
                                                 
1 OJ C 390, 31.12.1994, p. 21 and OJ C 335, 
13.12.1995, p. 15  
2 OJ No. C 155, 21.06.1995, p. 14  
3 Opinion of the European Parliament  of 15 June 1995 
(OJ C 166, 03.07.1995, p. 89), common position of 
the Council of 27 November 1995 (OJ C 353, 
30.12.1995, p. 36) and decision of the European Pa r-
liament of 12 March 1 996 (OJ C 96, 01.04.1996, p. 
30) 4.  Whereas the competit iveness of the 
plant protection sector, by the very n a-
ture of the industry, requires a level of 
protection for innovation which is 
equiv alent to that granted to medicinal 
products by Council Regulation (EEC) 
No. 1768/1992 of 18 June 1992 co n-
cerning the cre ation of a suppleme ntary 
protection certificate for medicinal pro d-
ucts; [4] 
5.  Whereas at the moment, the p eriod 
that elapses between the filing of an a p-
plication for a patent for a new plant pr o-
tection product and authorization to 
place the said plant pr otection product 
on the market makes the period of effe c-
tive protection under the patent insuff i-
cient to cover the investment put into the 
research and to generate the r esources 
needed to maintain a high level of r e-
search;  
6.  Whereas this situation leads to a lack 
of protection which penalizes plant pr o-
tection research and the competitiv e-
ness of the sector;  
7.  Whereas, one of the main o bjectives 
of the supplementary protection certif i-
cate is to place Eur opean industry on 
the same competitive footing as it s 
North American and Japanese counte r-
parts;  
8.  Whereas, in its Resolution of 1 Fe b-
ruary 1993  [5] on a Community pr o-
gramme of policy and action in relation 
to the environment and sustainable d e-
velopment, the Council adopted the 
                                                 
4 OJ No. L 182, 02.07.1992, p. 1  
5 OJ No.  C 138, 17.05.1993, p. 1   81 general approach and strateg y of the 
programme presented by the Commi s-
sion, which stressed the interdepen d-
ence of economic growth and enviro n-
mental quality; whereas improving pr o-
tection of the environment means mai n-
taining the economic competitiveness of 
industry; whereas, accordingl y, the i s-
sue of a supplementary protection certi f-
icate can be regarded as a positive 
measure in favour of environmental pr o-
tection;  
9.  Whereas a uniform solution at Co m-
munity level should be provided for, 
thereby preventing the he terogeneous 
development o f national laws leading to 
further dispa rities which would be likely 
to hinder the free movement of plant 
protection products within the Commun i-
ty and trus directly affect the functio ning 
of the internal market; whereas this is in 
accordance with the princ iple of subsid i-
arity as defined by Article 3b of the 
Treaty; 
10.       Whereas, therefore, there is a 
need to create a supplementary prote c-
tion certificate granted, under the same 
conditions, by each of the Member 
States at the request of the holder of a 
national or Europ ean patent relating to a 
plant protection product for which ma r-
keting authorization has been granted is 
necessary; whereas a Regulation is 
therefore the most appropriate legal i n-
strument;  
11.       Whereas the duration of the pr o-
tection gra nted by the certificate should 
be such as to provide adequate, effe c-
tive protection; whereas, for this pu r-
pose, the holder of both a patent and a 
certificate should be able to enjoy an 
overall maximum of fifteen years of e x-
clusivity from the time the plant  prote c-
tion product in question first obtains a u-
thorization to be placed on the market in 
the Community;  12.       Whereas all the interests at 
stake in a sector as complex and sens i-
tive as plant protection must neverth e-
less be taken into account; whereas,  for 
this purpose, the ce rtificate cannot be 
granted for a period exceeding five 
years;  
13.       Whereas the certificate co nfers 
the same rights as those co nferred by 
the basic patent; whereas, consequen t-
ly, where the basic patent covers an a c-
tive substan ce and its various deriv a-
tives (salts and esters), the ce rtificate 
confers the same protection;  
14.       Whereas the issue of a certif i-
cate for a product consisting of an active 
substance does not pre judice the issue 
of other certificates for deriv atives (salts 
and esters) of the su bstance, provided 
that the derivatives are the subject of 
patents specifically covering them;  
15.       Whereas a fair balance should 
also be stuck with regard to the dete r-
mination of the transitional arrang e-
ments; whereas such arrangements 
should enable the Community plant pr o-
tection industry to catch up to some e x-
tent with its main competitors, while 
making sure that the arrangements do 
not compromise the achievement of 
other legitimate objectives concer ning 
the agricultural po licy and env ironment 
protection policy pursued at both n a-
tional and Community level;  
16.       Whereas only action at Comm u-
nity level will enable the o bjective, which 
consists in ensuring adequate protection 
for innovation in the field of plant prote c-
tion, while guaranteeing the proper fun c-
tioning of the internal market for plant 
protection products, to be attained effe c-
tively;  
17.       Whereas the detailed rules in 
recitals 12, 13 and 14 and in A rticles 3 
(2), 4, 8 (1)(c) and 17 (2) of this Regul a- 82 tion are  also valid, m utatis mutandis, for 
the interpretation in particular of recital 9 
and Article 3, 4, 8 (1)(c) and 17 of 
Council Regulation (EEC) No. 
1768/1992,  
HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:  
Article 1  
Definitions  
For the purposes of this Regul ation, the 
following definitions shall apply:  
1. “plant protection products”: active 
substances and preparations containing 
one or more active su bstances, put up 
in the form in which they are supplied to 
the user, i ntended to:  
a. protect plants or plant products 
against all harmful organisms or prevent 
the action of such orga nisms, in so far 
as such substances or prepar ations are 
not otherwise defined below;  
b. influence the life processes of plants, 
other than as a nutrient (e.g.  
plant growth regulators);  
c. preserve pl ant products, in so far as 
such substances or products are not 
subject to special Council or Commi s-
sion provisions on pr eservatives;  
d. destroy undesirable plants; or  
e. destroy parts of plants, check or pr e-
vent undesirable growth of plants;  
2.  “substance s”: chemical el ements and 
their compounds, as they occur naturally 
or by manufacture, including any impur i-
ty inevitably resulting from the manufa c-
turing process;  
3. “active substances”: substances or 
micro -organisms including viruses, ha v-
ing general or spe cific a ction: a. against harmful organisms; or  
b. on plants, parts of plants or plant 
products;  
4. “preparations”: mixtures or sol utions 
composed of two or more substances, 
of which at least one is an active su b-
stance, intended for use as plant prote c-
tion products;  
5. “plants”: live plants and live parts of 
plants, including fresh fruit and seeds;  
6. “plant products”: products in the u n-
processed state or having u ndergone 
only simple preparation such as mil ling, 
drying or pressing, derived from plants, 
but e xcluding plants themselves as d e-
fined in point 5;  
7. “harmful organisms”: pests of plants 
or plant products belonging to the an i-
mal or plant kingdom, and also viruses, 
bacteria and myc oplasmas and other 
pathogens;  
8. “product”: the active substance as d e-
fined in point 3 or combination of active 
substances of a plant protection pro d-
uct; 
9. “basic patent”: a patent which pr o-
tects a product as defined in point 8 as 
such, a preparation as defined in point 
4, a process to o btain a product or an 
application of a product, and which is 
designated by its holder for the pu rpose 
of the procedure for grant of a certif i-
cate;  
10. “certificate”: the supplementary pr o-
tection certificate  
Article 2  
Scope  
Any product protected by a patent in the 
territory of a Member State and  subject, 
prior to being placed on the market as a  83 plant protection product, to an admini s-
trative authorization pr ocedure as laid 
down in Article 4 of Directive 
91/414/EEC  [1], or pursuant to an equi v-
alent provision of national if it is a plant 
protection product in respect of which 
the application for authorization was 
lodged before Directive 91/414/EEC 
was implemented by the Member State 
concerned, may, unde r the terms and 
conditions provided for in this Regul a-
tion, be the subject of a certificate.  
Article 3  
Conditions for Obtaining a  
Certif icate 
1.  A certificate shall be granted if, in the 
Member State in which the appl ication 
referred to in Article 7 is s ubmitted at the 
date of that appl ication:  
a. the product is protected by a basic 
patent in force;  
b.  a valid authorization to place the 
product on the market as a plant prote c-
tion product has been granted in a c-
cordance with Article 4 of Directive 
91/414/E EC or an equiv alent provision 
of national law;  
c. the product has not already been the 
subject of a certificate;  
d. the authorization referred to in (b) is 
the first authorization to place the pro d-
uct on the market as a plant pr otection 
product.  
2.  The ho lder of more than one p atent 
for the same product shall not be gran t-
ed more than one certificate for that 
product.   However, where two or more 
applications concerning the same pro d-
uct and emanating from two or more 
holders of different patents are pending,  
                                                 
1 OJ L 230, 19.08.1991, p. 1.   Directive as last 
amended by Directive 95/36/EC (OJ L 172, 
22.07.1995, p. 8)  one certificate for this product may be 
issued to each of these holders.  
Article 4  
Subject Matter of Protection  
Within the limits of the protection co n-
ferred by the basic patent, the prote ction 
conferred by a certificate shall extend 
only to the product c overed by the a u-
thorization to place the corresponding 
plant p rotection product on the market 
and for any use of the product as a plant 
protection product that has been autho r-
ized before the expiry of the certificate.  
Article 5  
Effects of the Certificate  
Subject to Article 4, the certificate shall 
confer the same rights as co nferred by 
the basic patent and shall be subject to 
the same limitations and the same obl i-
gations.  
Article 6  
Entitlement to the Certificate  
The certificate shall be granted to the 
holde r of the basic patent or his succe s-
sor in title.  
Article 7  
Application for a Certificate  
1.  The application for a certificate shall 
be lodged within six months of the date 
on which the authorization referred to 
in Article 3 (1)(b) to place the product on 
the market as a plant protection was 
granted.  
2.       Notwithstanding paragraph 1, 
where the authorization to place the 
product on the market is gran ted before 
the basic patent is granted, the applic a-
tion for a certificate shall be lodged wit h-
in six month s of the date on which the 
patent is granted.   84 Article 8  
Content of the Application  
for a Certificate  
1.  The application for a certificate shall 
contain:  
a. a request for the grant of a certi ficate, 
stating in particular:  
i) the name and address of the ap pli-
cant;  
ii) the name and address of the repr e-
sentative, if any;  
iii) the number of the basic patent and 
the title of the invention;  
iv) the number and date of the first a u-
thorization to place the product on the 
market, as referred to in A rticle 3 (1)(b) 
and, if this authoriz ation is not the first 
authorization to place the product on the 
market in the Community, the number 
and date of that authorization;  
b.  a copy of the authorization to place 
the product on the market, as referred to 
in Article 3 (1)(b),  in which the product is 
identified, containing in particular the 
number and date of the authoriz ation 
and the summary of the product chara c-
teristics listed in Part A.I (points 1 -7) or 
B.I (points 1 -7) of Annex II to D irective 
91/414/EEC or in equivalent n ational 
laws of the Member State in which the 
application was lodged;  
c.  if the authorization referred to in (b) is 
not the first authorization for placing the 
product on the market as a plant prote c-
tion product in the Community, info r-
mation regarding the  identity of the 
product thus a uthorized and the legal 
provision u nder which the authorization 
procedure took place, together with a 
copy of the notice publishing the autho r-
ization in the appropriate official public a-
tion or, failing such a notice, any othe r document proving that the authorization 
has been i ssued, the date on which it 
was issued and the identity of the pro d-
uct authorized.  
2.  Member States may require a fee to 
be payable upon application for a certif i-
cate.  
Article 9  
Lodging of an Application  
for a Certificate  
1.  The application for a certificate shall 
be lodged with the competent industrial 
property office of the Member State 
which granted the basic patent or on 
whose behalf it was granted and in 
which the authorization referred to in A r-
ticle 3 (1)(b) to place the pro duct on the 
market was obtained, unless the Me m-
ber State designates a nother authority 
for the purpose.  
2.  Notification of the application for a 
certificate shall be published by the a u-
thority referred to in par agraph 1.   The 
notification shall contain at least the fo l-
lowing info rmation:  
a. the name and address of the appl i-
cant;  
b. the number of the basic patent;  
c. the title of the invention;  
d. the number and date of the authoriz a-
tion to place the product on the market, 
referred  to in Article 3 (1)(b), and the 
product identified in that a uthorization;  
e.  where relevant, the number and date 
of the first authorization to place the 
product on the market in the Commun i-
ty. 
 
  85 Article 10  
Grant of the Certificate or  
Rejection of the Ap plication  
1.  Where the application for a ce rtificate 
and the product to which it relates meet 
the conditions laid down in this Regul a-
tion, the autho rity referred to in Article 
9(1) shall grant the certificate.  
2.  The authority referred to in Article 
9(1) shall, subject to paragraph 3, reject 
the application for a certificate if the a p-
plication or the product to which it r e-
lates does not meet the conditions laid 
down in this Regulation.  
3.  Where the application for a ce rtificate 
does not meet the cond itions laid down 
in Article 8, the a uthority referred to in 
Article 9(1) shall ask the applicant to 
rectify the irregularity, or to settle the 
fee, within a stated time.  
4.  If the irregularity is not rectified or the 
fee is not settled under paragraph 3 
within the stated time, the application 
shall be rejected.  
5.  Member States may provide that the 
authority referred to in Art icle 9(1) is to 
grant certificates wit hout verifying that 
the conditions laid down in Article 3 
(1)(c) and (d) are met.  
Article 11  
Publication  
1.  Notification of the fact that a certif i-
cate has been granted shall be pu b-
lished by the authority referred to in Art i-
cle 9(1).   The notification shall co ntain at 
least the following information:  
a. the name and address of the holder 
of the certi ficate;  
b. the number of the basic patent;  
c. the title of the invention;  d. the number and date of the authoriz a-
tion to place the product on the market 
referred to in Article 3 (1)(b) and the 
product identified in that a uthorization;  
e. where relevant, th e number and date 
of the first authorization to place the 
product on the market in the   Commun i-
ty; 
f. the duration of the certificate.  
2.  Notification of the fact that the appl i-
cation for a certificate has been r ejected 
shall be published by the authority  re-
ferred to in Article 9(1).   The notification 
shall contain at least the information 
listed in A rticle 9(2).  
Article 12  
Annual Fees  
Member States may require the certif i-
cate to be subject to the payment of a n-
nual fees.  
Article 13  
Duration of the Certific ate 
1.  The certificate shall take effect at the 
end of the lawful term of the basic p a-
tent for a period equal to the period 
which elapsed between the date on 
which the application for a basic patent 
was lodged and the date of the first a u-
thorization to pl ace the product on the 
market in the Community, reduced by a 
period of five years.  
2.  Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the d u-
ration of the certificate may not exceed 
five years from the date on which it 
takes effect.  
3. For the purposes of calculating the 
duration of the certificate, a ccount shall 
be taken of a provisio nal first marketing 
authorization only if it is directly followed 
by a definitive author ization concerning 
the same product.   86 Article 14  
Expiry of the Certificate  
The certificate shall lapse:  
a. at the end of the period provided for 
in Article 13;  
b. if the certificate -holder surre nders it;  
c. if the annual fee laid down in accor d-
ance with Article 12 is not paid in time;  
d. if and as long as the product covered 
by the certificate may no longer be 
placed on the market following the wit h-
drawal of the appr opriate authorization 
or authorizations to place it on the ma r-
ket in accordance with Article 4 of D i-
rective 91/414/EEC or equivalent prov i-
sions of national law.   The authority r e-
ferred to in Article 9(1) may decide on 
the lapse of the certificate e ither on its 
own initiative or at the r equest of a third 
party.  
Article 15  
Invalidity of the Certificate  
1. The certificate shall be invalid if:  
a. it was granted contrary to the prov i-
sions of Article 3;  
b. the basic patent has lapsed b efore its 
lawful term expires;  
c.  the basic patent is revoked or limited 
to the extent that the pro duct for which 
the certificate was granted would no 
longer be pr otected by the claims of the 
basic patent or, after the basic p atent 
has expired, grounds for revocation e x-
ist which would have justified such rev o-
cation or limitation.  
2.  Any person may submit an applic a-
tion or bring an action for a declaration 
of invalidity of the certi ficate before the 
body responsible under natio nal law for the revocation of the corresponding 
basic p atent. 
Article 16  
Notification of Lapse or Invalidity  
If the certificate lapses in accor dance 
with Article 14(b), (c) or (d) or is invalid 
in accordance with Article 15, notific a-
tion thereof shall be p ublished by the 
authority referred to in Article 9(1).  
Article 17  
Appeals  
1.  The decisions of the authority r e-
ferred to in Article 9(1) or of the body 
referred to in Article 15(2) taken under 
this Regulation shall be open to the 
same appeals as those prov ided for in 
national law against similar decisions 
taken in respect of national patents.  
2.  The decision to grant the certif icate 
shall be open to an appeal aimed at re c-
tifying the duration of the certificate 
where the date of the first authorization 
to place the product on the market in the 
Community, contained in the application 
for a certificate as provided in Art icle 8, 
is incorrect.  
Article 18  
Procedure  
1.  In the absence of procedural prov i-
sions in this Regulation, the procedural 
provisions applicabl e under national law 
to the corr esponding basic patent and, 
where appropriate, the procedural prov i-
sions applicable to the certificates r e-
ferred to in Regulation (EEC) No. 
1768/1992, shall apply to the certi ficate, 
unless national law lays down special 
procedural provisions for certi ficates as 
referred to in this Regulation.  
2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the 
procedure for opposition to the granting 
of a certificate shall be e xcluded.   87 TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS  
Article 19  
1.  Any product which, on the date on  
which this Regulation enters into force, 
is protected by a valid basic patent and 
for which the first a uthorization to place 
it on the market as a plant protection 
product in the Community was obtained 
after 1 January 1985 under Article 4 of 
Directive 91/ 414/EEC or an equiv alent 
national provision may be granted a ce r-
tificate.  
2.  An application made under par a-
graph 1 for a certificate shall be submi t-
ted within six months of the date on 
which this Regulation e nters into force.  
 
 
  
Article 20  
In those Membe r States whose n ational 
law did not, on 1 January 1990, provide 
for the patentability of plant protection 
products, this Regulation shall apply 
from 2 Ja nuary 1998.  
Article 19 shall not apply in those Me m-
ber State.  
FINAL PROVISION  
Article 21  
Entry into for ce 
This Regulation shall enter into force six 
months after its public ation in the Official 
Journal of the European Co mmunities.  
This Regulation shall be binding in its 
entirety and directly applicable in all 
Member States.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  88 MINISTERIAL DECISION No 30560/544  
“Lodging of an application with the Industrial Property Organisation  
for the granting of a supplementary protection certificate  
for plant protection pro ducts”  
 
THE MINISTERS  
OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMY AND 
OF AGRICULTURE  
Having take n into consideration:  
1.  The provisions:  
a. Of Article 2, par. 1 (g) and (h) of Law 
1338/1983 'Implementation of Comm u-
nity law' (Government G azette 34 A’), as 
that was amended by Article 6, para. 1 
of Law 1440/1984 'participation of 
Greece in the capital,  reserves and pr o-
visions of the European Investment 
Bank, in the capital of the European 
Coal and Steel Community and the 
EURATOM Supply Organisation' (Go v-
ernment Gazette 70 A’).  
b. Of Article 1, par . 2 of Law 1733/1987 
'Transfer of technology, inventions,  and 
technological inn ovation, and the setting 
up of an Atomic Energy Commission' 
(Government Gazette 171 A’).  
2.  Of Law 2077/1992 'Ratification of the 
treaty of the European Union' (Gover n-
ment Gazette 136 A’).  
3.  Of Regulation 1610/96/EC of the E u-
ropean  Parliament and of the Council of 
23 July 1996 (EU No. L198/30 of 8 A u-
gust 1996).  
4.  Of Article 29 A’ of Law 1558/85 
(A/37), as that was added by Article 27 
of Law 2081/1992 ( GG A’ 154) and r e-
placed by Article 1, par. 2a of Law 
2469/1997 ( GG A’ 38).  
5.  The fact that no charge on the state 
budget is created by the pr ovisions of the present decision, we have dete r-
mined:  
CHAPTER ONE  
GENERAL PROVISIONS  
Article 1  
Aim 
The aim of the present decision is the 
determination of the procedure for the 
granting of a su pplementary certificate 
of protection for plant protections pro d-
ucts as to which a patent has been 
granted and which, before their circul a-
tion on the market, are  subject to an 
administrative procedure for the granting 
of a circulation permit.  
Article 2  
Definitions  
For the purposes of the impleme ntation 
of this decision, the following shall be 
meant by:  
a. “Regulation 1610/96 ”: Regulation 
1610/96 of the European Parliament 
and of the Council of the European U n-
ion of 23 July 1996 'in connection with 
the intro duction of a supplementary ce r-
tificate of pr otection for plant protection 
products' (EU No. L198/30 of 8 August 
1996).  
b. “Directive 91/414/EEC ”: Directive 
91/414 EEC of the Council of 15 July 
1991 'in connection with the marketing 
of plant protection prod ucts' (EU No. 
L230/1 of 19 August 1991), as that was 
amended by D irectives 95/35/EC (EU 
No. L172/6 of 22 July 1995) and conti n-
ues in force and has been inco rporated  89 into Greek law by Presidential D ecree 
115/1997 (Government G azette 104 A, 
30 May 1997) 'on the approval, marke t-
ing and control of plant protection pro d-
ucts in co nformity with Directive 91/414 
EEC of the Council, as that has been 
supplemented'.  
c. “OBI”: the Industrial Property Organ i-
sation, which has its registered office in 
Athens (Article 1 of  Law 1733/1987).  
d. “Law 1733/1987 ”: Law 1733/1987 
'Transfer of technology, inventions, and 
technological  innovation, and the setting 
up of an Atomic Energy Commission' 
(Government Gazette 171 A’).  
e. “Plant protection products ”: active 
substances and prep arations within the 
meaning of Article 1, par. 1 of Regul a-
tion 1610/96.  
f. “Patent ”: the patent granted by the 
IPO in accordance with Article 8 of Law 
1733/87 (Government Gazette 171 A), 
or the European patent in force in 
Greece in a ccordance with Article 23 of 
Law 1733/87.  
g. “Certificate ”: the supplementary certi f-
icate of protection which is granted for 
plant protection pro ducts on the terms of 
Article 3 of Regulation 1610/96.  
h. “Circulation permit ”: the granting of 
approval for the circulation of a plan t 
protection product in the market in a c-
cordance with Article 4 of Presidential 
Decree 115/97 (Go vernment Gazette A’ 
104), or in accordance with a corr e-
sponding provision of national law in the 
case of a plant protection product the 
application for approva l of which was 
lodged before the co mmencement of 
implementation of Directive 91/414 in 
the member -states.  
 CHAPTER TWO  
PERSONS ENTITLED -  
PROC EDURE FOR LODGING  
Article 3  
Right of acquisition of a certificate  
A right to protection shall be po ssessed 
by the  holder of a patent and his general 
or special successors in title in accor d-
ance with the terms of Article 3 of Reg u-
lation 1610/96.  
Article 4  
Competent authority  
The competent authority for the lodging 
of the application and the granting of the 
certificate  shall be the Industrial Prope r-
ty Organisation (OBI).  
Article 5  
Lodging of an application  
1.  For the granting of a certificate, the 
lodging of an application with the OBI in 
accordance with Article 7 of Regul ation 
1610/96 shall be required.  
2.  The applic ation shall be submi tted in 
two copies and shall contain the partic u-
lars of Article 8 of Reg ulation 1610/96.  
3.  To the application shall be a nnexed, 
in addition to the particulars of par a-
graph 2 of this article, the doc uments 
legitimating the person lodgi ng them in 
the case of a legal person and the r e-
ceipt for the co llection by the OBI of the 
duty for the lodging of an appl ication for 
the granting of a certificate.  
4.  If the terms of the paragraph 2 above 
of the article are fulfilled, the application 
shall be accepted for lodging. In this 
event, the applic ation shall be deemed 
to be regular, it shall be given a lodging 
date, and shall be entered in the R e-
ports Register of the OBI .  90 5.  As to the lodging and drafting of do c-
uments before the OBI, Articles 2,  3, 4 
and 9 of Ministerial Decision 15928/ ΕFΑ 
(Government Gazette 778 B’) and 19 of 
Presidential D ecree 77/88 (Government 
Gazette 33 A’) shall be implemented.  
Article 6  
Additional information  
1.  Within four months from regular lod g-
ing and after written no tice from the OBI, 
the applicant must submit to the OBI 
any missing i nformation and supporting 
documents in accordance with Article 5, 
paragraphs 2 and 3 of the present dec i-
sion. In this event, the applic ation shall 
be deemed complete.  
2.  If after the ela pse of the time -limit of 
paragraph 1 above of this article, the 
OBI establishes that the data of the a p-
plication have not been co mpleted, the 
application shall be rejec ted. 
CHAPTER THREE  
CERTIFICATE - PUBLICATION  
Article 7  
Granting of a certificate  
1.  If the application is complete and 
regular in accordance with Articles 5 
and 6 of this decision and if the pro duct 
which it concerns fulfils the terms of 
Regulation 1610/96, the OBI shall grant 
the certificate without a prior check on 
the terms of Article 3, par. 1, items (c) 
and (d) of Regulation 1610/96, on the 
responsibility of the applicant.  
2.  After the granting of the certif icate, 
third parties may seek info rmation and 
copies of the application and of the add i-
tional info rmation which concerns the 
produc t protected.  
 Article 8  
Publication  
1.  The publication stipulated in A rticle 
11 of Regulation 1610/96 shall be in the 
Special Industrial Property Bulletin.  
2.  The publication of the certificate shall 
also mandatorily state, apart from the 
data of Article  11, par. 1 of Regulation 
1610/96, the term of force of the certif i-
cate.  
3.  In the event of the application being 
rejected by the OBI in a ccordance with 
Article 6, par. 2 of the present Minist erial 
Decision, the act of rejection and the 
particulars of Art icle 9, par. 2 of Regul a-
tion 1610/96 shall be published in the 
Industrial Property Bulletin.  
CHAPTER FOUR  
RIGHTS FROM THE CERTIFICATE - 
DUTIES  
Article 9  
Content of right  
The certificate shall give its holder, b e-
ing a natural or legal person, the excl u-
sive rights of Article 10 of Law 1733/87, 
which shall be implemented mutatis m u-
tandis.  
Article 10  
Charges  
1.  For the lodging of an application for 
the granting of a certificate, lodging d u-
ties shall be paid to the OBI . 
2.  For the granting of protection, the 
holder of the certificate shall be obliged 
to make prepayment of a nnual duties to 
the OBI, in mutatis mutandis impleme n-
tation of Article 24 of Law 1733/87.  
3.  The level of the lodging duty and of 
the annual protection duties shall be d e- 91 termined by a decisi on of the Admini s-
trative Council of the OBI . 
4.  Failure to make punctual pa yment of 
the annual protection d uties shall entail 
forfeiture of the rights which stem from 
the certificate, in mutatis mutandis i m-
plementation of Article 16 of Law 
1733/87.  
 
 CHAP TER FIVE  
FINAL PROVISIONS  
Article 11  
Commencement of force  
This decision shall come into force on its 
publication in the Government G azette.  
This decision is to be published in the 
Government Gazette.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  92 PRESIDENTIAL DECR EE No 259/1997  
“Implementing Provisions of the Hague Agreement Concerning the  
International Deposit of Indus trial Designs as ratified with L aw 2417/1996 and 
Provisions Concerning the National Title of Protection”  
THE PRESIDENT  
OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC  
Having regard to:  
1.  Article 4 of Law No. 2417/1996 on 
the “Ratification of the Hague Agre e-
ment Concerning the International D e-
posit of Industrial Designs of Nove mber 
6, 1925, as revised in the Hague on N o-
vember 28, 1960, and the Compleme n-
tary Act of Sto ckholm of July 14, 1967, 
as amended on September 28, 1979” 
(Official Journal No. 139, A’).  
2.  Article 29A of Law No. 1558/1996 on 
“Government and Governmental Bo d-
ies” (Official Journal No. 137, A’),  
 as added with Article 27 of Law No. 
2081/1992 (Officia l Journal No. 154, A’) 
and amended with Article 1.2a of Law 
No. 2469/1997,  
3.  The fact that the provision of the pr e-
sent Presidential Decree do not produce 
any debit against the budget of the 
State,  
4.  The proposal by the Administr ative 
Council of the In dustrial Property Orga n-
ization of December 12, 1996 (Item No. 
4 of the 18th Mee ting), 
5.  The opinion No. 301/1997 of June 
26, 1997 of the Council of State follo w-
ing the proposal by the Minister of D e-
velopment,  
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:  
 
PART ONE  
GENERAL PR OVISIONS  
Article  1 
Scope of application  
This Presidential Decree shall a pply to 
international deposits of industrial d e-
signs or models having effect to the He l-
lenic territory and to national d eposits 
for the protection of designs of models.  
Article 2  
Definitions  
1.  For the purposes of national legisl a-
tion: 
a. “design or model” means the outward 
visible appearance of the whole or part of a product resulting from the specific 
features of, in particular, the lines, co n-
tours, colours, shape, form and/or mat e-
rials of the product itself and/or its o r-
namentation (Art. 3.1a of Law No. 
2417/1996);  
b. “product” means any industrial or 
handicraft product, including parts i n-
tended to be assembled into a co mplex 
product, packaging, getup, graphic 
symbols and typographi c typefaces, but 
excluding computer programs (Art. 3.1.b 
of Law No. 2417/1996);  
2.  For the purposes of the present 
Presidential Decree:   93 a. “OBI” means the Athens -seated I n-
dustrial Property Organisation (Art. 1 of 
Law No. 1733/1987);  
b. “WIPO” means the Wo rld Intellect ual 
Property Organization as defined in Art i-
cle 2 of the Patent Cooperation Treaty 
as ratified by Greece with Law No. 
1883/1990 (Official Journal No. 45, A’);  
c.  “Agreement” means the Hague 
Agreement Concerning the Intern ational 
Deposit of In dustrial Designs as ratified 
by Greece with Law No. 2417/1996 (O f-
ficial Journal No. 139, A’) (Art. 2 of the 
Agreement as ratified with Article 1 of 
Law No. 2417/1996);  
d. “International Bureau” means the B u-
reau of the International Union for the 
Protection  of Industrial Property located 
in Geneva (Art. 2 of the Agreement as 
ratified with Article 1 of Law No. 
2417/1996);  
e. “international deposit” of industrial 
designs and models means a deposit 
made according to the pr ovisions of the 
Hague Agreement (Art. 2  of the Agre e-
ment as ratified with Article 1 of Law No. 
2417/1996);  f. “national deposit” of designs and 
models means a deposit made at OBI 
for the grant of a national title of prote c-
tion (Art. 2 of the Agre ement as ratified 
with Article 1 of Law No. 2417/ 1996);  
g. “certified translation” means a transl a-
tion made by a person or an authority 
entitled to certify transl ations;  
h. “multiple deposit” means a d eposit 
that includes more than one design or 
model;  
i. “Ministerial Decision No. 15928/EFA/  
1253” means the Mini sterial Decision of 
December 24, 1987 concerning the “Fi l-
ing of an Application for the Grant of a 
Patent or a Utility Model Certificate at 
OBI and Keeping of Record Books” (O f-
ficial Journal No. 778, B’);  
j. “priority claim” means a right of prio rity 
from a previous application, as pr ovided 
in Article 4 of the Paris Convention of 
1883 for the protection of Industrial 
Property, as rat ified with Article 1 of Law 
No. 213/1975 (Official Journal No. 258, 
A’). 
 
 
PART TWO  
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE HAGUE AGREEM ENT  
AS RATIFIED WITH LAW NO. 2417/1996  
INTERNATIONAL APPLICATION - PROTECTION  
Article 3  
Filing of the application  
1.  International applications may be 
filed either directly at the Inte rnational 
Bureau in Geneva or through OBI in its 
premises in At hens o r in its branches, if 
any (Art. 4 of the Agreement as rat ified 
with Article 1 of Law No. 2417/1996).  2.  An international application may be 
filed through the intermediary of OBI, 
when the application originates from 
Greece.  
3.  An application shall be dee med to 
originate from Greece when the appl i-
cant has either a real and effective i n-
dustrial or commercial e stablishment in  94 the Hellenic territory or is a resident or 
national of Greece.  
Article 4  
Language of the Application  
An international application shal l be in 
the French or in the English la nguage.  
Article 5  
Documents of the Application  
1.  An international application shall be 
filed in two copies and shall co ntain the 
mandatory elements prescribed in Art i-
cle 5 of the Agreement.   It shall be 
signed by th e depositor or his repr e-
sentative (Art. 5 of the Agreement as 
ratified with Article 1 of Law No. 
2417/1996).  
2.  An international application may co n-
tain the optional elements r eferred to in 
Article 5.3 and 5.4 of the Agre ement.  
3.  All contents of an inte rnational appl i-
cation shall be completed on the form 
provided by the International Bureau a c-
cording to the accompanying written i n-
structions.  
Article 6  
Receipt of an International  
Applic ation 
1.  OBI shall receive the application to 
be deemed as an intern ational one and 
shall immediately issue a receipt co n-
taining the number and the accompan y-
ing documents or elements and the date 
of their r eceipt.  
2.  OBI shall transmit by facsimile to the 
International Bureau the documents of 
an international a pplication on the same 
day.  The remaining accompanying e l-
ements as well as the original doc u-
ments of the international application 
shall be mailed promptly by OBI to the 
International Bureau.  Article 7  
Date of Registration  
of an International Deposit  
The registrati on of the International D e-
posit shall be made by the Inte rnational 
Bureau.   The date on which the Intern a-
tional Bureau received the i nternational 
application in due form and the relevant 
payable fees, shall be deemed as the 
date of registration (Art. 6.2 o f the 
Agreement as ratified with Article 1 of 
Law No. 2417/1996).  
Article 8  
Payment of Fees  
The fees prescribed for an intern ational 
deposit or for its renewal shall be pay a-
ble directly to the I nternational Bureau in 
Swiss francs (Arts. 15 and 16 of the 
Agreement as ratified with Article 1 of 
Law No. 2417/1996).  
Article 9  
Legal Effect of an  
International Registered Deposit  
1.  An international deposit regi stered in 
the International Design Register to 
which Greece is desi gnated, shall have 
the same effect with a national deposit 
in respect of which all administrative 
acts have been complied with.   Such an 
international deposit shall be protec ted 
according to the provisions on the regi s-
tered national deposits of designs or 
models (Art. 7 of the Agreement as rati-
fied with Article 1 of Law No. 
2417/1996).  
2.  Any international deposit orig inating 
from Greece shall have full effect in the 
Hellenic territory (Art. 7 of the Agre e-
ment as ratified with Article 1 of Law No. 
2417/1996).  
3.  The publication by the Inte rnational 
Bureau of the registered i nternational 
deposits in the International Design Bu l- 95 letin and the rela ted acts thereof, shall 
have the same effect with their public a-
tion in the Industrial Property Bulletin 
(EDBI) published by OBI . 
4.  As of the date o f publication of the 
monthly International Design Bulletin, 
the contents thereof shall be open to i n-
spection by the public in the premi ses of 
OBI. 
Article 10  
Duration of Protection  
1.  The term of protection of a re gistered 
international deposit of a desig n or 
model designating Greece shall be five 
years, which may be renewed subject to 
Article 29 of the present Presidential 
Decree (Art. 11 of the Agreement as 
ratified with Article 1 of Law No. 
2417/1996).  2.  The above mentioned protection 
shall commence o n the date of the i n-
ternational deposit as defined in Article 
6 of the Agreement (Art. 6 of the 
Agreement as ratified with Art icle 1 of 
Law No. 2417/1996).  
Article 11  
Termination of Protection in Greece  
The protection in Greece of an intern a-
tional register ed design or model shall 
terminate following an irrevocable dec i-
sion as provided in Article 16 of the pr e-
sent Presidential Decree.   This d ecision 
shall be communicated by OBI to the 
International Bureau which shall publish 
it in the International Design Bu lletin and 
shall register it in the International Re g-
ister.  
 
PART THREE  
NATIONAL TITLE OF PROTECTION  
 
CHAPTER ONE  
NATIONAL PROTECTION -  
INVALI DITY 
Article 12  
Requirements for Protection  
1.  A design or model as defined in Art i-
cle 2.1a of the present Pre sidential D e-
cree, shall be protected to the extent 
that it is new and has an individual 
character.  
2.  The protection of a design or model 
shall commence on the date of its regi s-
tration.  
3.  A design or model shall be consi d-
ered to be new if no identical d esign or 
model has been  made  available to  the   
public before the date of filing of the a p-
plication for registration, or, if priority is 
claimed, the date of priority.   Designs or 
models shall be deemed to be identical 
if their features differ only in i mmaterial 
details.  
4.  A design or model shall be consi d-
ered to have an individual cha racter if 
the overall impression it produces on the 
informed user di ffers from the overall 
impression produced on such a user by 
any design or model which has been 
made a vailable to the public before the 
date of filing of the application for regi s-
tration, or, if priority is claimed, the date 
of priority.  
5.  In assessing the individual chara cter 
the degree of freedom of the designer in 
developing the d esign or the model in   96 relation to the technical requirements 
shall be taken into consi deration.  
6.  A design or model of a product co n-
stituting a component part of a complex 
product shall only be co nsidered to be 
new and to have ind ividual character:  
a. if the component part, when incorp o-
rated into the complex product, r emains 
visible during normal use of the product, 
and 
b. to the extent that these visible fe a-
tures of the component part fulfil in 
themselves the requirements as to no v-
elty and individual character.  
4.  “Normal u se” within the meaning of 
the above mentioned paragraph 6, shall 
mean any use other than maintenance, 
repair, or other sim ilar services.  
Article 13  
Disclosure  
1.  For the purpose of applying A rticle 
12.3 and 12.4 of the present Preside n-
tial Decree, a desig n or model shall be 
deemed to have been made available to 
the public, if it has been published fo l-
lowing registration or otherwise exhibi t-
ed, used in trade or otherwise di sclosed, 
except where these events could not 
reasonably have become known in the 
norm al course of business to the circles 
specialized in the sector concerned, o p-
erating within the Community, before the 
date of filing of the application for regi s-
tration at OBI, or, if priority is claimed, 
the date of pr iority.  
2.  A design or model shall no t, howe v-
er, be deemed to have been made 
available to the public for the sole re a-
son that it has been di sclosed to a third 
person under explicit or implicit cond i-
tions of conf identiality.  Article 14  
Non-prejudicial Disclosures  
1.  The novelty of a design or  model 
shall not be affected in accor dance with 
Article 12.3 of the pr esent Presidential 
Decree, if the d esign or the model has 
been made available to the public during 
the 12 -month period prior to the date of 
filing the application for registration, or, i f 
priority is claimed, the date of priority for 
one of the following re asons:  
a.  the design or the model has been 
made available to the public by the d e-
signer, his successor in title, or a third 
person as a result of information provi d-
ed or action ta ken b y the designer, or 
his succe ssor in title.  
b.  if the disclosure is a result of an ab u-
sive behaviour  towards the d esigner or 
his successor in title, unless this beha v-
iour has resulted to the re gistration of 
the design or the model.  
2.  The novelty of a des ign or model 
shall not be affected in case of display 
of the design or the model at an officially 
recognized international exhibition fal l-
ing within the terms of the Convention 
on Intern ational Exhibitions signed at 
Paris on November 22, 1928 and ratified 
with Law No. 5562/1932 (Official Journal 
221, A’).   In such case, the disclosure to 
the public shall not exceed the period of 
6 months pr ior to the date of filing at OBI 
and the depositor shall submit any ev i-
dence of the products so displayed to 
which the design or the model has been 
incorporated or applied subject to the 
requirements of the present Presidential 
Decree.  
Article 15  
Exceptions to Protection  
1.  A design or model right shall not 
subsist, if:   97 a.  a design or model is contrary to pu b-
lic policy o r to accepted principles of m o-
rality.  
b. the features of appearance of a pro d-
uct are solely dictated by its tec hnical 
function.  
c. the features of appearance of a pro d-
uct must necessarily be repr oduced in 
their exact form and d imensions in order 
to permit the product in which the design 
or model is incorp orated or to which it is 
applied to be mechanically co nnected to 
or placed in, around, or against another 
product so that either product may pe r-
form its fun ction. 
2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1b and 1c 
abov e, a design or model shall be 
granted protection when, under the co n-
ditions set out in Art icle 12, this design 
or model makes possible the multiple 
assembly or connection of mutually i n-
terchangeable products within a mod u-
lar system.  
Article 16  
Invalidity  
1. A registered design or a regi stered 
model shall be declared invalid by 
means of a court’s decision, if:  
a. the holder of the registered d esign or 
the model is neither its d esigner, nor its 
successor, nor its owner under Article 
17 of the pr esent Presiden tial Decree.  
b. the protected design or model does 
not fulfil the requirements of Articles 12 
and 13 of the present Presidential D e-
cree.  
c. the features of the product’s appea r-
ance or the features of its interconne c-
tion shall not be protec ted in accordance  
with Article 15.1b and 15.1c of the pr e-
sent Presidential D ecree.  d. its exploitation or its publication is 
contrary to public policy or to a ccepted 
principles of morality.  
2. For any additional matter, the prov i-
sions of paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 15 
of law No. 1733/1987 shall apply a c-
cordingly.  
3.  A design right may be declared inv a-
lid even after it has lapsed or has been 
surrendered.  
4.  A registered design or a regi stered 
model, which shall be d eclared invalid, 
is deemed to have brought a priori none  
of the effects provided for in the present 
Presidential Decree.   The retroactive r e-
sult of the invalidation shall not a ffect 
the decisions on infringement which 
have acquired the force of res judicata 
and have been executed prior to the 
date of issue of t he decision on invalid a-
tion nor the contracts entered before the 
decision on inval idation, provided that 
they have been executed before the i s-
sue thereof.  
 
CHAPTER TWO  
ENTITLEMENT TO A DESIGN OR 
MODEL - TRANSFER  
Article 17  
Entitlement to Protection  
1.  The right to register a design or 
model shall vest in the designer or his 
successor in title.   The person who files 
the application for the re gistration of a 
design or model is deemed to be its 
owner, without prejudice to the prov i-
sions of Article 18 of the p resent Pres i-
dential D ecree.  
2.  If two or more persons have crea ted 
a design or model under a common cr e-
ative effort, provided that no different 
agreement has been concluded, the  98 right to the design or the model shall 
vest in them jointly and in equal part s.  
Each co -owner is entitled to transfer 
freely his share and supervise the pr o-
tection of the common regi stered design 
or model.  
3.  If the design or the model has been 
created by an employee, pa ragraphs 4, 
5, 6, and 7 of Article 6 of Law 1733/1987 
(Offic ial Journal No. 171, A’) shall apply 
accordin gly. 
4.  If two or more persons have created 
substantially similar d esigns or models 
independently the one from the other, 
the right shall vest to the person who 
first filed the application for registration 
of a design or model or to the one who 
has a priority right over the rest pursuant 
to Article 22 of the pr esent Presidential 
Decree.  
Article 18  
Claims  
1.  The holder of a design or model may, 
if a third party has filed an appl ication for 
the registration of a design or model 
which relates to his design or model or 
substantial elements thereof without his 
consent, demand by action against the 
third party the recognition on his behalf 
of the rights conferred by the application 
or, in case a certificate for regist ration 
has been issued, its transfer.   The co -
owner of a regi stered design or model 
may demand the recognition of his right.  
2.  The action taken by the holder or the 
co-holder shall be brought within a per i-
od of two years from the publication 
date of the registration of the d esign or 
the model in the Industrial Property Bu l-
letin (EDBI).   For any a dditional matter, 
paragraphs 10 and 11 of Article 6 of 
Law No. 1733/1987 shall apply accor d-
ingly.  Article 19  
Transfer of Rights and Licensing  
1.  The right to the  registration of a d e-
sign or model and the registered d esign 
or model may be transferred upon wri t-
ten agreement or inheri ted.  The transfer 
shall be effected upon regi stration of the 
agreement or of the certificate of inhe r-
itance in the Design and Model Re gister 
and shall be published in the EDBI.  
2.  The holder of a registered d esign or 
model may licence his d esign or model 
to third parties upon written agre ement.   
This licence shall be registered in the 
Design and Model Register and shall be 
published in the EDBI.  
3.  For any additional matter, the prov i-
sions of Article 12.1, .2, .3, .4, .5, and .6 
of law No. 1733/1987 shall apply a c-
cordingly as well as the conditions and 
procedure pr ovided in Article 2.10g and 
Article 24 of Law No. 1733/1987 (Official 
Journal No. 171, A’).  
CHAPTER THREE  
REGISTRATION PROCEDURE - 
CERTIFICATE - BOOKS  
Article 20  
Filing of Application -  
Conditions for Admissibility  
1.  The filing of an application at OBI is 
required for the registration of a design 
or model.  
2.  An application  shall contain:  
a. A request for the registration   of  
the design or the model in the D esign 
and Model Register.  
b. The full or trade name, the national ity, 
the residence or seat, in case of a legal 
entity and the address of the d epositor.   99 c. The name of a representative in case 
that the depositor does not have a res i-
dence or seat in Greece and a stat e-
ment of the depositor submitting to the 
jurisdiction of the Hellenic courts.  
d. The designation of the article or art i-
cles in which it is intended to incorpo rate 
the design or the mo del. 
e. A graphic representation or phot o-
graph of the design or the model suit a-
ble for reproduction pursuant to Article 
21 of the present Presidential D ecree.  
3.  The application may also i nclude:  
a. A list of the products in which  the d e-
sign or the model is intended to be i n-
corporated or to be applied.  
b. The classification of the products r e-
ferred to in the above paragraph (a) into 
classes and subclasses a ccording to the 
Agreement Esta blishing an International 
Classification for I ndustrial Designs, 
signed at Locarno on Oct ober 8, 1968 
as implemented.  
c. If the applicant is not the desig ner or 
the sole designer, a statement as to the 
origin of the right to the design or the 
model.  
d. A request for priority from an earlier 
deposit pu rsuant to Article 22 of the pr e-
sent Presidential Decree and a declar a-
tion of the date of the earlier deposit and 
of the State in which the earlier deposit 
was effected.  
e.  A brief description, not exceeding 
100 words, of characteristic fe atures of 
the des ign or the model, including any 
colours; said descri ption shall indicate 
the features characterizing the design or 
the model in accordance with its filed 
representation and shall not refer to 
technical particulars related to the ope r-
ation of the article in corporating the d e-sign or the model, nor to its possible u s-
es and nor to the manufacturing mater i-
al. 
f. A request for publication in co lour. 
g. A request for deferment of publ ication 
of the application for the registr ation of 
the design or the model as pr ovided for 
in Article 23 of the present Presidential 
Decree, which may not exceed twelve 
months from the date of the deposit.  
h. An indication that the design or the 
model has been shown at an officially 
recognized exhibition a ccompanied by a 
certificate st ating the date on which the 
exhibition was held.  
4. In case of deferment of the public a-
tion of the application for the registr ation 
of a design or model at OBI according to 
paragraph 3g above, the applicant may 
attach to its application a sample of the 
product to which the design or the mo d-
el contained in the represent ation has 
been incorporated or applied.   The 
sample shall be depo sited in a sealed 
packet of 30x30 cm maximum in dime n-
sions and not exceeding 4 kg in weight.   
The same graphic representation t o the 
one a ccompanying the application shall 
be adhered to the packet’s top side.  
5.  Several designs or models may be 
included in a single application which is 
characterized as multiple application, 
provided that the designs or models 
shall not exceed a t otal of 50 and that 
the products in which they shall be i n-
corporated in or applied, all belong to 
the same subclass or to the same set or 
composition of items.   In this case, the 
applicant shall pay to OBI an additional 
registration fee and an additional p ubli-
cation fee according to the conditions 
and procedure provided in Article 2.10g 
and Article 24 of Law No. 1733/1987 
(Official Journal 171, A’), which corr e-
spond to a percentage of the basic re g- 100 istration fee for each additional d esign 
or model.   Where th e multiple applic a-
tion co ntains a request for deferment of 
publication, an additional fee for defe r-
ment of public ation shall be paid.  
6.  The receipts of payment of the filing 
and registration fee for the design or the 
model as well as of the fee for the f irst 
five-year period of protection pa yable 
according to the conditions and proc e-
dure provided in Article 2.10g and Art i-
cle 24 of Law No. 1733/1987 (Official 
Journal 171, A’) shall be a ttached to the 
application.  
7.  The application shall be admi tted for 
filing provided that the terms of the 
above paragraphs 2 and 6 of the very 
article of the present Presidential D e-
cree are complied.   The filing of the a p-
plication is then deemed to be regular 
but not co mplete.  
8.  Within a period of four months from 
the fil ing date, the applicant shall co m-
plete any deficiencies or correct any e r-
rors in the drafting of the documents and 
of the rest of the papers in a ccordance 
with the above paragraphs 3, 4, and 5 of 
this article and shall pay the publ ication 
fee or the fee fo r deferment of public a-
tion.  The filing of the a pplication shall 
be then deemed to be complete.  
9.  If the application is not complete 
within the prescribed period, OBI shall 
refuse to register the applic ation by a 
justified decision.  
10.  The date of regu lar filing of the a p-
plication pursuant to paragraph 7 shall 
be deemed as the date of re gistration of 
the application.  
Article 21  
Form of the Application  
1.  The application shall be filed in two 
copies and shall be signed by the d e-positor or his representa tive.  Article 2, 
3, and 4 of the Ministerial Decision No. 
15298/EFA/1253 shall be applicable a c-
cordingly.  
2. The presentation of the applic ation’s 
documents and designs shall follow the 
specifications of Article 8 par agraphs 1, 
2, and 3a, b, c, d, e, f, g  and of Article 9 
of the Ministerial Decision No. 
15298/EFA/1253.   Two black -and-white 
photographs or graphic repr esentations 
of the deposited design or model shall 
be attached to the applic ation.  In case 
that the depositor requests a publ ication 
in colou r of the design or the model, 
these photographs or graphic represe n-
tations shall be in colour.  
3.  The photographs and other graphic 
representations shall re present clearly 
the deposited article alone without 
shadows to the e xclusion of any other 
object, p erson, or animal.   The deposi t-
ed article must be represented at least 
once in the position in which it is norma l-
ly used.  
4.  The following shall not be admi tted 
upon filing:  
a. instantly developed photographs,  
b. words or texts or characteriz ations or 
trade names or trademarks written on 
the object or on the picture or on the 
graphic represent ation, 
c.     photocopies of photographs or 
graphic representations,  
d. photographs or graphic represent a-
tions not suitable for offset reprodu ction, 
e. photographs of dimensions larger 
than 16 x 16 cm.  
  101 Article 22  
Priority  
1.  If an application for a design or mo d-
el has been duly filed in a State member 
of the International Union for the Prote c-
tion of Industr ial Property, the depositor 
or the owner of the application sh all en-
joy for the purpose of filing an applic a-
tion in respect of the same design, a 
right of priority of six months from the 
date of filing of the first applic ation.  The 
priority right shall date back to the per i-
od of the first d eposit.  
2   A right of pri ority for the deposit of a 
design or model shall also e xist from an 
earlier national deposit of a utility model 
and vice versa if the application is filed 
within 6 months claiming pr otection for 
the same object and a declaration of 
priority shall be filed at OBI contai ning 
the elements of paragraphs 3a below.  
3.  Within 10 months from the first duly 
filed application abroad, the following 
shall be filed at OBI:  
a.    a certificate of the competent a u-
thority of the State of the first d uly filed 
application s tating the nu mber and the 
filing date of the application together 
with an official copy of the design or the 
model, and  
b.    a certified translation of the above 
mentioned certificate in Greek to which 
a copy of the d esign or the model shall 
be attached.  
4.  In case of priority claims on the basis 
of several foreign titles of prote ction, the 
date of the first foreign appl ication shall 
be considered as the prio rity date.  
Article 23  
Deferment of Publication  
1.  When filing an application for regi s-
tration of a design or model at OBI, a depositor may request that the data r e-
ferred to in Article 20.2e, .3e, and f and 
paragraph 4 of the present Pres idential 
Decree shall not be published.   In such 
case, following the payment of a fee for 
the deferment of publicati on a ccording 
to the conditions and procedure provi d-
ed in Article 2.10g and Article 24 of Law 
No. 1733/1987 (Official Journal 171, A’), 
OBI shall classify them as “NOT 
PUBLISHABLE” and shall keep them in 
a separate folder.   These data shall not 
be disclosed  nor made accessible to the 
public before the expiration of the rel e-
vant period referred to in Article 20.3f of 
the pr esent Presidential Decree.  
2.  Following a court’s decision, the d e-
ferred data shall be made avai lable to 
persons participating in a trial  regarding 
the validity, the i nfringement or the claim 
of exclusive rights resulting from the pr o-
tected design or model.  
Article 24  
Certificate of Registration -  
Public ation 
1.  Four months after the filing date of 
the application and provided that the 
application for registration is regular and 
complete, OBI shall issue a certif icate of 
registration of the design or the model 
without previously examining whether 
the terms provided in Articles 12, 13, 14 
and 15 of the present Presidential D e-
cree are met at  the respo nsibility of the 
applicant.  
2.  Without prejudice to Article 23, the 
registered application for a design or 
model together with the documents a t-
tached thereto shall be published 4 
months following the registration date.   If 
a sample of the produc t in which a d e-
sign or model is incorporated or to which 
it is applied has been filed pu rsuant to 
Article 20.4 of the present Pres idential 
Decree, OBI shall mention it in the pu b-
lication under a separate mention.   For  102 the purposes of publication, a public a-
tion fee shall be paid to OBI according 
to the conditions and procedure provi d-
ed in A rticle 2.10g and Article 24 of Law 
No. 1733/1987 (Official Journal 171, A’).  
3.  As of the publication date of the a p-
plication or the expiration thereof or i n-
terruption of  the time of the deferred 
publication, third parties shall be ent itled 
to request information and copies of the 
application, the description, the designs, 
or the models and of any ot her related 
element.  
4.  Elements of the registered applic a-
tion shall be p ublished in the Industrial 
Property Bulletin.  
5.  Any publication in the Industrial 
Property Bulletin shall be made in a 
separate issue titled “Designs and Mo d-
els”.  This issue shall contain elements 
related to the grant of certificates of re g-
istration of designs and models, to any 
transfer, renunciation and licensing, to 
the expiration date of the granted pr o-
tection or to the invalidation of a regi s-
tered design or model.  
Article 25  
Books - Registers - Archives  
1. OBI shall keep a Register of d esigns 
and mo dels which shall contain all regi s-
tered designs or mo dels, an archive of 
designs and models containing all r e-
spective folders and a book of reports 
for the registration of all applications for 
the registration of designs and models.  
2.  For the purposes of  keeping of the 
data in the above registers, a rchives, 
and books, Article 4.2, .3, and .4 of Law 
No. 1733/1987 and Articles 10, 11, and 
12 of the Ministerial Decision No. 
15928/EFA/  1253 shall apply accordin g-
ly. 
 CHAPTER FOUR  
RIGHTS CONFERRED  
 WITH THE DES IGN OR THE MODEL  
Article 26  
Content of the Right  
1.  The registration of a design or model 
shall confer on its holder the exclusive 
right to use it and to pr event any third 
party not having his consent from using 
it. 
2.  The aforementioned use shall cover,  
in particular, the making, offering, pu t-
ting on the market, i mporting exporting 
or using of a product in which the design 
is incorporated or to which it is applied, 
or stocking such a product for those 
purposes.  
3.  The rights conferred with a d esign or 
model upon registration shall not extend 
to: 
a. acts done privately and for non -
commercial purposes;  
b. acts done for experimental or r e-
search purposes;  
c. acts of reproduction of a design or 
model for the purposes of making cit a-
tions or of teaching, provi ded that such 
acts are compatible with fair trade pra c-
tice and do not unduly prejudice the 
normal explo itation of the design, and 
that me ntion is made of the source.  
d. the equipment on ships and ai rcraft 
registered in another country when 
these temporarily  enter the Hellenic te r-
ritory; 
e. the importation in Greece of spare 
parts and accessories for the purpose of 
repairing such ships or aircraft.   103 f. the execution of repairs on such ships 
or aircraft.  
4. By deviation to paragraph 1 above, 
the rights conferre d by the registration of 
a design or model shall be exe rcised by 
third parties who, five years after the first 
putting on the market of the product to 
which the design or the model is applied 
and following the payment of a fair and 
reasonable remuner ation to the owner 
as agreed by the parties or in case of 
dispute, as d ecided by the competent 
Court provided in the present Preside n-
tial D ecree, may use it on the following 
terms:  
a. the product in which the design or the 
model is incorporated is a spare part o f 
a mechanically operated veh icle, and  
b. said use is intended to allow the r e-
pair of a mechanically operated veh icle, 
and 
c. the public shall be informed of the 
origin of the product used for the repair 
under a permanent ind ication, such as 
the affixation  of a commercial trademark 
or trade name or by any other suitable 
means.  
5.  Whoever uses a design or mo del or 
has made the necessary preparations 
for its use during the period of registr a-
tion of an application for a design or 
model by a third party or dur ing the pr i-
ority date, shall be entitled to co ntinue 
its use for his business and its necess i-
ties.  This right may be tran sferred only 
with the business.  
6.  A registered design or model may be 
given as security or be the subject of 
rights in rem or of a c onfiscation.  
 
 Article 27  
Scope of Protection  
1.  The protection conferred by a d esign 
or model right shall include any design 
or model which produces on the i n-
formed user a similar impression.  
2.  In assessing the scope of pr otection, 
the degree of freedo m of the designer in 
developing the d esign or the model in 
relation to the technical r equirements, 
shall be taken into co nsideration.  
Article 28  
Judicial Protection - Actions  
1.  In any case of an infringement or 
threatened infringement of a re gistered 
design or specimen, the holder of such 
design or spec imen (rightholder) may 
request the lifting of the infringement 
and its omission in the future. The lifting 
of the infringement may include, on a p-
plication by the rightholder, indic atively 
and not restrictiv ely, (a) the r ecall of the 
goods that were found to be infringing a 
right pr ovided for under the present law 
and, as in appropriate cases, mat erials 
principally used in the creation or man u-
facture of these goods from the cha n-
nels of commerce, (b) the defin itive r e-
moval of these goods and materials 
from the channels of commerce or (c) 
the destruction of these goods and m a-
terials. In considering the applic ation of 
the previous clause, the need for pr o-
portionality b etween the seriousness of 
the infringement an d the remedies o r-
dered, as well as the interests of third 
parties, shall be taken into a ccount. The 
measures provided for under the second 
clause are ca rried out at the expense of 
the infringer, unless parti cular reasons 
are invoked for not doing so. The 
rightholder may also exercise the rights 
provided for under the first clause of the 
present paragraph against intermedia r-
ies whose se rvices are used by a third 
party to infringe the rights provided for  104 under the present law (articles 10 and 
11 of Directive 2004/48/EC). For each 
act of omission contributing to an i n-
fringement, the court may impose a 
monetary penalty of up to ten thousand 
(10,000.00) Euros in favour of the 
rightholder, while in all other cases art i-
cle 947 of the Hellenic Code of Civil 
Procedur e shall apply. In establishing 
the infring ement of the obligation not to 
act provided for under the preceding 
clause, the procedure provided for u n-
der articles 686 et seq. of the Hellenic 
Code of Civil Procedure is applied.[1] 
2. The provisions set forth i n paragraphs 
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of Article 17 of Hel-
lenic Law No. 1733/1987 , as well as 
those set forth in articles 17A to 17F  of 
the same law, are  accordingly applied.[2] 
Article 29  
Term of Protection of a  
Registered Design or a Model  
1.  The term of p rotection of a re gistered 
design or model shall be five years from 
the date of filing the application at OBI .  
The term of protection may be renewed 
for periods of five years each up to a t o-
tal term of 25 years from the date of fi l-
ing of the application fo r the regi stration 
of the d esign or the model.  
2.  The request for renewal shall be 
submitted by the holder of a regi stered 
design or model or his repr esentative 
and shall be accomp anied by a receipt 
                                                 
1 Paragraph 1 is cited as replaced by par. 5, article 53 
of Law 3966/2011 (GG A’ 181, 24.05.2011).  
2 Paragraph 2 is cited a s replaced by par. 6, article 53 
of Law 3966/2011 (GG A’181, 24.05.2011). By par a-
graph 7, of  this same art icle and law,  is determined:  
a. In cases pending at the time the present law enters 
into force, the procedural acts that have not been ca r-
ried out are carried out in accordance with the prov i-
sions of that law.  
b. The duration of the deadlines that had begun prior 
to the entry into force  of this law is estimated in a c-
cordance with the provisions set forth in that law only 
if the stipulated duration of  those deadlines is greater 
than that provided for under the provisions that were 
in force.  of payment of the renewal fee at OBI 
which is payable ac cording to the cond i-
tions and procedure provided in Art icle 
2.10g and Article 24 of Law No. 
1733/1987 (Official Journal 171, A’).   
The renewal fee shall be paid in a d-
vance within the six month p eriod before 
the last day of the month in which pr o-
tection end s. 
3.  Upon expiration of the period pr e-
scribed in paragraph 2 and within a p e-
riod of six months thereafter, the holder 
of a registered design or model or his 
representative may pay the fees due 
with a 50% su rcharge.   Failing this, the 
protection for the r egistered design or 
model provided by the present Pres i-
dential Decree shall term inate.  
4.  The renewal shall take effect from 
the date following the date on which the 
existing registration e xpires.  
5.  The renewal shall be recorded in the 
Design and Model Register.  
CHAPTER FIVE  
FINAL AND  
TRANSITIONAL PROV ISIONS  
Article 30  
A design or model registered in accor d-
ance with the provisions of the present 
Presidential Decree shall also be eligible 
for protection under the existing cop y-
right law in Greece as from the date on 
which it was created or fixed in any 
form.  
Article 31  
The present Presidential Decree shall 
enter into force as of the date of its pu b-
lication in the Official Journal of the He l-
lenic Government.   In the case of inte r-
national designs or models d eposited 
under the Hague Agreement the present  105 Presidential Decree shall enter into 
force as of the date when the Hague 
Agreement entered into force in Greece, 
i.e. as of April 18, 1997.  The present Presidential Decree shall 
be published in the Official Jo urnal of 
the Government.  
The publication and execution of the 
present Presidential Decree shall be a s-
signed to the Minister of Develo pment.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  106 LAW No 2557/1997 (GG 2 71, Α ’, 24.12.1997)  
 
“Institutions, measures and actions for cultural development”  
 
 
 
THE PRESIDENT  
OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC  
 
 
Hereby issues the following law as 
adopted by the Parliament:   
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
Article  8  
 
Paragraph  18 
The international  term ‘propri été intelle c-
tuelle ’ (‘intellectual  property ’) is literally  
rendered  into the Greek  language  (‘dia-
noitiki  idioktisia ’) and contains  both liter-
ary property  (‘propri été littéraire et artis-
tique ’ or ‘droits  d’auteur ’, copyright ) and 
related  rights , and industri al property  
(‘propri été industrielle ’), e.g. patents  and 
trade  marks .  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  107 JOINT  MINISTERIAL  DECISION  No 14905/EFA/3058  
“Lodging of an application with the OBI for the granting of a  
suppleme ntary certificate for protection for  pharmaceuticals”  
THE MINISTERS  
 OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMY,  
OF DEVELOPMENT  
 AND OF HEALTH AND WELFARE  
Having taken into consideration:  
1.  The provisions:  
a. Of Article 2, par. 1 (h) and (j) of Law 
1338/1983 'Implementation of Comm u-
nity law' (Government G azette 34 A’) as 
this was amended by Article 6, par. 1 of 
Law 1440/1984 'Participation of Greece 
in the capital, reserves, and prov isions 
of the European Investment Bank, and 
in the capital of the Europ ean Coal and 
Steel Community and the EURATOM 
Supply Or ganisation' (Government G a-
zette 70 A’).  
b. Of Article 1, par. 2 of Law 1733/1987 
'Transfer of technology, inventions, and 
technological inn ovation, and setting up 
of an Atomic Energy Commission' (Go v-
ernment Gazette 171 A’).  
c. Of Articles 11 and 12 of Pres idential 
Decree 77/88 'Provisions on the impl e-
mentation of the Convention on the 
granting of European patents', which 
was ratified by Law 1607/1987 (Go v-
ernment Gazette 33/A’/25 -2-1988).  
Of Law 2077/1992 'Ratification of the 
Treaty on the European Union ... ' (Go v-
ernment Gazette A’ 136).  
Regulation (EEC) 1768/92 of the Cou n-
cil of June 1992 (EU No. L 182/1 of 2 
July 1992).  
Article 29 A’ of Law 1558/85 (A’/37) as 
that was added by Article 27 of Law 
2081/1992 (A’ 154) and replaced by A r-ticle 1, par. 2a of Law 24 69/1997 (A’ 
38). 
The fact that no charge on the state 
budget is created by the provisions of 
the present decision.  
The minute of 22 October 1997 of the 
Administrative Council of the OBI . 
We have determined : 
 
CHAPTER  ONE  
GENERAL PROVISIONS  
Article 1  
Aim 
The aim of the present decision is the 
determination of the procedure for the 
granting of a supplementary certificate 
of protection for pharmaceuticals for 
which a patent has been granted and 
which, before their circulation in the 
market, are subject to an ad ministrative 
procedure for the granting of a circul a-
tion permit in accordance with Dire ctives 
65/65/EEC or 81/851 EEC, as the case 
may be.  
Article 2  
Definitions  
For the purposes of the impleme ntation 
of this decision, the following shall be 
meant by:  
a. “Regulation (EEC) 1768/92': Regul a-
tion (EEC) 1768/92 of the Council of the 
European Union of 18 June 1992 'in 
connection with the introduction of a 
supplementary certificate of protection  108 for pharm aceuticals' (EU No. L 182/1 of 
2 July 1992).  
b. ‘Directive 65 /65/EEC': Directive 
65/65/EEC of the Council of 26 January 
'concerning convergence of legislative, 
regulatory, and a dministrative provisions 
in connection with proprietary pharm a-
ceuticals' (EU No. 22 of 9 February 
1965), as that was later amended and 
conti nues in force, i ncluding Ministerial 
Decisions Nos 3221/95 (Government 
Gazette 782 B’, 13 December 1995) and 
9392 (Go vernment Gazette 233 B’, 7 
April 1992) on its implementation in 
Greece.  
c. Directive 81/851/EEC of 28 Septe m-
ber 1981 'concerning conve rgenc e of 
legislations of the member -states in 
connection with veterinary pharmaceut i-
cal products' (EU No. L 317 of 6 N o-
vember 1981), as that was later amen d-
ed and continues in force, including Mi n-
isterial Decision No. 378812/92 (Go v-
ernment Gazette 491 B’, 30 J uly 1992) 
on its implementation in Greece.  
d.    “OBI”: the Industrial Property O r-
ganisation, which has its registered o f-
fice in Athens (Article 1 of Law 
1733/1987).  
e. 'Law 1733/1987': Law 1733/1987 
'Transfer of technology, inventions, and 
technological i nnovation, and setting up 
of an Atomic Energy Commission' (Go v-
ernment Gazette 171 A’), as that conti n-
ues in force.  
f. 'Pharmaceutical': any substance or 
compound which is prepared as ha ving 
therapeutic or preventive properties 
within the meaning of Article  1, par . 1 of 
Regulation (EEC) 1768/92.  
g. 'Patent': the patent granted by the 
OBI in accordance with Article 8 of Law 
1733/87 (Government Gazette 171 A’), 
or the European patent with force in Greece in a ccordance with Article 23 of 
Law 1733/87.  
h. 'Certif icate': the supplementary certif i-
cate of protection which is granted for 
pharmaceuticals on the terms of Article 
3 of Regulation (EEC) 1768/92.  
i. 'Circulation permit': the granting of a p-
proval of a pharmaceutical in the market 
in accordance with Directive s 
65/65/EEC (EU No. L 22 of 9 Dece mber 
1965), or 81/851/EEC (EU No. 2317 of 6 
November 1981), which have been i n-
corporated into the n ational legislation 
by Joint Ministerial Decision 
16/10399/13 -12/31.12.1985 (B798) and 
Joint Ministerial Decision 300518/2 -
11/9.11.1984 (B800), r espectively, and 
continue in force in amended form.  
CHAPTER  TWO  
PERSONS ENTITLED -  
PROC EDURE FOR LODGING  
Article 3  
Right of acquisition of a certificate  
A right to protection shall be po ssessed 
by the holder of a patent and his gener al 
or special successors in title in accor d-
ance with the terms of Article 3 of Reg u-
lation (EEC) 1768/92.  
Article 4  
Competent authority  
The competent authority for the lodging 
of the application and the granting of the 
certificate shall be the Industrial Pr oper-
ty Organisation (OBI).  
Article 5  
Lodging of an application  
For the granting of a certificate, the 
lodging of an application with the OBI in 
accordance with Article 7 of Regul ation 
(EEC) 1768/92 shall be required.   109 The application shall be submitted in 
two copies and shall contain the partic u-
lars cited in Article 8 of Regulation 
(EEC) 1768/92.  
To the application shall be a nnexed, in 
addition to the particulars of paragraph 2 
of this article, the documents legitima t-
ing the person lodging them in the case 
of a legal person and the receipt for the 
collection by the OBI of the duty for the 
lodging of an application for the granting 
of a certificate.  
If the terms of the paragraph 2 above of 
the article are fulfilled, the applic ation 
shall be accepted for lodgin g. In this 
event, the applic ation shall be deemed 
to be regular, it shall be given a lodging 
date, and shall be entered in the R e-
ports Register of the OBI . 
As to the lodging and drafting of doc u-
ments before the OBI, Articles 2, 3, 4 
and 9 of Ministerial De cision 
15928/ ΕFΑ/1253 (Government G azette 
778 B’) and 19 of Presidential Decree 
77/88 (Government G azette 33 A’) shall 
be implemented.  
Article 6  
Additional information  
Within four months from regular lodging 
and after written notice from the OBI, 
the applicant must sub mit to the OBI 
any missing i nformation and supporting 
documents in accordance with Article 5, 
paragraphs 2 and 3 of the present dec i-
sion. In this event, the applic ation shall 
be deemed complete.  
If after the elapse of the time -limit of 
paragraph 1 above of  this article, the 
OBI establishes that the data of the a p-
plication have not been co mpleted, the 
application shall be r ejected.  
 CHAPTER  THREE  
CERTIFICATE - PUBLICATION  
Article 7  
Granting of a certificate  
If the application is complete and reg ular 
in accor dance with Articles 5 and 6 of 
this decision and if the product which it 
concerns fulfils the terms of Regulation 
(EEC) 1768/92, the OBI shall grant the 
certificate without a pr ior check on the 
terms of Article 3, par. 1, items (c) and 
(d) of Regulation (E EC) 1768/92, on the 
responsibility of the applicant.  
After the granting of the certificate, third 
parties may seek information and copies 
of the application and of the additional 
information which concerns the product 
protected.  
The OBI shall, without fail , notify the N a-
tional Pharmaceuticals O rganisation of 
the granting of the certificate.  
Article 8  
Publication  
The publication stipulated in Article 11 of 
Regulation (EEC) 1768/92 shall be in 
the Industrial Property Bulletin.  
The publication of the certifica te shall 
also mandatorily give the data of Art icle 
11, par. 1 of Regulation (EEC) 1768/92.  
In the event of the application being r e-
jected by the OBI in accordance with A r-
ticle 6, par. 2 of the present Ministerial 
Decision, the act of rejection and the 
particulars of Article 9, par. 2 of Regul a-
tion (EEC) 1768/92 shall be published in 
the Industrial Property Bulletin.  
 
 
  110 CHAPTER  FOUR  
RIGHTS FROM THE CERTIFICATE - 
DUTIES  
Article 9  
Content of right  
The certificate shall give its holder, b e-
ing a natural or legal  person, the excl u-
sive rights of Article 10 of Law 1733/87, 
which shall be implemented mutatis m u-
tandis.  
Article 10  
Charges  
For the lodging of an application for the 
granting of a certificate, lodging duties 
shall be paid to the OBI . 
For the granting of pr otection, the holder 
of the certificate shall be obliged to 
make prepayment of a nnual duties to 
the OBI, in mutatis mutandis impleme n-
tation of Article 24 of Law 1733/87.  The level of the lodging duty and of the 
annual protection duties shall be dete r-
mined by a decision of the Administr a-
tive Council of the OBI.  
Failure to make punctual payment of the 
annual protection duties shall entail fo r-
feiture of the rights which stem from the 
certificate, in mutatis mutandis impl e-
mentation of Article 16 of Law 1733/87.  
 
CHAPTER  FIVE  
FINAL PROVISIONS  
Article 11  
Commencement of force  
This decision shall come into force on its 
publication in the Government G azette.  
This decision is to be published in the 
Government Gazette.   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  111 LAW No 2919/2001 (GG  128, A’, 25.06.2001)  
 
“Connecting research and technology with production and other prov isions”  
 
 
THE PRESIDENT  
OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC  
 
Hereby issues the following law as 
adopted by the Parliament:   
 
PART A  
 
Article 1  
Amendment to provisions of  
law 1514/ 1985         
 
Provisions under items f and g of Art icle 
2 of L. 1514/1985 (GG 13 Α ’) shall be 
replaced as follows:  
 
"f) Research entity shall be the legal 
person under public or private law 
whose main object is the scie ntific and 
technological research, in conjunction 
with experimental development and 
presentation as well as diffusion and 
implementation of the research results 
through the economic exploitation of 
such results, either by the above pe r-
sons and/ or the people employed by 
such persons or a third  party.  g) Technology entity shall be the legal 
person under public or private law 
whose main object is to develop techn o-
logical infrastructure and activ ities and 
to provide scientific, technological and 
technical services to a third party (i n-
cluding analy ses, measur ements, tests, 
information, consulting, protection of i n-
dustrial property, and other.)  An entity 
can be both a r esearch and technology 
entity.  
 
Provisions of L. 1514/1985, as in force 
each time, and all provisions regula ting 
research and techno logy issues shall 
apply to both research and tec hnology 
entities supervised by the General Se c-
retariat for R esearch and Technology 
(GGET) and other entities as provided 
for in special pr ovisions.  
 
Greek Atomic Energy Commission shall 
be deemed as a techno logy ent ity at the 
same time maintaining its l egal status of 
a State Agency."  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  112 LAW No 2943 (GG 203, Α, 12.09.2001)  
 
"Serving of sentences by drug dealers and other provisions within the remit of 
the Ministry for Justice"  
 
 
THE PRESIDENT O F THE HELLENIC 
REPUBLIC  
 
Hereby issues the following law as 
adopted by the Parliament:  
 
CHAPTER THREE  
 
COMMUNITY TRADE MARKS 
CHAMBERS   
 
Article 6  
 
For the purposes of Article 91 of Council 
Regulation No. (EC) 40/94 of 20 D e-
cember 1993 on the co mmunity trad e 
mark, specially desi gnated chambers 
shall be esta blished in the civil Courts of 
First I nstance and Courts of Appeal on 
Athens and The ssaloniki under the form 
of first and second instance tribunals for 
community trade marks, which shall e x-
ercise all power s assigned by the above 
Regulation to community trade marks 
courts.  
 
Article 7  
 
1. As regards the hearing of co mmunity 
trade mark cases under Council Regul a-
tion No. (EC) 40/94 relevant jurisdiction 
of: a) the specially designated commun i-
ty trade marks cham ber of the Athens 
Courts of First Instance and of A ppeal 
shall extend to the areas of jurisdiction 
of the following Courts of Appeal nam e-
ly, the regions of Athens, A egean Sea, 
Dodecanese, Corfu, Crete, Lamia, 
Nafplio, P atras and Piraeus, and b) the 
spe 
cially designated community trade 
marks chamber of the Thessaloniki 
Courts of First Instance and of A ppeal shall extend to the areas of jurisdiction 
of the following Courts of Appeal nam e-
ly, the regions of Thessaloniki, Western 
Macedonia, Thrace, Ioannina and  Laris-
sa. 
 
2. As regards the subject matter jurisdi c-
tion the domestic law prov isions shall 
apply.  
 
Article 8  
 
1. Cases falling under the jurisdi ction of 
the community trade marks chamber 
and introduced in another chamber of 
the same Court shall be referred  to the 
community trade marks chamber.  
 
2. Cases not falling under the jurisdi c-
tion of the community trade marks 
chamber and introduced therein may be 
submitted for hea ring by such chamber 
or referred to the competent chamber.   
 
3. For the remainder, the  provisions of 
Article 46 of the Code of Civil Proc edure 
shall apply.  
 
Article 9  
 
1. The community trade marks cha m-
bers shall try cases relating to patents, 
utility model certificates, technology 
transfer, topographies of semiconductor 
products and supple mentary protection 
certif icates, industrial designs and, in 
general, cases relating to p atents falling 
within the jurisdiction of the civil courts.  
 
2. Provisions in Articles 7 and 8 shall 
apply correspondingly.  
 
  113 Article 10  
 
1. The community trade marks cham-
bers of the Athens and Thessaloniki 
Courts of First Instance and of Appeal, 
provided they have relevant jurisdiction 
pursuant to provisions in the domestic 
law, shall also try cases of national trade 
marks.  
 
2. The community trade marks cha m-
bers, provi ded they have relevant juri s-
diction pursuant to provisions in the d o-
mestic law may also try other comme r-
cial law cases if, in the Judge’s or the 
appointed Judicial Council’s di scretion, 
this is required for Service purposes.   
3. Members of the community tr ade 
marks chambers shall preferably be 
judges specialised or experienced in 
trade mark law, in partic ular, community 
trade mark law, patent law and comme r-
cial law in general.  
 
Article 11  
 
Provisions in this chapter shall a pply to 
cases in which the applic ation initiating 
proceedings shall be filed with the 
Court’s secretariat upon this law ente r-
ing into effect.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  114 PRESIDENTIAL DECREE  No 321/24.09.2001  
 
"Adaptation to Directive 98/44/EC of the European Parliament and  
of the Cou ncil on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions"  
 
THE PRESIDENT  
OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC  
 
Having regard to the following:  
 
1. article 4 of L. 1338/1983 Applic ation 
of community  law" (GG 34, Α), as r e-
placed with Article 6, par.  4 of L. 
1440/1984 "Participation of Greece in 
equity, reserves and provisions of the 
European Coal and Steel Community 
and of the EURATOM Supply Agency 
(GG 70, A') and Article 22 of L. 
2789/2000 (GG 21, Α) ; 
 
2. provisions of Article 2 in L. 2077/1992 
"Ratification of the Tre aty on European 
Union and related protocols and decl a-
rations incorp orated in the final act" (GG 
136, Α);  
 
3. provisions of Article 29Α in L. 1558/85 
(GG 137, Α), as supplemen ted by Artic le 
27 in L. 2081/92 (GG 154, Α) and r e-
placed with Article 1, par.  2a in L. 
2469/97 (GG 38, Α) and to the fact that 
provisions in this presidential decree e n-
tail no expenditure under the national 
budget;  
 
4. provisions of PD 27/1.2.96 (GG 19, Α) 
on “Merging  of the ministry for tourism, 
the ministry for industry, energy and 
technology, and the ministry for co m-
merce into the ministry for develo p-
ment”;  
 
5. opinion No. 402/2001 by the Council 
of State, following a proposal submi tted 
by the minister for national econ omy, 
the minister for justice and the minister 
for deve lopment, the following is hereby 
decided:  
 CHAPTER ONE  
 
GENERAL PROVISIONS  
 
Article 1  
Scope  
 
This presidential decree aims to adapt 
the Greek law to Directive 98/44/EC of 
the European Parli ament an d of the EU 
Council dated July 6 1998 on the “Legal 
protection of biotechnological inve n-
tions", published in the Greek language 
in the Official Journal of the European 
Union on July 30 1998 (EEL 213).  
 
CHAPTER TWO  
 
PATENTABILITY  
 
Article 2  
 
1. For the purp ose of implementing this 
presidential decree the following inte r-
pretations shall apply:    
 
a.  "biological material":  any material 
containing genetic information and 
capable of reproducing itself or being 
reproduced in a biological sy stem;  
 
b.  "microbio logical process": any pr o-
cess involving or performed upon or 
resulting in microbiolog ical material;  
 
2. A process for the production of plants 
or animals is essentially bi ological if it 
consists entirely of natural ph enomena 
such as crossing or selection.  
 
3. The concept of ‘plant variety’ is d e-
fined by Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No.  
2100/94 (OJ L 227/9LI).   115 Article 3  
 
1. For the purpose of implementing this 
presidential decree inventions specified 
in provision of Article 5 par.  1 of L. 
1733/1987, whose o bject is a product 
consisting of or containing biological 
material or a process by means of which 
biological material is produced, pr o-
cessed or used shall be p atentable.  
 
2. Biological material which is is olated 
from its natural environment or pr o-
duced by m eans of a technical pr ocess 
may be the subject of an inve ntion even 
if it previously occurred in nature.  
 
3. Inventions which concern plants or 
animals shall be patentable if the tec h-
nical feasibility of the invention is not 
confined to a particular plant  or animal 
variety.  
 
Article 4  
 
1. The human body, at the various sta g-
es of its formation and development, 
and the simple discovery of one of its 
elements, including the sequence or 
partial sequence of a gene, cannot co n-
stitute patentable inventions.  
 
2. An element isolated from the human 
body or otherwise produced by means 
of a technical process, including the s e-
quence of partial sequence of a gene, 
may constitute a patentable i nvention, 
even if the structure of that element is 
identical to that of a nat ural element.  
 
3. The industrial application of a s e-
quence or a partial sequence of a gene 
must be disclosed in the patent applic a-
tion. 
 
Article 5  
 
1. Inventions shall be considered u n-
patentable where their commercial e x-ploitation would be contrary to the public 
order or morality; however, exploit ation 
shall not be deemed to be contr ary to 
the public order or morality merely b e-
cause it is prohibited by the appl icable 
law. 
 
2. Pursuant to paragraph 1 the follo w-
ing, in particular, shall be unpatent able:  
 
a. processes for cloning human b eings;   
 
b.  processes for modifying the germ line 
genetic identity of human b eings;  
 
c.  uses of human embryos for i ndustrial 
or commercial purposes;   
 
d.  processes for modifying the g enetic 
identity of animals which are like ly to 
cause them suffering without any su b-
stantial medical benefit to man or an i-
mal, and animals r esulting from such 
processes.  
 
CHAPTER THREE  
 
EXTENT OF PROTECTION  
 
 Article 6  
 
1. The protection conferred by a patent 
on a biological material possessing s pe-
cific characteristics as a result of the i n-
vention shall e xtend to any biological 
material derived from that biological m a-
terial through propagation or multiplic a-
tion in an identical or divergent form and 
possessing those same characteristics.  
 
2. The pr otection conferred by a patent 
on a process that enables a biological 
material to be produced possessing 
specific characteristics as a result of the 
invention shall extend to biological m a-
terial directly obtained through that pr o-
cess and to any other biolo gical material 
derived from the directly obtained bi o-
logical material in an identical or dive r- 116 gent form and possessing the same 
characteristics.  
 
Article 7  
 
The protection conferred by a p atent on 
a product containing or consisting of g e-
netic information shall extend to all m a-
terial, save as provided in Article 4, par. 
1, in which the product is inco rporated 
and in which the genetic info rmation is 
contained and performs its function.  
 
Article 8  
 
The protection referred to in Art icles 6 
and 7 shall not exte nd to biological m a-
terial obtained from the propagation or 
multiplication of biological material 
placed on the ma rket in the territory of a 
Member State by the holder of the p a-
tent or with his consent, where the 
propagation or multiplication nece ssarily 
results from the application for which the 
biological material was marketed, pr o-
vided that the mater ial obtained is not 
subsequently used for other propagation 
or mu ltiplication  
 
Article 9  
 
1. By way of derogation from Art icles 6 
and 7, the sale or other for m of co m-
mercialisation of plant propagating m a-
terial to a farmer by the holder of the p a-
tent or with his co nsent for agricultural 
use implies a uthorisation for the farmer 
to use the product of his harvest for 
propag ation or multiplication by him on 
his own  farm, the extent and conditions 
of this derogation corresponding to 
those under Article 14 of Regulation 
(EC) No.  2100/94.  
 
2. By way of derogation from Art icles 6 
and 7, the sale or any other form of 
commercialisation of bree ding stock or 
other animal re produ ctive material to a 
farmer by the holder of the patent or with his co nsent implies authorisation for 
the farmer to use the protected liv estock 
for an agricultural purpose.  This i n-
cludes making the animal or other an i-
mal reproductive material available  for 
the purposes of purs uing his agricultural 
activity but not sale within the framework 
or for the purpose of a commercial r e-
production a ctivity.  
 
CHAPTER FOUR  
 
COMPULSORY LICENSES DUE TO 
INTERDEPENDENCE  
 
Article 10  
 
1. Where a breeder cannot acquire or 
exploit a plant variety right without i n-
fringing a prior patent, he may apply for 
a compulsory licence for non -exclusive 
use of the invention protected by the p a-
tent inasmuch as the licence is nece s-
sary for the exploitation of the plant v a-
riety to be prote cted, subject to payment 
of an appropriate royalty.  
 
Where such a licence is granted, the 
holder of the patent will be ent itled to a 
cross -licence on reason able terms to 
use the protected var iety. 
 
2. Where the holder of a patent concer n-
ing a biotechnologi cal invention cannot 
exploit it without i nfringing a prior plant 
variety right, he may apply for a compu l-
sory l icence for non -exclusive use of the 
plant variety protected by that right, su b-
ject to payment of an appropriate roya l-
ty. Where such a licence is granted, the 
holder of the variety right will be entitled 
to a cross -licence on reasonable terms 
to use the protected invention.  
 
3. Applicants for the licences r eferred to 
in paragraphs 1 and 2 must demo n-
strate that:  
  117 a.  they have applied unsucces sfully to 
the holder of the patent or of the plant 
variety right to obtain a contractual l i-
cence;   
 
b.  the plant variety or the invention co n-
stitutes significant technical progress of 
considerable economic interest co m-
pared with the inve ntion claimed in the 
patent or the protected plant variety.  
 
4. The authority responsible for gran ting 
the licence referred to in par agraphs 1 
and 2 is the Court specified in Article 13, 
par. 10 of L. 1733/1987. Provisions in 
Article 13 of L. 1733/1987, shall apply 
correspondin gly. Where a licence for a 
plant variety can be granted only by the 
Community Plant Variety O ffice, Article 
29 of Re gulation (EC) No.  2100/94.  
 
 
CHAPTER FIVE  
 
DEPOSIT, ACCESS AND  
NEW DEPOSIT OF  
BIOLOGICAL MATER IAL 
 
Article 11  
 
1. Where an invention concerns  biolog i-
cal material which is not available to the 
public and which cannot be described in 
a patent application filed with the Indu s-
trial Property Organisation (OBI) in such 
a manner as to enable the i nvention to 
be reproduced by a pe rson skilled in the 
art or entail the use of such material, the 
description shall be considered inad e-
quate for the purposes of patent law u n-
less: 
 
a.  the biological material has been d e-
posited no later than the date on which 
the patent application was filed with a 
recognised d epository institution.  At 
least the international depository autho r-
ities which a cquired this status by virtue 
of Article 7 of the Budapest Treaty of  28 April 1977 on the international recogn i-
tion of the deposit of micro -organisms 
for the purposes of p atent procedure, 
hereinafter referred to as the 'Budapest 
Treaty`, as rat ified by Law 2128/1993 
(GG 56, A’) shall be recognised;   
 
b.  the application as filed contains such 
relevant information as is avail able to 
the applicant on the characteristics of 
the bi ological material deposi ted; 
c. the patent application states the name 
of the depository institution and the a c-
cession number.  
 
2. Access to the deposited biological 
material shall be provided through the 
supply of a sample:  
 
a.  up to the first publicatio n of the patent 
application, only to those persons who 
are so authorised u nder international 
treaties or under n ational patent law;   
 
b.  between the first publication of the 
patent application by OBI and the gran t-
ing of the patent, to anyone r equesting it  
or, if the applicant so requests, only to 
an indepen dent expert;   
 
c.  after the patent has been gran ted, 
and notwithstanding revocation or ca n-
cellation of the patent, to anyone r e-
questing it.  
 
3. The sample shall be supplied only if 
the person requesting  it undertakes, for 
the term during which the patent is in 
force:  
 
a.  not to make it or any material derived 
from it available to third parties; and  
 
b.  not to use it or any material d erived 
from it except for experimental purpo s-
es, unless the applicant for or pr oprietor 
of the patent, as applicable, expressly 
waives such an u ndertaking.  
  118 4. At the applicant's request, where an 
application is refused or withdrawn u n-
der Article 8, par . 1 and 2 of L. 
1733/1987, access to the deposited m a-
terial shall be limi ted to an ind ependent 
expert for 20 years from the date on 
which the patent application was filed.  In 
that case, paragraph 3 shall apply.  
 
5. The applicant's requests referred to in 
point (b) of paragraph 2 and in par a-
graph 4 may only be made up to the 
date on which the technical preparations 
for publishing the p atent application are 
deemed  to have been co mpleted.  
 
Article 12  
 
1. If the biological material deposi ted in 
accordance with Article 11 ceases to be 
available from the recognised depository 
institu tion, a new deposit of the material 
shall be permitted on the same terms as 
those laid down in the Budapest Treaty.  
 2. Any new deposit filed with the Indu s-
trial Property Organisation shall be a c-
companied by a stat ement signed by the 
depositor certifying t hat the newly d e-
posited bi ological material is the same 
as that originally deposited.  
 
Article 13  
 
The Industrial Property Organisation 
(OBI), having its seat at At hens, shall be 
responsible for the implementation of 
this presidential decree (Article 1 of L. 
1722/1987).  
 
Article 14  
Entry into force  
 
This presidential decree shall enter into 
force upon its publication in the Go v-
ernment Gazette.  
 
The minister for development shall be 
responsible for the publication and i m-
plementation of this decree.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  119 PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No 161/31.05.2002  
 
“Adaptation of Presidential Decree 259/1997 to the provisions  
of Directive 98/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the  
Council of 13 O ctober 1998 on the legal protection of designs”  
 
THE PRESIDENT   
OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC  
 
Having regard to:  
 
1. The provisions of Article 4 of Law 
1338/83 on the implementation of 
Community Law (Government G azette 
Issue Α 34), as has  been replaced by 
Article 6 (4) of Law 1440/1984 (Go v-
ernment Gazette Issue Α 70) and 
amended by Article 22 of law 
2789/2000 (Government G azette Issue 
Α 21), as well as the provisions of Art i-
cle 65 of Law 1892/1990 (Government 
Gazette Issue Α 101);  
 
2. The provisions of Article 2 of Law 
2077/1992 on the ratification of the 
Treaty for the Europea n Union and the 
relevant protocols and declarations i n-
cluded in the Final Act (Government 
Gazette I ssue Α136);   
 
3. Article 4 of Law 2417/1996 on the 
ratification of the Hague Agreement 
concerning the international registr a-
tion of industrial designs of 6 Nove m-
ber 1925, as has been reviewed in the 
Hague  on 28 November 1960 and the 
Compleme ntary Act of Stockholm of 14 
July 1967, as was amended on 28 
September 1979 (Government G azette 
Issue Α 139);  
 
4. Presidential Decree 81/2002 on the 
merger of the Ministry of Na tional 
Economy and the Ministry of Finance 
into the Ministry of Economy and F i-
nance (Go vernment Gazette Issue Α 
57); 
 5. Article 29Α of Law 1558/85 on the 
government and government agencies 
(Government Gazette Issue Α 137), 
which was added by virtue of Articl e 27 of 
Law 2081/92 on regulating the inst itution 
of Chambers, and the amen dment of the 
provisions of Law 1712/1987 to moder n-
ize professional associations, merchants, 
small indu strialists, and other professions, 
and other provisions (Government G a-
zette Iss ue Α 154) and r eplaced by Article 
1 (2) (a) of Law 2469/1997 on limiting and 
improving the efficiency of go vernment 
expenses and other provisions (Gover n-
ment G azette Issue Α 38);  
 
6. The fact that provisions of this Pres i-
dential Decree do not generate e xpense s 
charged to the State Bud get;   
 
7. Opinion No. 157 of 22 March 2002 of 
the Council of the State by motion of the 
Minister of Economy and Finance, the 
Minister of Justice and the Minister of D e-
velopment;  
 
We hereby decide:  
 
Article 1  
Object  
 
It is the obje ct of this Presidential D ecree 
to adapt Presidential Decree 259/1997 on 
the ratification of the Hague Agreement 
concerning the i nternational registration 
of industrial d esigns, that was ratified by 
Law 2417/1996 and provisions on the n a-
tional protection ti tle (Government G a-
zette Issue Α 185) to the provisions of D i-
rective 98/71/EC of the European Parli a-
ment and of the Council of 13 October 
1998 on the legal pr otection of designs 
(OJ L 289/28.10.98).  
  120 Article 2  
(Article 1 (c) of Directive 98/71/EC)  
 
Indent c will be added to Article 2 (1) of 
Presidential Decree 259/1997 with the 
following wor ding: 
“c. “complex product” means a product 
which is composed of multiple comp o-
nents which can be replaced permi tting 
disassembly and reassembly of the 
product.”  
 
Articl e 3  
(Articles 5 (2) and 3 (4) of Directive 
98/71/EC)  
 
1. In Article 12 (5) of Presidential D e-
cree 259/1997 the phrase “with regard 
to technical needs” will be replaced 
with: “in developing the d esign”.  
 
2. Article 12 (7) of Presidential D e-
cree  259/1997 will be  replaced with 
the follo wing text:  
“Normal use within the meaning of 
paragraph 6 above will mean use by 
the end user, excluding maintenance, 
servicing or other similar works.”   
 
Article 4  
(Article 6 (2) of Directive 98/71/EC)  
 
Article 14 (1) of Presidenti al Decree 
259/1997 will be replaced with the fo l-
lowing text:  
“The new and individual nature of a 
design in accordance with Article 12 
(3) and (4) hereof will not be cancelled 
where a design which has been made 
available to the public during the 12 -
month pe riod preceding the date of fi l-
ing of the applic ation or, if priority is 
claimed, the date of priority, if one of 
the following reasons applies:”   
 
Article 5  
(Article 9 of Directive 98/71/EC)  
 
Article 27 of Presidential Decree 259/1997 is replaced by the f ollowing 
text:  
 
1. “Beneficiary protection will i nclude any 
design which does not produce on the 
informed user a different overall impre s-
sion”  
 
2. “In assessing the scope of prote ction, 
the degree of freedom of the d esigner in 
developing his design will be take n into 
consider ation.”   
 
Article 6  
(Article 11 (1) (a) and (d), (4) and (7) of 
Directive 98/71/EC)  
 
1. Indents e and f will be added to Art icle 
16 (1) of Presidential Decree 259/1997 
with the following wor ding: 
 
“e. if the design is not a design within the 
meaning of Article 2 (1) (a);”   
“f. if the design is in conflict with a prior 
design which has been made avai lable to 
the public after the date of filing of the 
application or, if pr iority is claimed, the 
date of priority, and which is pr otected 
from a date  prior to the said date by a 
registered Community design or an appl i-
cation for a registered Commun ity design 
or by a design right of the Member State 
concerned, or by an appl ication for such a 
right”.  
 
2. Article 16 (2) of Presidential D ecree  
259/1997 will b e replaced with the follo w-
ing text:  
 
“The ground of refusal provided for in 
paragraph 1(f) may be i nvoked solely by 
the applicant for or the holder of the co n-
flicting right”.  As for the rest the prov i-
sions of Article 15 (2) of Law 1733/1987 
will apply acco rdingly”.  
 
3. Paragraph 5 will be added to A rticle 16 
of Presidential Decree 259/1997 with the 
following wor ding:  121 “When a design has been declared i n-
valid pursuant to Article 16 (1), the d e-
sign may be registered or the design 
right maintained in an amended fo rm, if 
in that form it complies with the r e-
quirements for protection and the ide n-
tity of the design is retained.  Registr a-
tion or maintenance in an amended 
form may include registration acco m-
panied by a partial disclaimer by the 
holder of the design right o r entry in the 
design Register of a court decision d e-
claring the partial invalidity of the d e-
sign right.”  
 
 
Article 7  
(Article 15 of Directive 98/71/EC)  
 
A new Article 29A will be added after 
Article 29 of Presidential Decree 
259/1997 with the following w ording: 
 
“Exhaustion of rights   The rights conferred by a design right u p-
on registration will not extend to acts r e-
lating to a product in which a design i n-
cluded within the scope of protection of 
the design right is incorporated or to 
which it is applied,  when the product has 
been put on the market in the Community 
by the holder of the d esign right or with 
his consent.”   
 
Article 8  
 
The provisions hereof will enter i nto force 
as of 28 October 2001, when in accor d-
ance with Article 19 (1) of D irective 
98/71 /EC Member States must bring into 
force the laws, regulations or administr a-
tive provisions necessary to co mply with 
this Directive.   
 
We hereby assign to the Minister of D e-
velopment to see to the publication and 
implementation of this Presidential D e-
cree.   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  122 JOINT MINISTERIAL DECISION No 14113/EFA/3850 /23.12. 2002  
 
Amendment to the joint ministerial decision No 12149/EFA/2248  
(GG Β ’ 1240/11.10.2000)  
"Awards and financial support to inve ntors"  
 
 
THE MINISTERS  
FOR ECONOMY AND FINANCE - 
DEVELOPMENT  
 
Having regard to the following:  
 
1. Provisions in Article 20, par. 4 of Law 
1733/1987 on “Transfer of technology, 
inventions, technolog ical innovation and 
setting up of Greek Atomic Energy 
Commission” (GG 171, Α).  
 
2. Provisions of Law 1558/1 985 on 
“Government and government bo dies” 
(GG 13, Α).  
 
3. Provisions of PD 27/1996 on “Mer g-
ing of the ministry for tourism, the mini s-
try for industry, energy and technol ogy, 
and the ministry for commerce into the 
ministry for development” (GG 19, 
A/1.2.199 6); 
 
4. The need to amend the Joint Minist e-
rial Decision 12149/EFA/  2248 (GG Β, 
1240) currently in force with regard to 
the awards and the financial support of 
inventors aiming to simplify proc edures 
for further promoting the country’s tec h-
nological and in dustrial deve lopment.  
 
5. The fact that provisions in this dec i-
sion entail no expenditure under the n a-
tional budget, we hereby decide:  
 
Article 1  
Inventions Evaluation Committee  
 
1. An Inventions Evaluation Co mmittee 
shall be set up within the Industrial 
Property Organisation (OBI) to give its 
opinion regarding awards and comme n-dations to i nventors residing in Greece 
perm anently,   under  the provisions of 
the present joint minist erial decision.  
 
2. OBI’s Director General shall make 
recommendations to the C ommittee.  
Under such capacity, OBI’s Director 
General can request OBI's assistance in 
the drawing up of such recommend a-
tions.  
 
3. Any decisions by the committee e n-
tailing expenditure for OBI shall solely 
be enforced if the corr esponding credit 
is provided  for in OBI’s budget.  
 
4. The Committee’s proposals shall be 
submitted for approval to the minister for 
development and must be justified in 
line with the criteria set out in this dec i-
sion.  
 
Article 2  
Composition -  
Operation of the commi ttee 
 
1. The Inve ntions Evaluation Commi ttee 
shall be appointed by decision of the 
minister for deve lopment for a four -year 
term.  
 
The mandate of all of the Commi ttee’s 
members may be renewed.  
 
2. The Inventions Evaluation Commi ttee 
shall consist of seven members, namely:   
 
a. the President of the Committee, who 
shall be a leading figure in the scientific 
and/ or business se ctor(s) of recognised 
repute in the field of technological d e-
velopment.  
  123 b.  the Vice -President of the Co mmittee, 
an experienced technology scie ntist w ho 
shall substitute for the President in case 
the latter is unable to pe rform his duties.   
c. five members qualified in innov ation, 
among which a science expert, an atto r-
ney-at-law and a sc ientist experienced 
in innovation funding.  An alternate shall 
be a ppointed for each member of the 
Committee.  
 
1. OBI shall provide secretarial se rvices 
to the Committee.  
 
2. Inventions Evaluation Committee 
shall be deemed to establish a quorum 
where the President or the Vice -
President and three Committee me m-
bers with a v oting right are present.  The 
Committee’s dec isions shall be taken by 
majority of the members present. In 
case of a tie the President or, in case of 
absence the Vice -President, shall have 
the casting vote.  
  
3. Alternate members of the Co mmittee 
shall part icipate in the Committee’s pr o-
cedures without a voting right, where the 
members for which they substitute are 
present.  
 
4. The President, Vice -President, me m-
bers and alternate members of the 
Committee shall be entitled to a fee for 
participating in the Com mittee’s proc e-
dures, which shall be equivalent to the 
fee each time applicable to OBI Board 
Members.   
 
5. The Committee shall convene upon 
invitation by its President.  
 
6. Natural persons reporting to or parti c-
ipating in the management or shar e-
holders in legal persons, as referred to 
in the patent applic ations or the patents 
and being part of the evaluation proc e-
dure.  
 Article 3  
Publication procedure  
 
1. The Committee shall widely pu blicise 
any invitation to inventors residing in 
Greece to express their in terest in pa r-
ticipating in the selection proc edure.  
 
2. Publication costs shall be borne by 
OBI. 
 
Article 4  
Eligibility  
 
Eligible to participate in the present pr o-
cedure shall be persons r eferred to as 
inventors in the follo wing cases:   
 
a.  in a patent ap plication filed with the 
OBI; 
 
b. in a European patent application i n-
corporating Greece in the identified 
countries;  
 
c. In an international application incorp o-
rating Greece in the identified cou ntries;  
 
d. in a patent granted by the OBI;  
e.  in a Europea n patent entered in the 
national stage of the procedure in 
Greece and provided that all of the b e-
low conditions are fulfilled:  
 
i) at the time of filing an applic ation for a 
Greek or European p atent or at the time 
of filing an international application a p-
plicants were perm anently residing in 
Greece;  
ii) a term of five years has not elapsed 
from the date priority was invoked in the 
relevant application or from the date 
such application was filed, if no prior ity 
was invoked therein;  and 
iii) the relevant app lication has been 
published or the patent has been gran t-
ed. 
 
  124 Article 5  
Filing the application  
 
1. The application to participate in the 
inventions evaluation procedure shall be 
filed with the OBI.  The committee’s se c-
retary shall give a receipt for the fi ling of 
the application to participate in the eva l-
uation procedure.  
 
2. The Committee shall specify the 
deadlines, timeframe and the ma nner in 
which applications shall be filed as well 
as the contents of the application, inter 
alia:  
 
a. inventor’s applic ation to partic ipate in 
the procedure, in which his full d etails 
shall be stated;   
 
b. reference to the elements defi ning the 
invention;  
 
The applicant may submit within the 
deadline, as specified by the Commi ttee 
any other information which shall also 
be taken into co nsideration by the latter 
during the evaluation procedure.  
 
Article 6  
Evaluation procedure  
 
1. To evaluate the inventions the co m-
mittee shall examine the i nventive step 
of the specific invention and a ssess the 
extent to which it could co ntribute to the 
country’s technological and industrial 
deve lopment.  
 
2. To assess the inventive step the 
Committee shall examine the r esearch 
reports drawn up either u nder Article 8 
in L. 1733/1987 as part of patent gran t-
ing procedure by the OBI or under L. 
1607 /1986 (GG 85, Α) as part of the E u-
ropean patent granting proc edure by the 
European Patent Office (EPO) or under 
L. 1883/1990 (GG 45, Α) as part of the 
processing of intern ational application filed with the World Intellectual Property 
Organ ization (WIPO).  
 
3. Among the inventions referred to in 
the ap plications under Article 5, par . 2 of 
the present Joint Ministerial Dec ision the 
Committee shall select those which it 
shall deem as a) containing a special 
inventive step, and b) presenting signif i-
cant prospect s to contribute to the cou n-
try's technological and industrial deve l-
opment, and shall subs equently draw up 
a ranking list.  
 
4. Evaluation of inventions carried out 
by the Committee shall not be related to 
the developments of any administr ative 
procedures be fore national or other I n-
dustrial Property authorities.  
 
Article 7  
Awards – Commendations  
 
1. Upon recommendation by OBI’s D i-
rector General and where funds are 
provided for in the budget of the Organ i-
sation’s corresponding financial year, 
the Committee may  suggest awards for 
the inventions appearing on the short list 
under Article 6, par. 3 hereof.  The nu m-
ber of inventions for which an award is 
provided cannot be more than eight.  
 
2. The pecuniary amount corr esponding 
to each of the above mentioned awards 
shall be set to a maximum of €10,000.  
 
3. The Committee may propose co m-
mendations for inventions a ppearing on 
the list under Article 6, par. 3 hereof and 
which shall not be granted an award.  
 
4. The Committee shall draw up a pr o-
posal in which it shall stat e the inve n-
tions eligible for an award or a co m-
mendation, the pecuniary amount corr e-
sponding to such awards and the names 
of inventors to be granted the above 
awards and commendations.  The pr o- 125 posal shall be submitted for approval to 
the minister for develo pment.  The mini s-
ter for development shall accept or r e-
ject the Committee's pr oposals as he 
shall see fit.  
 
5. Where an invention has been impl e-
mented jointly by more inve ntors, the 
award or commendation shall be gran t-
ed to inventors who have signed the a p-
plication to pa rticipate in the evaluation 
procedure under Article 5.  
 
6. In principle, the award procedure 
shall be held every two years, upon the 
Committee’s decision and following inv i-
tation by OBI’s Director Ge neral.   
 
7. The minister for development s hall 
present winners with the awards at a 
ceremony to be pr epared by the OBI. 
The ceremony costs shall be borne by 
the OBI.  
 
 
 
 Article 9  
Transitional provisions  
Entry into force  
 
1. The Committee’s term, as set out in 
Decision Ref. No. 11135/EFA/2300 da t-
ed July 26 2001 by the minister for d e-
velopment under Article 3 of the joint 
ministerial decision 12149/EFA/  2248 
(GG B, 1240), continues to a pply. 
 
2. This decision shall replace joint mini s-
terial decision 12149/EFA/2248 (GG Β, 
1240).  
 
3. This decision sha ll enter into force 
upon its publication in the Government 
Gazette.  
 
4. Following publication of this d ecision 
presentation of the awards shall take 
place upon invitation to convene a se s-
sion of the Commi ttee by OBI's Director 
General.  
 
This decision shall  be published in the 
Government Gazette.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  126 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1891/2004, of 21 October 2004  
 
“Laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation  
(EC) No 1383/2003  concerning customs action against goods sus pected  
of infringing certain intellectual property rights and the measures to be taken 
against goods found to have infringed such rights”  
 
THE COMMISSION  OF THE 
EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,  
 
Having regard to the Treaty establis hing 
the European Community,  
 
Having regard to Council Regulation 
(EC) 1383/2003 of 22 July 2003 co n-
cerning customs action against goods 
suspected of infringing certain intelle c-
tual property rights and the measures to 
be taken against goods found to have 
infringed such rights [1], and in p articular 
Article 20 thereof,  
 
Whereas:  
 
1. Regulation (EC) 1383/2003 intr o-
duced common rules with a view to pro-
hibiting  the entry, release for free circ u-
lation, exit, export, re -export or entry for 
a suspensive procedure of counterfeit 
and pirated goods, and to dealing effe c-
tively with the illegal ma rketing of such 
goods without impeding the fre edom of 
legitimate trade.  
 
2. Since Regulation (EC) 1383/2003 r e-
placed Council Reg ulation (EC) 3295/94 
of 22 December 1994 laying down 
measures concerning the entry  into the  
Community and the export and re -export 
from the Community of goods infringing 
certain intellectual property rights [2], it is 
also nece ssary to replace Commission 
Regulation (EC) 1367/95 [3], which laid 
down provisions for the impleme ntation 
of Regulation (EC) 3295/94.  
                                                 
1 OJ L 196, 2.8.2003, p. 7  
2 OJ L 341, 30.12.1994, p. 8. Regulation as last 
amended by Regulation (EC) No 806/2003 (OJ L 122, 
16.5.2003, p. 1)  
3 OJ L 133, 17.6.1995 , p. 2. Regulation as last 
amended by the 2003 Act of Accession .  
3. For the different types of intelle ctual 
property rights, it is necessary to define 
the natural and legal pe rsons who may 
represent the holder of a right or any 
other  person a uthorised to use the right.  
 
4. It is necessary to spe cify the n ature of 
the proof of ownership of intellectual 
property required under the second 
subparagraph of Article 5(5) of Regul a-
tion (EC)  1383/2003.  
 
5. In order to harmonise and standar d-
ise the content and format of applic a-
tions for action under A rticle 5(1) and (4) 
of Regulation (EC) 1383/2003 and the 
information to be entered on the applic a-
tion form, a standardised ve rsion of the 
form should be established. The la n-
guage requirements for applic ations for 
action under  Article 5(4) of the Regul a-
tion shou ld also be laid down.  
 
6. The type of information to be i ncluded 
in applications for action should be 
specified in order to e nable the customs 
authorities to recognise more readily 
goods  that may infringe an i ntellectual 
property right.  
 
7. It is necessary  to define the type of 
right-holder liability declaration which 
must accompany the application for a c-
tion. 
 
8. In the interests of legal certainty, it is 
necessary to specify when the time p e-
riods laid down in Article 13 of Regul a-
tion (EC) 1383/2003 commen ce. 
 
9. Procedures should be laid down for 
the exchange of information b etween  127 Member States and the Commission, so 
that it is possible, on the one hand, for 
the Commi ssion to monitor the effective 
application of the procedure laid down 
by Regulation (EC)  1383/2003, to draw 
up in due course the report referred to in 
Article 23 thereof and to try to quantify 
and describe pa tterns of fraud, and, on 
the other hand, for the Member States 
to introduce appropriate risk analysis.  
 
10. This Regulation should apply  from 
the same date as Regulation (EC)  
1383/2003.  
 
11. The measures provided for in this 
Regulation are in accordance with the 
opinion of the Customs Code Commi t-
tee, 
  
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:  
 
Article 1  
 
For the purposes of Article 2(2)(b) of 
Regulat ion (EC) 1383/2003, hereina fter 
‘the basic Regulation’, the right -holder or 
any other person authorised to use the 
right may be represented by natural or 
legal pe rsons.  
 
The persons referred to in the first par a-
graph shall include collecting s ocieties 
which have as their sole or principal 
purpose the management or administr a-
tion of copyrights or related rights; 
groups or representatives who have 
lodged a registration application for a 
protected designation of origin or a pr o-
tected geographical Indication; a nd plant 
breeders.  
 
Article 2  
 
1. If an application for action within the 
meaning of Article 5(1) of the basic 
Regulation is lodged by the right -holder 
himself, the proof required under the 
second subparagraph of Article 5(5) 
shall be as fo llows:  a. in the  case of a right that is re gistered 
or for which an application has been 
lodged, proof of registration with the re l-
evant office or proof that the application 
has been lodged;  
 
b. in the case of a copyright, related 
right or design right which is not regi s-
tered or for which an applic ation has not 
been lodged, any evidence of autho r-
ship or of the  applicant’s status as orig i-
nal holder.  
 
A copy of registration from the d atabase 
of a national or international office may 
be considered to be proof for the pu r-
poses  of point (a) of the first subpar a-
graph.  
 
For protected designations of origin and 
protected geographical indic ations, the 
proof referred to in point (a) of the first 
subparagraph shall, in add ition, consist 
in proof that the right -holder is the pr o-
ducer o r group and proof that the desi g-
nation or indication  has been regi stered. 
This subparagraph shall a pply mutatis 
mutandis to wines and spirits.  
 
2. Where the application for action is 
lodged by any other person a uthorised 
to use one of the rights referred t o in A r-
ticle 2(1) of the basic Regulation, proof 
shall, in addition to the proof required 
under paragraph 1 of this Art icle, consist 
in the document by virtue of which the 
person is authorised to use the right in 
question.  
 
3. Where the application for act ion is 
lodged by a representative of the right -
holder or of any other person autho rised 
to use one of the rights referred to in A r-
ticle 2(2) of the basic Regulation, proof 
shall, in addition to the proof r eferred to 
in paragraph 1 of this Article, consist in 
his authorisation to act.  
 
A representative, as referred to in the 
first subparagraph, must pr oduce the  128 declaration required pu rsuant to Article 
6 of the basic Regulation, signed by the 
persons referred to in paragraphs 1 and 
2 of this Article, or a doc ument authori s-
ing him to bear any costs arising from 
customs action on their behalf in a c-
cordance with Article 6 of the basic 
Regulation.  
 
Article 3  
 
1. The documents on which appl ications 
for action are made purs uant to Article 
5(1) and (4) of the basic R egulation, the 
decisions referred to in Art icle 5(7) and 
(8) and the declaration required purs u-
ant to Article 6 of the basic Regulation 
must conform with the forms set out in 
the Annexes to this Regul ation. 
 
The forms shall be completed by ele c-
tronic or me chanical means, or legibly 
by hand. Handwritten forms shall be 
completed in ink and in block capitals. 
Whatever method is used, forms shall 
contain no era sures, overwritten words 
or other alterations. Where the form is 
filled in electronically, it shall be  made 
available to the applicant in digital form 
on one or more public sites that are d i-
rectly accessible by computer. It  may 
subsequently be reproduced on private 
printing equipment.  
 
Where additional sheets are a ttached, 
as referred to in boxes 8, 9, 10 and 11 
of the form on which the application for 
action provided for in Article 5(1) is to be 
made out, or in boxes 7, 8, 9 and 10 of 
the form on which the request for action 
provi ded for in Article 5(4) is to be made 
out, they shall be deemed to be an int e-
gral part of the form.  
 
2. Forms for applications for action u n-
der Article 5(4) of the basic Re gulation 
shall be printed and co mpleted in one of 
the official la nguages of the Community 
designated by the comp etent authorities 
of the Member State in which th e appl i-cation for action has to be submitted, 
together with any tran slations that may 
be required.  
 
3. The form shall be made up of two 
copies:  
 
a. the copy for the Member State in 
which the application is lodged, marked 
‘1’; 
 
b. the copy for the right –holder, marked 
‘2’. 
 
The application forms, duly co mpleted 
and signed, accompanied by one extract 
of the form for each Member State ind i-
cated in box 6 of the form, as well as the 
docume ntary proof referred to in boxes 
8, 9 and 10, shall be pr esented to the 
competent customs d epartment, which, 
after accepting the form, shall retain it 
for at least one year longer than its legal 
period of valid ity. 
 
If the extract of a decision granting an 
application for action is addressed to 
one or more Member States pursuant  to 
Article 5(4) of the basic Regulation, the 
Member State which receives the e x-
tract shall complete without delay the 
‘acknowledgement  of receipt’ se ction of 
the form by indicating the date of receipt 
and shall return a copy of the extract to 
the comp etent authority indicated in box 
2 of the form.  
So long as his application for Commun i-
ty action remains valid,  the right -holder 
may, in the Member State where the 
application was originally lodged, enter 
a request for action to be taken in a n-
other Member Stat e not previously me n-
tioned. In such cases, the period of v a-
lidity of the new appl ication shall be the 
period remaining under the original a p-
plication, and it may be renewed In a c-
cordance with the conditions applying to 
the original application.  
 
  129 Article 4  
 
For the purposes of Article 5(6) of the 
basic Regulation, the place of manufa c-
ture or production, the distribution ne t-
work or names of lice nsees and other 
information may be requested by the 
department responsible for receiving 
and pr ocessing application s for action in 
order to facilitate the technical analysis 
of the products co ncerned.  
 
 
Article 5  
 
If an application for action is lodged in 
accordance with Article 4(1) of the basic 
Regulation before expiry of the time limit 
of three working days and acce pted by 
the customs service designated for that 
purpose, the time limits referred to in A r-
ticles 11 and 13 of that Regul ation shall 
be counted only from the day after the 
application is r eceived.  
 
If the customs service informs the d e-
clarant or holder of g oods that the goods 
are suspected of infringing an intellect u-
al property right and that, pursuant to 
Article 4(1) of the basic Regulation, they 
have been detained, or their release 
suspended, the time limit of three wor k-
ing days shall be counted only from the 
time the right -holder is n otified.  
 
Article 6  
 
In the case of perishable goods, the 
procedure for suspension of release or 
for detention of the goods shall be init i-
ated primarily in respect of products for 
which an application for action has a l-
ready be en lodged.  
 
Article 7  
 
1. Where Article 11(2) of the basic 
Regulation applies, the right -holder shall 
notify the customs authority that pr o-
ceedings have been initiated to dete r-mine whether, under n ational law, an 
intellectual property right has been i n-
fringed. Except in the case of perishable 
goods, if insufficient time remains to a p-
ply for such proceedings before the e x-
piry of the time -limit laid down in the first 
subparagraph of Article 13(1) of the 
basic Regulation, the situ ation may be 
deemed an appropr iate case within the 
meaning of the second subparagraph of 
that prov ision.  
 
2. If an extension of ten working days 
has already been granted u nder Article 
11 of the basic Regul ation, no further 
extension may be granted under Art icle 
13 thereof.  
 
Article 8  
 
1. Each Member State shall inform the 
Commission as soon as poss ible of the 
competent customs department, r e-
ferred to in Article 5(2) of the basic Re g-
ulation, respons ible for receiving and 
processing applications for action from 
right-holders.  
 
2. At the e nd of each calendar year, 
each Member State shall send the 
Commission a list of all the written appl i-
cations for action under Article 5(1) and 
(4) of the basic Regulation, giving the 
name and details of each right -holder, 
the type of right for  which each a pplica-
tion was submitted, and a summary d e-
scription of each product concerned. 
The applications that have not been 
granted shall be included in that list.  
 
3. In the month following the end of 
each quarter, each Member State shall 
send the Commission a lis t, by product 
type, giving detailed i nformation on the 
cases in which the release of goods has 
been suspended or goods have been 
detained. The information shall i nclude 
the following details:  
  130 a. the name of the right -holder; a d e-
scription of the goods; if  known, the 
origin, provenance and destin ation of 
the goods; the name of the intellectual 
property right infringed;  
 
b. for each item, the quantity of goods 
whose release was su spended or which 
were detained; their customs status; the 
type of intellectual property right i n-
fringed; the means of transport used;  
 
c. whether commercial or passenger 
traffic was involved and whether the 
procedure was initiated ex officio or as 
the result of an applic ation for action.  
 
4. The Member States may send the 
Commission information co ncerning the 
real or estimated value of the goods for 
which release has been suspended or 
which have been d etained.  
 
5. At the end of every year, the Co m-
mission shall, in an appropr iate manner, 
communicate to all Member States such 
informatio n as it receives pursuant to 
paragraphs 1 to 4.  
 
6. The Commission shall publish the list 
of departments within the customs a u-
thority, as referred to in Article 5(2) of 
the basic Regulation, in the C series of 
the Official Journal of the European U n-
ion. 
 
 Article 9  
 
Applications for action lodged b efore 1 
July 2004 shall remain valid until their 
legal expiry date and shall not be r e-
newed. However, they must be acco m-
panied by the declaration required under 
Article 6 of the basic Regulation, the 
model for whi ch is set out in the Anne x-
es to this Regulation. The decl aration 
shall release any deposit and fee pay a-
ble in the Member States. Where pr o-
ceedings brought before the competent 
authority on a matter of substance b e-
fore 1 July 2004 are still under way on 
that date, the deposit shall not be r e-
leased before the close of those pr o-
ceedings.  
 
Article 10  
 
Regulation (EC) 1367/95 is r epealed. 
References to the repealed Regulation 
shall be construed as re ferences to this 
Regulation.  
 
Article 11  
 
This Regulation shall  enter into force on 
the day of its publication in the Official 
Journal of the European Union . 
 
It shall apply from 1 July 2004.  
 
This Regulation shall be binding in its 
entirety and directly applicable in all 
Member States.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  131 LAW No 3396/2005 ( GG Α’ 246, 06.10.2005)  
 
 “Ratification of the act revising the Convention on the  
Grant of European Patents (European Patent Convention of 5 October 1973,  
as amended on 17 D ecember 1991) of 29 November 2000”   
 
  
 
THE PRESIDENT  
OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC  
 
Hereby issues the following law as 
adopted by the Parliament:   
 
Article 1  
 
The Act revising the Convention on the 
Grant of European Patents of 5 Oct ober 
1973, as amended on 17 December 
1991), signed in Munich on 29 Nove m-
ber 2000 and whose original text in th e 
English and French languages and its 
transla ted Greek version are as follows 
is hereby ratified:   
 Article 2 
  
The Industrial Property Organisation 
(OBI) shall be responsible for the i m-
plementation of this law.  OBI has adop t-
ed the full text of the Europe an Conve n-
tion, as drawn up by the European P a-
tent Organisation.  
 
Article 3 
 
This law shall enter info force upon its 
publication in the Government Gazette 
and ratification of the Act, as results 
from fulfilment of conditions under Art i-
cle 8 therein.  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  132 JOINT MINISTERIAL DECISION  DYG3(a)  No 83657   
(GG 59 Β ’ of 24.01.2006)  
 
on the “Harmonisation of Greek legislation with the equivalent  
community  legislation in the fields of production and marketing of  
medicines for human use, in compliance with  Directive 2001/1983/EC on  
“the Community Code relatin g to medicinal products for human use”,  
as amen ded by Directives  2004/27/EC, 2004/24/EC on traditional herbal  
medicinal products and Article 31 of Directive  2002/1998/EC on the adoption of 
standards of quality and safety for the collection, testing, proc essing, storage 
and distribution of human blood and blood comp onents”  
 
 
THE MINISTERS  
FOR ECONOMY AND FINANCE –  
FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL  
SOLIDARITY  
 
Having regard to the following:   
 
1. Provisions:   
a. Article 1, par . 1, 2 and 3 and A rticle 3 
of law 1338/ 1983 “Application of co m-
munity law” (GG Α 34), as amended by 
Article 6 of law 1440/1984 “Parti cipation 
of Greece in equity, reserves and prov i-
sions of the European Coal and Steel 
Community and of the EURATOM Su p-
ply Agency (GG 70, A') and A rticle 65 of 
law 1982/1990 (GG Α 101);   
 
b. Articles 14, par.  4 and 2, par . 1 and 2 
of law 1338/1983 (GG Α 34), as the la t-
ter was amended by pr ovisions in Article 
1 of law 1965/1991 (GG Α 146) 
“Amendment and supplement to the a p-
plicable provisions of the National O r-
ganiza tion for Medicines (EOF)” and 
other prov isions;  
 
c. Article 10, par.  1 of law 1965/1991 
(GG Α 146);  
 
d. Articles 47 and 48 of law 3370/2005 
1965/1991 (GG Α 176);    
e.  Article 90 of presidential decree 
63/2005 “Codification of legislation r e-
garding govern ment and go vernment 
bodies” (GG Α 98).  
 
2. EOF BoD proposal No.  0-
613/15th/25.7.2005;  
 
3. Joint decision of the Prime Mini ster 
and of the minister for health and social 
solidarity No. 27304/  17.3.2004 on “A s-
signment of responsibilities to the u nder-
Secreta ries for health and social solida r-
ity.” 
 
4. Directive 2001/1983/EC on “the 
Community Code relating to medi cinal 
products for human use”, as amended 
by Directives  2004/27/EC,  2004/  24/EC.  
 
5. The fact that provisions in this dec i-
sion entail no expenditure under the n a-
tional budget, we hereby decide:   
 
Article 11   
 
Paragraph 6  
Performance of studies and tests r e-
quired to implement paragraphs 1, 2, 3 
and 4 and related practical requirements 
are not deemed co ntrary to the patent 
rights or supplementary protect ion certi f-
icates for medicinal products.  
 
 
  133 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1172/2007 of 5 October  2007  
 
“Amending Commission Regulation (EC) No 1891/2004 of 21 October 2004  
laying down provisions  for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) 
1383/2003  concerning customs action  against goods suspected of infringing  
certain intellectual property rights and the measures to be  taken  
against goods found to have infringed such rights”  
 
 
THE COMMISSION  
OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,  
 
Having regard to the Tre aty establis hing 
the European  Community,  
 
Having regard to Council Regulation 
(EC) No 1383/2003 of 22  July 2003 
concerning customs action against 
goods suspected  of infrin ging certain 
intellectual property rights and the  
measures to be taken against goods 
found to have i nfringed  such rights  [1], 
and in pa rticular Article 20 thereof,  
 
Whereas:  
 
1. Regulation (EC) No 1383/2003 pr o-
vides for action by  the customs author i-
ties in respect of goods suspected of  in-
fringing certain intellectual property 
rights.  
 
2. Commission Regulation (EC) No 
1891/2004 [2] lays down provisions for 
the implementation of Regul ation (EC) 
No 1383/2003, in partic ular as regards 
the application  for action forms. Anne x-
es I and II to that Regulation  contain the 
models showing the required f ormat of  
such application forms.  
 
3. Annexes I -C and II -C to Regul ation 
(EC) No 1891/2004  contain the list of 
competent authorities to which applic a-
tions  for national and Community action 
respectively  must be submitted. Article 8 
                                                 
1 OJ L 196, 2.8.2003, p. 7.  
 
2 OJ L 328, 30.10.2004, p. 16.  
 of the Regulation provides  that the 
Commission must publish the list of  de-
partments within the customs a uthority, 
as referred  to in Article 5(2) of Regul a-
tion (EC) No 1383/2003, in  the C series 
of the Official Jou rnal of the European 
Union . As the lists in Annexes I -C and II -
C cont ain info rmation  that is subject to 
change and needs to be regularly  up-
dated, it is more appropriate to publish 
them in the  C series of the Official Jou r-
nal of the European Union . Annexes I -C 
and II -C to Regulation (EC)  No 
1891/2004 should therefore be dele ted. 
 
4. On 1 January 2007 Bulgaria and R o-
mania acceded to the  European Union. 
Regulation (EC) No 1891/2004 should  
therefore be adapted to include refe r-
ence to these  countries in the Commun i-
ty application for action  form which it 
contains.  
 
5. The Communit y application for action 
form should have  been adapted by 
Commission Regulation (EC) No  
1792/2006 of 23 October 2006 adap ting 
certain regulations  and decisions in the 
fields of free movement of  goods, fre e-
dom of movement of persons, compet i-
tion policy, agr iculture (veter inary and 
phytosanitary legislation),  fisheries, 
transport policy, taxation, statistics,  so-
cial policy and employment, enviro n-
ment, customs  union and external rel a-
tions by reason of the accession  of Bu l-
garia and Romania [3], which entered i n-
to force on  the date of the entry into 
                                                 
3 OJ L 362, 20.12.2006, p. 1.   134 force of the Treaty of  Accession of these 
countries.  
 
6. In the interests of consistency, the 
Community application  for a ction form 
should be adapted from the  date of a c-
cession of Bulgaria and Romania.   
 
7. Regulation (EC) No 1891/2004 
should therefore be  amended accor d-
ingly. 
 
8. The measures provided for in this 
Regulation are in  accordance with the 
opinion of the Customs Code  Commi t-
tee, 
 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Article 1  
 
Regulation (EC) No 1891/2 004 is her e-
by amended as follows:  
 
1. In Annex I, in box 2 of the national 
application for action  (AA) form, the 
words ‘(see Annex l -C for details)’ are 
deleted.  
 
2. Annex I -C is deleted.  
 
3. Annex II is replaced by the text in the 
Annex to this Regulation .  
 
4. In Annex IIA, in the final se ntence, 
the words ‘listed in  Annex II -C’ are d e-
leted.  
 
5. Annex II -C is deleted.  
 
Article 2  
 
This Regulation shall enter into force on 
the day of its publication in the Official 
Journal of the European Union . 
 
However, Article  1(3) shall apply from 1 
January 2007.  
 
This Regulation shall be binding in its 
entirety and directly applicable in all 
Member States.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  135 MINISTERIAL DECISION No 11475 EFA 2388  
(GG B’ 1165/25.06.2008 ) 
 
“Submission of an application with the O BI for a six -month extension of the  
duration of the supplementary protection certificate  
for paediatric pharmaceut icals”  
 
THE MINISTERS  
OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMY –  
OF DEVELOPMENT –  
AND OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL  
SOLIDARITY  
 
Having taken into consideration:  
 
1. The provisions of Article 1 and 2, 
para. 1 (g) and (i) of Law 1338/1983 
'Implementation of Community law' 
(Government Gazette 34 A’) as this 
was amended by Article 6, para. 1 of 
Law 1440/1984 'Participation of 
Greece in the capital, reserves, and 
provis ions of the Eur opean Investment 
Bank, and in the capital of the Europ e-
an Coal and Steel Comm unity and the 
EURATOM Supply Organisation' 
(Government Gazette 70 A’), in comb i-
nation with the provisions of Article 1 of 
Law 1965/1991 (Government G azette 
A 146).  
 
2. Law 945/1979 on “Ratification of the 
Treaty of accession of Greece to the 
European Economic Community” 
(Government Gazette A 170/  
27.7.1979).  
 
3. The provisions of Article 1 par 2 of 
Law 1733/1987 'Transfer of technol o-
gy, inventions, and technological inno-
vation, and setting up of an Atomic E n-
ergy Commission' (Government G a-
zette A 171/22.9.1987).  
 
4. The provisions of the second A rticle 
of Law 2077/1992 'Ratification of the 
Treaty on the European Union and the 
respe ctive protocols and declarations 
included in the final act” (Government 
Gazette A 136).   
5.  The provisions of Articles 11 and 12 of 
Presidential Decree 77/88 'Prov isions on 
the implementation of the Convention on 
the granting of European p atents', which 
was ratified by Law 1607/1987 (G G 
33/A/ 25.2.1988).  
 
6. Presidential Decree no. 248/89 “Orga n-
ization of General Secretariat for R e-
search and Technology” (Gover nment 
Gazette Α 116/10.5.1989), as amended 
by Presidential Decree no. 179/92 (Go v-
ernment Gazette Α 81/26.5.1992), Pres i-
dential Decree no.  147/94 (Government 
Gazette Α 99/4.7.1994) and Presidential 
Decree no.  128/97 (Government Gazette 
Α 115/9.6.1997).  
 
7. Presidential Decree no 27/1996 “Me r-
ger of the Ministries of Tou rism, Industry, 
Energy and Technology and Commerce 
into the Ministry of D evelopment" (Go v-
ernment Gazette Α 19/1.2.1996) and 
Presidential Decree no. 122/2004 “Re -
establishment of the Ministry of Tourism” 
(Government G azette Α 85/17.3.2004).  
 
8. The provisions of article 90 of the Code 
ratified by the first article of Pre sidentia l 
Decree no. 63/2005 “Codific ation of Law 
on Government and Government Bo dies” 
(GG A 98/22.4.2005).  
 
9. Presidential decree no. 206/2007 “A p-
pointment of Ministers and Deputy Mini s-
ters” (Government Gazette Α 
232/19.9.2007).  
 
10. Regulation (EEC) 1768/92 of the 
Council of 18 June 1992 (EU No. L 182/1 
of 2 July 1992).  
  136 11. Regulation (EC) no 1901/2006 of 
the European Parliament and of the 
Council  of 12 December 2006 on m e-
dicinal pro ducts for paediatric use and 
amending Regulation (EEC) No 
1768/92, Directive 20 01/20/EC, D i-
rective 2001/83/EC and Regulation 
(EC) No 726/2004 (EU no. L378/1 of 
27 D ecember 2006).  
 
12. Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 of 
the European Parliament and of the 
Council of 31 March 2004 laying down 
Community procedures for the author i-
sation and s upervision of medicinal 
products for h uman and veterinary use 
and establishing a European Med i-
cines Agency (EU No. L 136, 
30.04.2004).  
 
13. Directive 2001/83/EC of the Eur o-
pean Parliament and of the Council of 
6 November 2001 on the Community 
code relating  to medicinal products for 
human use (EU no. L311, 28.11.2001) 
as amended of late with Directive 
2004/27/EC (EU L 136, 30.4.2004).  
 
14. The fact that no charge on the 
state budget is created by the prov i-
sions of the present decision.  
 
15. The minutes of me eting no. 
14/13.11.2007 of OBI’s BoD, we have 
determined:  
 
 
 
PART ONE  
 
GENERAL PROVISIONS  
 
Article 1  
Purpose  
 
The purpose of this decision is to d e-
termine the procedure for the granting 
of a six -month extension of the dur a-
tion of the supplementary protecti on 
certificate referred to in Article 13 pa r-agraphs 1 and 2 of the Regulation (EEC) 
1768/1992 for paediatric pha rmaceuticals 
as products that are protected by a su p-
plementary protection certificate based on 
Regulation (EEC) no. 1768/1992 or the 
patent cert ificate that fulfils the pre -
requisites for gran ting a supplementary 
protection certif icate.   
 
Article 2  
Definitions  
 
For the implementation of this dec ision, 
the following phrases shall have the fo l-
lowing meanings:  
 
a. “Regulation (EEC) 1768/92”: Regul a-
tion (EEC) 1768/92 of the Council of the 
European Union of 18 June 1992 'in rel a-
tion to the introduction of a suppleme n-
tary protection certificate for pharmace u-
ticals' (EU No. L 182/1 of 2 July 1992).  
 
b. “Regulation (EC) no 1901/2006”: Reg u-
lation (EC) no 1901/2006 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council of 12 D e-
cember 2006 on medicinal products for 
paediatric use and amen ding Regulation 
(EEC) No 1768/92, D irective 2001/20/EC, 
Directive 2001/83/EC and Regulation 
(EC) No 726/2004 (EU no. L378/1 of 27 
December 2006).  
c. “Regulation (EC) No 726/2004”: Reg u-
lation (EC) No 726/2004 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council of 31 
March 2004 laying down Community pr o-
cedures for the authorisation and supe r-
vision of medicinal products for h uman 
and veterinar y use and establishing a E u-
ropean Med icines Agency (EU No. L 136, 
30.04.2004).  
 
d. “Directive 2001/83/EC”: Directive 
2001/83/EC of the European Parli ament 
and of the Council of 6 Nove mber 2001 
on the Community code relating to medi c-
inal products for human use (EU no. 
L311, 28.11.2001) as amen ded lately with 
Directive 2004/27/EC (EU L 136, 
30.4.2004).   137  
e. “Ministerial Decision no. 14905/  EFA 
3058”: Ministerial Decision no. 
14905/EFA 3058 regarding the su b-
mission of an application with the OBI 
for the grantin g of a supplementary 
protection certificate for pharmaceut i-
cals (Gover nment Gazette 1162 B of 
30.12.1997).  
 
f. “OBI”: the Industrial Property Organ i-
sation, which has its registered office in 
Athens (Article 1 of Law 1733/1987).  
 
g. “Pharmaceutical”: any su bstance or 
compound which is prepared as ha ving 
therapeutic or preventive prope rties 
within the meaning of Article 1, para 1 
of Reg ulation (EEC) 1768/92.  
 
h. “Patent”: the patent granted by the 
O.B.I. in accordance with Art icle 8 of 
Law 1733/87 (Government  Gazette 
171 A), or the European patent in force 
in Greece in accordance with Article 23 
of Law 1733/87.  
 
i. “Certificate”: the supplementary pr o-
tection certificate, which is granted for 
pharmaceuticals from the OBI in a c-
cordance with the terms of Article 7 of 
Ministerial Decision no. 14905/EFA 
3058.  
 
j. “Marketing authorisation permit”: the 
marketing authorisation permit is i s-
sued for a pharmaceutical that is i n-
tended for human use, which excl u-
sively covers therapeutic ind ications 
that are important for th e paediatric 
population or its subtotal and which is 
issued in application of Re gulation no. 
(EC) 1901/2006 and is go verned by 
the provisions of Regulation (EC) no. 
726/2004 or Directive 2001/83/EC.  
 
 
 
 
 PART TWO  
 
BENEFICIARIES  
APPLICATION PROCEDURE –  
APPLICATION CONTENT  
 
Article 3  
Right of application for extension  
 
The right of applying for an exte nsion of 
the duration of the supplementary prote c-
tion certificate for pharmaceuticals, gran t-
ed in accordance with Article 7 of Minist e-
rial Decision no. 14905/E FA/3058, b e-
longs to the certificate benef iciary as well 
as his general or sp ecial successors.  
[Term (27), Regulation (EC) 1901/2006]  
 
Article 4  
Competent authority  
 
The competent authority for the submi s-
sion and approval of the e xtension for the 
duration of the certificate’s v alidity shall 
be the Indu strial Property O rganisation 
(OBI). 
[Article 52 para. 4 a) Regulation (EC) 
1901/2006]  
 
Article 5  
Application submission  
 
1. For the extension of the duration of the 
protection certificate of Article 7 of the 
Ministerial Decision 14905/  EFA/  3058 
and in application of Article 36 of Regul a-
tion (EC) 1901/2006, an appl ication must 
be submitted to the OBI.  
 
2. The application of paragraph 1, is 
submitted to the OBI either t ogether with 
the application of a supplemen tary pr o-
tection certificate for pharmaceut icals, or 
after having applied for a su pplementary 
protection certificate and up until it is 
granted in accordance with Articles 5, 6 
and 7 of the Ministerial Decision no. 
14905/EFA/3058 .  
(Article 52 para. 2(3) Re gulation (EC) 
1901/2006)   138 3. In the event that the OBI has a lready 
granted the certificate, in a ccordance 
with Article 7 of the Mini sterial Decision 
no. 14905/EFA/  3058, the application 
referred to in paragraph 1 is su bmitted 
to the OBI not later than two y ears b e-
fore the expiry of the respective certif i-
cate.  
(Article 52 para. 2(4) Regulation (EC) 
1901/2006)  
 
4. Notwithstanding paragraph 3 above, 
for five years following the entry into 
force of Regulation (EC) 1901/2006, 
that is the 26th January 2012, the a p-
plication for an extension of the dur a-
tion of a certificate already granted 
shall be submitted not later than six 
months before the expiry of the certif i-
cate.  
(Article 52 para. 2(5) Regulation (EC) 
1901/2006)  
 
Article 6  
Application content  
 
1. The applica tion referred to in A rticle 
5 above of the present decision is 
submi tted in two copies and contains:  
 
a. the particulars cited in Article 8 of 
Regulation (EEC) 1768/92.  
 
b. a copy of the statement indicating 
compliance with an agreed completed 
paediatric i nvestigation plan as r e-
ferred to in Article 36(1) of Regulation 
(EC) 1901/2006.  
 
c. proof that the pharmaceutical in 
question has authorisations to place 
the pro duct on the market of all other 
Member States, as r eferred to in Article 
36(3) of Regul ation (E C)  1901/2006.  
(Article 52 para 3(a) Regulation (EC) 
1901/2006)  
 
d. if a certificate is pending before the 
OBI, reference on the applic ation that 
has already been submi tted.  e. If a certificate has already been gran t-
ed, a copy of the certificate already 
granted by the OBI.  
(Article 52 para 3(b) Regulation (EC) 
1901/2006)  
 
2. In addition to the details of par agraph 1 
of the present Article, the a pplication shall 
be annexed with doc uments legalising the 
person submitting them, in the case of a 
legal person a nd the receipt of the duty 
collected by the OBI with respect to su b-
mitting the a pplication for extension of the 
certificate’s d uration.   
 
3. Should the terms of paragraph 1 of the 
present article be fulfilled, the su bmission 
of the application is accepted . In this 
event, the application shall be deemed 
regular; it shall be given a submission 
date and entered into the OBI Reports 
Register.  
 
4. As to the submission and draf ting of 
documents before the OBI, Articles 2, 3, 4 
and 9 of Ministerial Decision 
1592 8/ΕFΑ/1253 (Government G azette 
778 B) and 19 of Presidential Decree 
77/88 (Go vernment Gazette 33 A) shall 
be implemented.  
 
Article 7  
Additional information  
 
1. Within four months from regular su b-
mission and after written notice from the 
OBI, the applicant must su bmit to the OBI 
any missing i nformation and supporting 
documents in accor dance with Article 6, 
paragraphs 1 and 2 of the present Joint 
Ministerial Decision. In this event, the a p-
plication shall be deemed co mplete.  
 
2. If after the lapse of the time -limit of 
paragraph 1 above of this article, the OBI 
establishes that the data of the applic a-
tion have not been completed, the appl i-
cation shall be r ejected.  
(Article 52 para 5 Regulation (EC) 
1901/2006)   139 PART THREE  
 
CERTIFICATE - PUBLICATION  
 
Article 8  
Gran ting of a certificate  
 
1. If the application is complete and 
regular in accordance with Articles 6 
and 7 of this decision and if the pro d-
uct, which it concerns, fulfils the terms 
of Regul ation (EEC) 1768/92, the OBI 
shall grant the extension of duration of  
the certif icate.  
(Article 52 para 5 Regulation (EC) 
1901/2006)  
 
2. In the event where the applic ation 
for extension has been submitted t o-
gether with the application for a su p-
plementary protection certificate for 
pharmaceuticals or where an applic a-
tion for  a certificate is pending before 
the OBI, the certif icate granted by the 
OBI shall contain an ind ication of the 
application for an extended duration of 
the certif icate. The certificate for the 
extension of the duration of the certif i-
cate is granted separat ely. 
(Article 52 para 4 (c) Regulation (EC) 
1901/2006)  
 
3. After the granting of the certificate, 
third parties may seek info rmation and 
copies of the application and of the a d-
ditional information, which have been 
submi tted.  
 
4. The OBI shall, without fai l, notify the 
National Pharmaceuticals O rganisation 
of the granting of the certificate.  
 
Article 9  
Publication  
 
The extension of the duration of the 
certificate shall be published in the I n-
dustrial Property Bulletin.  
 The publication of the certificate sha ll 
mandatorily refer the details of Article 11, 
para. 1 of Regulation (EEC) 1768/92.  
 
In the event of the application is rejec ted 
by the OBI in accordance with Art icle 7, 
para. 2 of the present Ministerial Dec i-
sion, the act of rejection and the partic u-
lars of Article 9, para. 2 of Regulation 
(EEC) 1768/92 shall be pu blished in the 
Industrial Property Bulletin with an indic a-
tion that the application concerns the e x-
tension of the duration of the certificate.  
(Article 52 para 6 Regulation (EC) 
1901/2006)  
 
 
PAR T FOUR  
 
RIGHTS FROM THE EXTENSION OF 
THE CERTIFICATE –  
DURATION - DUTIES  
 
Article 10  
Right of content  
 
The extension of the certificate shall give 
its holder, being a natural or legal person, 
the exclusive rights of Article 10 of Law 
1733/87, which shall be implemented m u-
tatis m utandis.  
 
Article 11  
Extension period  
 
On implementation of Article 36 of Reg u-
lation (EC) 1901/2006, the dur ation of the 
certificate shall be extended by six 
months after the expiry of the scheduled 
time-frame of the certificate in accor d-
ance with Article 13 of the Regulation 
(EC) 1768/1992.  
(Article 52 para 7 Regulation (EC) 
1901/2006)  
 
 
 
 
 
  140 Article 12  
Revocation of an extension of  
the d uration  
 
The extension of the duration may be 
revoked if it was granted contrary to 
the provisio ns of Article 36 of Regul a-
tion (EC) 1901/2006. In this event, A r-
ticle 15 of Law 1733/1987 shall be i m-
plemented mutatis m utandis.  
 
The revocation shall be published in 
the Industrial Property Bulletin.  
(Article 52 para 8 Regulation (EC) 
1901/2006)  
 
Article 13 
Duties  
 
A duty shall be payable to the OBI u p-
on application for the extension of the 
duration of a certificate.  (Article 52 para 3 (c) Regulation (EC) 
1901/2006)  
 
The amount of the duty shall be dete r-
mined by a decision of the OBI Board of 
Directors.  
 
 
PART FIVE  
 
FINAL PROVISIONS  
 
Article 11  
Effective date  
 
This decision shall enter in effect upon its 
publication with the Government’s  Ga-
zette.  
 
This decision is to be published in the 
Government’s Gazette.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  141 MINISTERIAL DECISION No 10374/GG Β ’ 1594, 04.08.09  
 “Procedure of search report or final search report drawing  
by the Indu strial Property Organization (ΟΒΙ)”  
 
THE MINISTER OF DEVELOPMENT  
With regard to:  
1. Presidential Decree no 27/1996 
(Government Gazette Α 19/1.2.1996) 
“Merger of the Ministries of Tourism, I n-
dustry, Energy and Technology and 
Commerce into the Ministry of Deve l-
opment" and Presidential Decree no. 
122/2004 “Re -establishment of the Mi n-
istry of Tourism” (Government G azette Α 
85/17.3.2004).  
 
2. Presidential Decree no. 248/8 9 “O r-
ganization of General Secretariat for 
Research and Technology” (Gover n-
ment Gazette Α 116/10.5.1989), as 
amended by Presidential Decree no. 
179/92 (Government Gazette Α 
81/26.5.1992), Presidential Decree no. 
147/94 (Government Gazette Α 
99/4.7.1994) an d Presidential Decree 
no.  128/97 (Government Gazette Α 
115/9.6.1997).  
 
3. The provisions of article 90 of the 
Code ratified by the first article of Pres i-
dential D ecree no. 63/2005 “Codification 
of Law on Government and Government 
Bodies” (Government Gazette A 98/  
22.4.2005).  
 
4. The provisions of article 8 par. 3, 9 
and 10 of Law no. 1733/1987 "Transfer 
of tec hnology, inventions, technological 
innovations and establishment of the 
Greek Atomic Energy Commission"  
(Government Gazette Α 171/22.9.1987).  
 
5. Presidentia l Decree no. 4/09 “Nom i-
nation of Ministers, Alternate Minister and Deputy Ministers (Government G a-
zette A 2/8.1.2009).  
 
6. The cooperation agreement between 
the European Patent Organization and 
the Greek Industrial Property Organiz a-
tion signed in Munich, on 2 2 October 
2008, along with the implementing pr o-
visions supplementing  it. 
 
7. The fact that from the provisions 
hereof no burden is generated on the 
state budget.  
 
8. The minutes of the meeting no. 
13/31 .10.2008 of OBI’s Administrative 
Council regarding the “Fina l cooper ation 
agreement between OBI and EPO".  
 
WE HEREBY DECIDE:  
 
CHAPTER ONE  
GENERAL PROVISIONS  
 
Article 1  
Purpose  
 
The purpose of this decision is to d efine 
the process for search report or final 
search report drawing by the OBI, as 
well as to draw remar ks or brief explan a-
tory comments a ccompanying them.  
 
Article 2  
Application scope  
 
This Ministerial Decision applies to the 
applications for grant of patents filed 
with OBI, in application of article 5 et  142 seq. of Law no. 1733/1987 "Transfer of 
technology, inventions, technological 
innovation and establishment of Greek 
Atomic Energy Commission" (Gover n-
ment Gazette 171, A).  
 
Article 3  
Definitions  
 
For the implementation of this decision, 
the following phrases shall have the fo l-
lowing meanings:  
 
a. Law 1733/1 987 shall be the Law  
1733/1987 "Transfer of technology, i n-
ventions, technological innovation and 
establishment of Greek Atomic Energy 
Commission" (Government Gazette 171, 
A), as applicable.  
 
b. “OBI” shall be the Industrial Property 
Organization having it s registered office 
in Athens (article 1 of Law 1733/1987).  
 
c. “Ministerial Decision  15928/  EFΑ/  
1253”, shall be the Ministerial Dec ision 
no. 15928/EFA/ 1253 “Filing of applic a-
tion for the grant of patents or utility 
model certif icates with OBI and keepi ng 
of record books” (Government Gazette 
778 Β dated 31.12.1987).  
 
d. “Patent” shall be the certificate gran t-
ed by OBI in accordance with article 8 of 
Law 173/87 (Gover nment Gazette 171, 
A). 
 
e. “Revision Act” shall be the Revision 
Act of the Convention on European P a-
tents (E uropean Patent Convention of 5 
October 1973, amended on 17 Dece m-
ber 1991) of 29 November 2000 which 
was ratified by Greece with the Law no. 
3396/2005 (Gover nment Gazette 246, 
Α). 
 
f. “EPO” shall be the European Patent 
Office as defined i n the Convention and 
the R evision Act.  g. “Convention 2000” shall be the co n-
solidated text of the European Conve n-
tion along with the Revision Act, as pu b-
lished in the Official Journal of the EPO 
(No 1/2007).  
 
h. “Cooperation Agreement” shall be the 
Coopera tion Agreement between the 
Europ ean Patent Organization and the 
Greek Industrial Property Organization 
signed in Munich, on 22 Oct ober 2008.  
 
i. “Implementing provisions” shall be the 
implementing provisions for the exam i-
nation instructions of EPO, as well  as 
the international research and prelim i-
nary examination instructions for the 
drawing of search reports and written 
opinions on the Greek applic ations for 
patents' granting by the European P a-
tent Office signed in Munich on 22 O c-
tober 2008, which suppleme nt the "C o-
operation Agreement".  
 
CHAPTER TWO  
SEARCH REPORT DRAWING  
PROCESS  
 
Article 4  
Competent Authority  
 
1. In application of article 8 of Law 
no.1733/1987, the authority that is co m-
petent to draw any type of search r e-
ports or final search reports shall  be 
OBI.  
 
2. During elaboration of these types of 
search reports, OBI may request the 
EPO, on its account, to conduct searc h-
es that are necessary for drawing the 
search reports in application of the C o-
operation Agre ement.  
 
 
  143 Article 5  
Search Report or Fin al Search R eport 
 
1. For any application for patent gran t-
ing, OBI shall draw a report that is 
based on the invention’s description, the 
claims and the drawings attached, sta t-
ing all details of the current state of the 
art that are necessary for assessing t he 
new character and the i nventive step of 
the invention. In this case, such report 
shall be called simple search report 
(SSR).  
 
2. In application of article 8 para. 6 of 
Law 1733/1987, OBI, based on the a p-
plicant’s comments, shall draw, following 
the sear ch report of the afor ementioned 
paragraph, a final search report.  
 
Article 6  
Search report with a written opinion or 
final search report with a written opi nion 
 
1. In application of article 8 par. 3 of Law 
no. 1733/1987, the search report drawn 
by OBI may  be accompanied by r e-
marks or brief explanatory co mments 
referring to the invention features, 
namely the new character of the inve n-
tion, its i nventive step and the industrial 
application potential. In this case, such 
search report shall be called search r e-
port with a written opinion (SRWO).  
 
2. In application of article 8 para. 6 of 
Law no. 1733/1987, OBI, based on the 
applicant’s remarks, shall draw, follo w-
ing the search report with a written opi n-
ion of the aforeme ntioned paragraph, a 
final search report w ith a wri tten opinion.  
 
 
 Article 7  
Methods for drawing the search  
report with a written opinion  
 
The search report with a written opinion 
shall be drawn by OBI pursuant to the 
applic able implementing provisions of 
the instructions for examination b efore 
the EPO. Such instructions shall be a t-
tached hereto and constitute integral 
part her eof.  
 
Article 8  
Statement of the applicant  
 
1. The person applying for patent  grant-
ing shall state before OBI, within four 
months from the filing of the application, 
whet her (s)he chooses a simple search 
report (SSR) or a search report with a 
written opinion (SRWO) and shall pay 
the relevant fees.  
 
2. In case of non -timely payment of 
fees, article 8 par. 4 of Law  1733/1987 
shall apply.  
 
CHAPTER THREE  
 
FINAL PROVISIONS  
 
Article 9  
Transitional Provision  
 
1.  For patent granting applications filed 
with OBI and accepted for filing until 
31.08.2009, OBI shall draw simple 
search reports (SSR).  
 
2. Search reports with a written opinion 
(SRWO) shall be drawn in case of p a-
tent gran ting applications filed with OBI 
and accepted for filing as of 1 Septe m-
ber 2009 and a fterwards, if stated by the 
applicant, in accordance with article 8 of 
this Ministerial Dec ision.   144 Article 10  
Effective date  
 
This decision shall enter in effect upon its p ublication with the Go vernment’s 
Gazette.  This decision is to be pu b-
lished in the Government’s Gazette.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  145 REGULATION  (EC) No 469/2009 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE  
COUNCIL OF 6 MAY  2009  
 
“Concerning the suppleme ntary protection certificate for medicinal products”  
(Codified version)  
(Text with EEA relevance)  
 
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN 
UNION,  
 
Having regard to the Treaty establis h-
ing the European Community, and in 
partic ular Article 9 5 thereof,  
Having regard to the proposal from the 
Commission,  
Having regard to the opinion of the E u-
ropean Economic and Social Commi t-
tee [1], 
Acting in accordance with the proc e-
dure laid down in Article 251 of the 
Treaty [2], 
 
Whereas:  
 
1. Council Regulati on (EEC) No 
1768/92 of 18 June 1992 concerning 
the creation of a supplementary pr o-
tection certificate for medicinal pro d-
ucts [3] has been substa ntially amen d-
ed several times [4]. In the interests of 
clarity and rationality the said Regul a-
tion should be cod ified. 
 
2. Pharmaceutical research plays a 
decisive role in the continuing i m-
provement in public health.  
 
                                                 
1 OJ C 77, 31.3.2009, p. 42.  
2 Opinion of the European Parliament of 21 October 
2008 (not yet publis hed in the Official Journal) and 
Council Decision of 6 April 2009.  
3 OJ L 182, 2.7.1992, p. 1.  
4 See Annex I  
 
 3. Medicinal products, especially those 
that are the result of long, costly r esearch 
will not continue to be deve loped in the 
Community and in Europe unless they 
are covered by favourable rules that pr o-
vide for sufficient prote ction to e ncourage 
such research.  
 
4. At the moment, the period that elapses 
between the filing of an appl ication for a 
patent for a new medicinal product and 
authorisation to pla ce the medicinal 
product on the market makes the period 
of effective prote ction under the patent 
insufficient to cover the investment put 
into the r esearch.  
 
5. This situation leads to a lack of prote c-
tion which penalises pharmaceutical r e-
search.  
 
6. There  exists a risk of research ce ntres 
situated in the Member States r elocating 
to countries that offer greater protection.  
 
7. A uniform solution at Community level 
should be provided for, thereby preven t-
ing the heterogeneous deve lopment of 
national laws lead ing to further dispar ities 
which would be likely to create obstacles 
to the free movement of medicinal pro d-
ucts within the Community and thus d i-
rectly affect the functioning of the i nternal 
market.  
 
8. Therefore, the provision of a suppl e-
mentary protection  certificate gran ted, 
under the same conditions, by each of 
the Member States at the r equest of the 
holder of a national or E uropean patent  146 relating to a medicinal product for 
which marketing authorization  has 
been granted is necessary. A regul a-
tion is the refore the most appropriate 
legal i nstrument.  
 
9. The duration of the protection gran t-
ed by the certificate should be such as 
to provide adequate effective prote c-
tion. For this purpose, the holder of 
both a patent and a certificate should 
be able to e njoy an overall maximum 
of 15 years of excl usivity from the time 
the m edicinal product in question first 
obtains autho rization  to be placed on 
the market in the Commun ity. 
 
10. All the interests at stake, i ncluding 
those of public health, in a sector as 
complex  and sensitive as the pharm a-
ceutical sector should nevertheless be 
taken into account. For this purpose, 
the certif icate cannot be granted for a 
period exceeding five years. The pr o-
tection gran ted should furthermore be 
strictly confined to the product whic h 
obtained authoriz ation to be placed on 
the market as a medic inal product.  
 
11. Provision should be made for a p-
propriate limitation of the duration of 
the certificate in the special case 
where a p atent term has already been 
extended under a sp ecific natio nal law,  
 
HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULTION:  
 
Article 1  
Definitions  
 
For the purposes of this Regul ation, 
the following definitions shall apply:  
 
a. "medicinal product" means any su b-
stance or combination of substances 
presented for treating or preventing 
disease  in human beings or animals and any substance or combination of 
substances which may be admini stered 
to human b eings or animals with a view 
to making a medical diagnosis or to r e-
storing, correcting or modifying physi o-
logical functions in humans or in an imals; 
b. "product" means the active ingred ient 
or combination of active ingred ients of a 
medicinal product;  
 
c. "basic patent" means a patent which 
protects a product as such, a process to 
obtain a product or an a pplication of a 
product, and which is designa ted by its 
holder for the purpose of the proc edure 
for grant of a certificate;  
 
d. "certificate" means the suppleme ntary 
protection certificate;  
 
e. "application for an extension of the d u-
ration" means an application for an e x-
tension of the duration of the  certif icate 
pursuant to Article 13(3) of this Regul a-
tion and Article 36 of Regulation (EC) 
1901/2006 of the European Parli ament 
and of the Council of 12 December 2006 
on medicinal products for paed iatric use 
[1]. 
 
Article 2  
Scope  
 
Any product protected by  a patent in the 
territory of a Member State and subject, 
prior to being placed on the market as a 
medicinal product, to an administr ative 
authorisation procedure as laid down in 
Directive 2001/83/EC of the Eur opean 
Parliament and of the Council of 6 N o-
vember 2001 on the Community code r e-
lating to medicinal products for h uman 
use [2] or Directive 2001/82/EC of the E u-
ropean Parliament and of the Council of 6 
                                                 
1 OJ L 378, 27.12.2006, p. 1.  
2 OJ L 311, 28.11.2001, p. 67.   147 November 2001 on the Community 
code relating to veterinary m edicinal 
products [1] may, under the term s and 
conditions provided for in this Regul a-
tion, be the subject of a certi ficate.  
 
Article 3  
Conditions for obtaining a  
certif icate 
 
A certificate shall be granted if, in the 
Member State in which the a pplication 
referred to in Article 7 is submitted and  
at the date of that application:  
 
a. the product is protected by a basic 
patent in force;  
 
b. a valid authorization  to place the 
product on the market as a medic inal 
product has been granted in accor d-
ance with Directive 2001/83/  EC or D i-
rective 2001/82/EC , as appropriate;  
 
c. the product has not already been  
the subject of a certificate;  
 
d. the authorization  referred to in point 
(b) is the first authorization  to place the 
product on the market as a medicinal 
product.  
 
Article 4  
Subject matter of protecti on 
 
Within the limits of the protection co n-
ferred by the basic patent, the prote c-
tion conferred by a certificate shall e x-
tend o nly to the product covered by the 
authorization  to place the correspon d-
ing medic inal product on the market 
and for any use of the  product as a 
medicinal product that has been au-
                                                 
1 OJ L 311, 28.11.2001, p. 1.  thorized  before the expiry of the certif i-
cate.  
 
Article 5  
Effects of the certificate  
 
Subject to the provisions of Article 4, the 
certificate shall confer the same rights as 
conferred by the basic patent and shall 
be subject to the same limit ations and the 
same obligations.  
 
Article 6  
Entitlement to the certificate  
 
The certificate shall be granted to the 
holder of the basic patent or his succe s-
sor in title.  
 
Article 7  
Application for a certificate  
 
1. The app lication for a certificate shall be 
lodged within six months of the date on 
which the authorization  referred to in Art i-
cle 3(b) to place the product on the ma r-
ket as a medicinal product was granted.  
 
2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, where 
the authorization  to place the product on 
the market is gran ted before the basic 
patent is gran ted, the application for a 
certificate shall be lodged within six 
months of the date on which the p atent is 
granted.  
 
3. The application for an extension of the 
duration may be ma de when lod ging the 
application for a certif icate or when the 
application for the certificate is pending 
and the appropriate requirements of Art i-
cle 8(1)(d) or Article 8(2), respe ctively, 
are fulfilled.  
 
4. The application for an extension of the 
duration of a certificate already granted  148 shall be lodged not later than two 
years before the expiry of the certif i-
cate.  
5. Notwithstanding paragraph 4, for 
five years following the entry into force 
of Regulation (EC) No 1901/2006, the 
application for an extension of the d u-
ration of a certificate already granted 
shall be lodged not later than six 
months before the expiry of the certif i-
cate.  
 
Article 8  
Content of the application for  
a certif icate 
 
1. The application for a certificate shall 
contain:  
a. a request for the grant of a certif i-
cate, stating in particular:  
(i) the name and address of the appl i-
cant;  
(ii)  if  he  has  appointed  a repr e- 
sentative, the name and address of the 
representative;  
(iii) the number of the basic p atent and 
the title of the invention;  
(iv) the number and date of the first 
authorisation to place the product on 
the market, as referred to in Article 
3(b) and, if this authorisation is not the 
first authorisation for placing the pro d-
uct on the ma rket in the Community, 
the number and date of  that authoris a-
tion; 
 
b. a copy of the authorisation to place 
the product on the market, as r eferred 
to in Article 3(b), in which the product 
is ident ified, containing in particular the 
number and date of the authorisation 
and the summary of the product ch ar-
acteristics listed in Article 11 of D i-
rective 2001/83/EC or Article 14 of D i-
rective 2001/82/EC;  
 c. if the authorisation referred to in point 
(b) is not the first authoris ation for placing 
the product on the market as a medicinal 
product in the Community , information 
regarding the identity of the product thus 
authorised and the legal provision under 
which the autho risation procedure took 
place, together with a copy of the notice 
publishing the authorisation in the appr o-
priate official public ation; 
 
d. where the application for a certif icate 
includes a request for an exte nsion of the 
duration:  
(i) a copy of the statement indicating 
compliance with an agreed completed 
paediatric investigation plan as r eferred 
to in Article 36(1) of Regulation (EC) No 
1901/20 06; 
(ii) where necessary, in addition to the 
copy of the authorisation to place the 
product on the ma rket as referred to in 
point (b), proof of possession of author i-
sations to place the product on the ma r-
ket of all other Member States, as r e-
ferred to in Ar ticle 36(3) of Regulation 
(EC) No 1901/2006.  
 
2. Where an application for a certif icate is 
pending, an application for an extended 
duration in accor dance with Article 7(3) 
shall include the particulars referred to in 
paragraph 1(d) of this Article and a re fer-
ence to the application for a ce rtificate 
already filed.  
 
3. The application for an extension of the 
duration of a certificate already gran ted 
shall contain the particulars referred to in 
paragraph 1(d) and a copy of the certif i-
cate already granted.  
 
4. Member States may provide that a fee 
is to be payable upon appl ication for a 
certificate and upon application for the 
extension of the duration of a certif icate.  
 
  149 Article 9  
Lodging of an application for a  
certif icate 
 
1. The application for a certificat e shall 
be lodged with the competent industr i-
al property office of the Member State 
which granted the basic patent or on 
whose behalf it was granted and in 
which the authorisation referred to in 
Article 3(b) to place the product on the 
market was obtained,  unless the 
Member State designates another a u-
thority for the purpose.  
The application for an extension of the 
duration of a certificate shall be lodged 
with the competent authority of the 
Member State concerned.  
2. Notification of the application for a 
certificate shall be published by the 
authority referred to in paragraph 1. 
The notification shall co ntain at least 
the following info rmation:  
 
a. the name and address of the appl i-
cant;  
 
b. the number of the basic patent;  
 
c. the title of the invention;  
 
d. the number and date of the author i-
zation  to place the product on the ma r-
ket, referred to in Article 3(b), and the 
product identified in that authoriz ation; 
 
e. where relevant, the number and 
date of the first authorization  to place 
the product on the marke t in the 
Comm unity; 
 
f. where applicable, an indication that 
the application includes an a pplication 
for an extension of the d uration.  
 
3. Paragraph 2 shall apply to the notif i-cation of the application for an exte nsion 
of the duration of a certificate alre ady 
granted or where an application for a ce r-
tificate is pending. The notification shall 
additionally contain an indication of the 
application for an extended d uration of 
the certificate.  
 
Article 10  
Grant of the certificate or rejection of the 
application  for a certificate  
 
1. Where the application for a certif icate 
and the product to which it relates meet 
the conditions laid down in this Regul a-
tion, the authority referred to in Article 
9(1) shall grant the certificate.  
 
2. The authority referred to in Art icle 9(1) 
shall, subject to paragraph 3, r eject the 
application for a certificate if the applic a-
tion or the product to which it relates 
does not meet the conditions laid down in 
this Regulation.  
 
3. Where the application for a certif icate 
does not meet the  cond itions laid down in 
Article 8, the authority referred to in Art i-
cle 9(1) shall ask the applicant to rectify 
the irregularity, or to settle the fee, within 
a stated time.  
 
4. If the irregularity is not rectified or the 
fee is not settled under paragrap h 3 wit h-
in the stated time, the authority shall r e-
ject the applic ation. 
 
5. Member States may provide that the 
authority referred to in Article 9(1) is to 
grant certificates without verifying that the 
conditions laid down in Article 3(c) and 
(d) are met.  
 
6. Paragraphs 1 to 4 shall apply mut atis 
mutandis to the application for an exte n-
sion of the duration.  
  150 Article 11  
Publication  
 
1. Notification of the fact that a certif i-
cate has been granted shall be pu b-
lished by the authority referred to in 
Article 9(1).  The notification shall co n-
tain at least the following information:  
 
a. the name and address of the holder 
of the certificate;  
 
b. the number of the basic patent;  
 
c. the title of the invention;  
 
d. the number and date of the author i-
zation  to place the pro duct on the ma r-
ket referred to in Article 3(b) and the 
product identified in that authoriz ation; 
 
e. where relevant, the number and 
date of the first authorization  to place 
the product on the market in the 
Comm unity; 
 
f. the duration of the certificate.  
 
2. Notification of the fact that the appl i-
cation for a certificate has been rejec t-
ed shall be published by the authority 
referred to in Article 9(1). The notific a-
tion shall contain at least the info r-
mation listed in A rticle 9(2).  
 
3. Paragraphs 1 and 2 shal l apply to 
the notification of the fact that an e x-
tension of the duration of a certificate 
has been granted or of the fact that the 
application for an extension has been 
rejec ted. 
 
 
 
 Article 12  
Annual fees  
 
Member States may require that the ce r-
tificate b e subject to the payment of a n-
nual fees.  
 
Article 13  
Duration of the certificate  
 
1. The certificate shall take effect at the 
end of the lawful term of the basic patent 
for a period equal to the period which 
elapsed between the date on which the 
applicatio n for a basic patent was lodged 
and the date of the first autho rization  to 
place the product on the market in the 
Community, reduced by a per iod of five 
years.  
 
2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the dur a-
tion of the certificate may not e xceed five 
years from the date on which it takes e f-
fect. 
 
3. The periods laid down in par agraphs 1 
and 2 shall be extended by six months in 
the case where Article 36 of Regulation 
(EC) No 1901/2006 a pplies. In that case, 
the duration of the period laid down in 
paragraph 1 of th is Article may be e x-
tended only once.  
 
4. Where a certificate is granted for a 
product protected by a patent which, b e-
fore 2 January 1993, had its term e x-
tended or for which such extension was 
applied for, under national law, the term 
of protection to be a fforded under this 
certificate shall be reduced by the nu m-
ber of years by which the term of the p a-
tent exceeds 20 years.  
 
 
 
 
  151 Article 14  
Expiry of the certificate  
 
The certificate shall lapse:  
a. at the end of the period provided for 
in Article 13;  
 
b. if the certificate holder surre nders it;  
c. if the annual fee laid down in a c-
cordance with Article 12 is not paid in 
time;  
d. if and as long as the product co v-
ered by the certificate may no longer 
be placed on the market following the 
withdrawal of the approp riate author i-
zation  or authorizations  to place on the 
market in accordance with Directive 
2001/83/  EC or Directive 2001/82/EC. 
The authority r eferred to in Article 9(1) 
of this Regulation may decide on the 
lapse of the ce rtificate either of its own 
motion or at the request of a third pa r-
ty. 
 
Article 15  
Invalidity of the certificate  
 
1. The certificate shall be invalid if:  
 
a. it was granted contrary to the prov i-
sions of Article 3;  
b. the basic patent has lapsed b efore 
its lawful term expires;  
c. the basic p atent is revoked or limited 
to the extent that the pro duct for which 
the certificate was granted would no 
longer be pr otected by the claims of 
the basic patent or, after the basic p a-
tent has expired, grounds for revoc a-
tion exist which would have justified 
such revoc ation or limitation.  
 
2. Any person may submit an applic a-
tion or bring an action for a declaration 
of invalidity of the certi ficate before the 
body responsible under national law for the revocation of the corresponding 
basic p atent. 
 
Article 16  
Revocation of an extension  
of the d uration  
 
1. The extension of the duration may be 
revoked if it was granted contrary to the 
provisions of Article 36 of Regulation 
(EC) No 1901/2006.  
 
2. Any person may submit an applic ation 
for revocation of the extension  of the d u-
ration to the body responsible under n a-
tional law for the revocation of the corr e-
sponding basic patent.  
 
Article 17  
Notification of lapse or invalidity  
 
1. If the certificate lapses in accor dance 
with point (b), (c) or (d) of Article 14, or is 
invalid in accordance with Article 15, not i-
fication thereof shall be published by the 
authority referred to in Article 9(1).  
 
2. If the extension of the duration is r e-
voked in accordance with Article 16, not i-
fication thereof shall be published by the 
authori ty referred to in Article 9(1).  
 
Article 18  
Appeals  
 
The decisions of the authority r eferred to 
in Article 9(1) or of the bodies r eferred to 
in Articles 15(2) and 16(2) taken under 
this Regul ation shall be open to the same 
appeals as those provided for in national 
law against similar decisions taken in r e-
spect of national p atents.  
 
 
  152 Article 19  
Procedure  
 
1. In the absence of procedural prov i-
sions in this Regulation, the procedu ral 
provisions applicable under national 
law to the corr esponding basic patent 
shall apply to the certificate, unless the 
national law lays down special proc e-
dural pr ovisions for certificates.  
 
2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the 
procedure for opposition to the gran t-
ing of a certificate shall be e xcluded.  
 
Article 20  
Additional provis ions relating to the  
enlargement of the Community  
 
Without prejudice to the other prov i-
sions of this Regulation, the following 
provisions shall apply:  
 
a. any medicinal product protected by 
a valid basic patent and for which the 
first authorization  to pla ce it on the 
market as a medicinal product was o b-
tained after 1 January 2000 may be 
granted a certificate in Bulgaria, pr o-
vided that the application for a certif i-
cate was lodged within six months 
from 1 January 2007;  
 
b. any medicinal product protected by 
a valid basic patent in the Czech R e-
public and for which the first authoriz a-
tion to place it on the market as a m e-
dicinal product was o btained:  
(i) in the Czech Republic after 10 N o-
vember 1999 may be granted a certif i-
cate, provided that the appl ication for  a 
certificate was lodged within six 
months of the date on which the first 
market a uthorisation was obtained;  
(ii) in the Community not earlier than 
six months prior to 1 May 2004 may be 
granted a certif icate, provided that the applic ation for a certificat e was lodged 
within six months of the date on which 
the first market authorization  was o b-
tained;  
 
c. any medicinal product protected by a 
valid basic patent and for which the first 
authorization  to place it on the market as 
a medicinal product was obtained  in Es-
tonia prior to 1 May 2004 may be granted 
a certificate, provided that the application 
for a certificate was lodged within six 
months of the date on which the first 
market authorization  was o btained or, in 
the case of those patents granted prior to 
1 January 2000, within the six months 
provided for in the Patents Act of O ctober 
1999;  
 
d. any medicinal product protected by a 
valid basic patent and for which the first 
authorization  to place it on the market as 
a medicinal product was obtained in C y-
prus p rior to 1 May 2004 may be gran ted 
a certificate, provided that the application 
for a certificate was lodged within six 
months of the date on which the first 
market authorization  was obtained; no t-
withstanding the above, where the ma r-
ket authorization  was ob tained b efore the 
grant of the basic patent, the application 
for a ce rtificate must be lodged within six 
months of the date on which the patent 
was granted;  
 
e. any medicinal product protected by a 
valid basic patent and for which the first 
authorization  to place it on the market as 
a medicinal product was obtained in La t-
via prior to 1 May 2004 may be gran ted a 
certificate. In cases where the period 
provided for in Article 7(1) has expired, 
the possibility of a pplying for a certificate 
shall be open for a p eriod of six months 
starting no later than 1 May 2004;  
 
f. any medicinal product protected by a 
valid basic patent applied for after 1 Fe b- 153 ruary 1994 and for which the first a u-
thorisation to place it on the market as 
a medicinal product was obtained in 
Lithuania prior to 1 May 2004 may be 
granted a certificate, provided that the 
application for a certificate was lodged 
within six months from 1 May 2004;  
 
g. any medicinal product protected by 
a valid basic patent and for which the 
first authorisation to place  it on the 
market as a medicinal product was o b-
tained after 1 January 2000 may be 
granted a certificate in Hungary, pr o-
vided that the application for a certif i-
cate was lodged within six months 
from 1 May 2004;  
 
h. any medicinal product protected by 
a valid  basic patent and for which the 
first authorization  to place it on the 
market as a medicinal product was o b-
tained in Malta prior to 1 May 2004 
may be gran ted a certificate. In cases 
where the period provided for in Article 
7(1) has expired, the possibility  of ap-
plying for a certif icate shall be open for 
a period of six months starting no later 
than 1 May 2004;  
 
i. any medicinal product protected by a 
valid basic patent and for which the 
first authorization  to place it on the 
market as a medicinal product wa s ob-
tained after 1 January 2000 may be 
granted a certificate in Poland, provi d-
ed that the applic ation for a certificate 
was lodged within six months starting 
no later than 1 May 2004;  
 
j. any medicinal product protected by a 
valid basic patent and for whic h the 
first authorization  to place it on the 
market as a medicinal product was o b-
tained after 1 January 2000 may be 
granted a certificate in Romania. In 
cases where the p eriod provided for in 
Article 7(1) has expired, the possibility of applying for a cert ificate shall be open 
for a p eriod of six months starting no later 
than 1 January 2007;  
 
k. any medicinal product protected by a 
valid basic patent and for which the first 
authorization  to place it on the market as 
a medicinal product was obtained in Sl o-
venia prior to 1 May 2004 may be gran t-
ed a certificate, provided that the applic a-
tion for a ce rtificate was lodged within six 
months from 1 May 2004, including in 
cases where the p eriod provided for in 
Article 7(1) has e xpired;  
 
l. any medicinal product prot ected by a 
valid basic patent and for which the first 
authorization  to place it on the market as 
a medicinal product was obtained in Sl o-
vakia after 1 January 2000 may be gran t-
ed a certificate, provided that the applic a-
tion for a ce rtificate was lodged with in six 
months of the date on which the first 
market authorization  was obtained or 
within six months of 1 July 2002 if the 
market authorization  was obtained before 
that date.  
 
Article 21  
Transitional provisions  
 
1. This Regulation shall not apply to ce r-
tificates granted in accor dance with the 
national legislation of a Member State 
before 2 January 1993 or to applic ations 
for a certificate filed in accor dance with 
that legislation before 2 July 1992.  
With regard to Austria, Finland and Sw e-
den, this Regulation  shall not apply to 
certificates granted in accor dance with 
their national legislation b efore 1 January 
1995.  
2. This Regulation shall apply to suppl e-
mentary protection certificates granted in 
accordance with the natio nal legislation 
of the Czech Republic,  Estonia, C yprus, 
Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia 
and Slovakia prior to 1 May 2004 and the  154 national legislation of Romania prior to 
1 Jan uary 2007.  
 
Article 22  
Repeal  
 
Regulation (EEC) No 1768/92, as 
amended by the acts listed in A nnex I, 
is rep ealed.  
References to the repealed Reg ulation 
shall be construed as refe rences to 
this Regulation and shall be read in 
accordance with the co rrelation table 
in Annex II.  
 
Article 23  
Entry into force  
 
This Regulation shall enter into force 
on the 20th day fo llowing its public a-
tion in the Official Journal of the Eur o-
pean U nion. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its 
entirety and directly applicable in all 
Member States.  
 
------------------ ---------------------------  
ANNEX I  
REPEALED REGULATION WITH 
LIST OF IT S SUCCESSIVE 
AMENDMENTS  
(referred to in Article 22)  
Council Regulation (EEC) No 1768/92 
(OJ L 182, 2.7.1992, p. 1)  
Annex I, point XI.F.I, of the 1994 Act of 
Accession (OJ C 241, 29.8.1994, p. 
233)   
Annex II, point 4.C.II, of the 2003 Act 
of Accession (OJ L 236, 23.9.2003, p. 
342)  
Annex III, point 1.II, of the 2005 Act of 
Accession (OJ L 157, 21.6.2005, p. 
56)  
Regulation (EC) No 1901/2006 of the 
European Parliament and of the Cou n-cil (OJ L 378, 27.12.2006, p. 1) | Only A r-
ticle 52  
------------------------- ----------------------  
ANNEX II  
CORRELATION TABLE  
Regulation (EEC) No 1768/92 | This 
Regulation |  
Recital 1  
Recital 1 | Recital 2  
Recital 2 | Recital 3  
Recital 3 | Recital 4  
Recital 4 | Recital 5  
Recital 5 | Recital 6  
Recital 6 | Recital 7  
Recital 7 | Recital 8  
Recital 8 | Recital 9  
Recital 9 | Recital 10  
Recital 10  
Recital 11  
Recital 12  
Recital 13 | Recital 11  
Article 1 | Article 1  
Article 2 | Article 2  
Article 3, introductory wording | A rticle 3, 
introductory wording  
Article 3, point (a) |  Article 3, point (a)  
Article 3, point (b), first sentence | A rticle 
3, point (b)  
Article 3, point (b), second se ntence  
Article 3, points (c) and (d) | Article 3, 
points (c) and (d)  
Articles 4 to 7 | Articles 4 to 7  
Article 8(1) | Article 8(1)  
Article  8(1a) | Article 8(2)  
Article 8(1b) | Article 8(3)  
Article 8(2) | Article 8(4)  
Articles 9 to 12 | Articles 9 to 12  
Article 13(1), (2) and (3) | Article 13(1), 
(2) and (3)  
Articles 14 and 15 | Articles 14 and 15  
Article 15a | Article 16   155 Articles 16, 17 and 18 | Articles 17, 18 
and 19  
Article 19  
Article 19a, introductory wording | Art i-
cle 20, introductory wording  
Article 19a, point (a), points (i) and (ii)  
Article 20, point (b), introductory wor d-
ing, points (i) and (ii)  
Article 19a, point (b) | Ar ticle 20, point 
(c)  
Article 19a, point (c) | Article 20, point 
(d) 
Article 19a, point (d) | Article 20, point 
(e) 
Article 19a, point (e) | Article 20, point 
(f)  
Article 19a, point (f) | Article 20, point 
(g)  Article 19a, point (g) | Article 20, point (h )  
Article 19a, point (h) | Article 20, point (i)  
Article 19a, point (i) | Article 20, point (k)  
Article 19a, point (j) | Article 20, point (l)  
Article 19a, point (k) | Article 20, point (a)  
Article 19a, point (l) | Article 20, point (j)  
Article 20 | A rticle 21  
Article 21  
Article 22 | Article 13(4)  
Article 22  
Article 23 | Article 23  
Annex I  
Annex II  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  156 LAW No 3842/GG A’ 58/23.04.2010  
“Restoring tax justice, addressing tax evasion and other provisions”  
THE PRESIDENT OF THE HELLENIC 
REPUBLIC  
We hereby adopt the following law vo t-
ed for by the Hellenic Parli ament:  
...........................................  
 CHAPTER G. TAX INCENTIVES FOR 
DEVELOPMENT  
..........................................  
Article  71 
Tax Incentives for Patents  
1. The p rofits of a company from the 
sale of the products it has manufa c-
tured using a patent, internationally 
acknowledged in the name of the co m-
pany and developed by it, shall be e x-
empted from the income tax for three 
consec utive years, starting from the 
year dur ing which income was collec t-
ed for the first time from the sale of the 
aforementioned products. The exem p-
tion shall be also granted when the 
products are manufactured in third pa r-
ty’s facilities. Moreover, it also a pplies 
to profits coming from the provisi on of 
services, when it r egards exploitation 
of a patent, also internationally 
acknowledged.  
2. By decision of the Minister of Educ a-
tion, Life -long Training and Religious 
Affairs, the company that is su bject to 
the provisions of this Article for the 
specif ic product or type of service pr o-
duced or provi ded, as the case may 
be, shall be approved following a r e-
quest submitted to the competent se r-
vice of the aforeme ntioned Ministry.  
3. Tax exempted profits shall a ppear in 
a tax -exempt reserves’ account and be calculated based on the net profits stated 
based on the timely submitted income tax 
statement, are deduced from the books 
kept, appear in the balance sheet and 
come from all the co mpany’s activities, 
after deducting profits that are exempted 
from the i ncome  tax and the profits from 
the participation in other companies, the 
deductions stipulated for forming the sta t-
utory reserves and the year profits actua l-
ly distributed or undertaken by the par t-
ners or the entrepr eneur, as well as tax -
exempt discounts for in vestments provi d-
ed for by develo pment laws.  
In case of sociétés anonymes and li mited 
liability companies, the sta tutory reserves 
and the distributed profits shall be r e-
duced to a mixed amount by the addition 
of the tax applicable to them. In case of 
compan ies keeping B Class books, pu r-
suant to the Greek Code on Books and 
Records, the reserve shall be formed 
from the net profits stated in the initial 
statement, after deducting profit taking. 
When the company collects income not 
falling under the provisions h ereof, the 
profits exemp ted from taxation shall be 
the part of the aforementioned profits co r-
respon ding to the income from the sale of 
the products or the provision of the se r-
vices cited in paragraph 1.  
4. The tax -exempt reserves formed pu r-
suant to the pre vious paragraph shall be 
subject to taxation under the general pr o-
visions of the Code on I ncome Taxation, 
by the part each time distributed, capita l-
ized or undertaken.  
5. By a joint decision of the Minister for 
Finance and the Minister for Educ ation, 
Life-Long Training and Religious A ffairs, 
the patent certification bodies, the cond i-
tions, the terms, the proc edure and any 
other necessary details for the application  157 of the provisions hereof shall be d e-
termined. If such decision is not i s-
sued, the provisions hereof shall not 
enter in effect.  6. The provisions hereof shall apply to 
sales of products or provision of se rvices 
falling under this Article and ta king place 
from 1st January 2010 and ther eafter,  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  158 MINISTERIAL DEC ISION  No 11970/B0012/POL.1203/10  
(GG 2147 B/31.12.2010)  
 
“Determination of terms, prerequisites and procedures regarding the  
implementation of the provisions of article 71 ‘Patent tax incentives’  
of Law No 3842/2010 (GG A/58/23.4.2010)”  
 
THE MINISTERS OF ECONOMY - 
EDUCATION, LIFELONG  
LEARNING & RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS  
 
With regard to:  
 
1. The provisions:  
a) Of article 52 “Establishment of ge n-
eral secretariats” and b) of article 90 
“Examination of the expen ses incurred 
by the regulative a dministrative acts” of 
the “Legislative Code on Government 
and Government Bodies” as rat ified by 
the first article of P D 63/05 “Codific ation 
of the legislation on the Government 
and Government Bodies” (GG 
A/98/22.4.2005).  
 
2. The provisions of the article 71 “P a-
tent tax incentives” of Law No. 
3842/2010 (GG A/58/23.4.2010).  
 
3. Law No. 1733/87 “Transfer of Tec h-
nology, inventions, technological innov a-
tions and establishment of the Greek 
Atomic Energy Commission” (GG  
A/171/22.9.1987) through which a pr i-
vate law legal entity is established op er-
ating under the name “Industrial Prope r-
ty Organization (OBI)”, as amended, 
complemented and in force.  
 
4. PD No. 77/88 “Provisions of the i m-
plementation of the Convention on 
Grant of European Patents as rat ified by 
Law No. 1607/1986”  (GG 
A/33/25.2.1988).  
 
5. PD No. 248/89 “Organization of the 
General Secretariat for R esearch and 
Technology” (GG A/116/10.5.1989) as 
amended by PD No. 179/92 (GG A/81/  
26.5.1992), PD 147/94 (GG A/99/4.7.1994) and PD 128/97 (GG 
A/115/9.6.1997).  
 
6. PD 185/09 “Re -establishment of the 
Ministry of Economy, merger of the Mi n-
istry of Economy and F inance with the 
Ministry of Development and the Mini s-
try of Merca ntile Marine, Aegean and 
Island Policy and its renaming to “Mini s-
try of Economy, Competitiv eness and 
Shipping”, conversion of the Mi nistry of 
Macedonia -Thrace to the General Se c-
retariat of Macedonia -Thrace under the 
administration of the Ministry of Interior 
of the General Se cretariat –Thrace and 
the General Se cretariat of Aegean and 
Island Policy” (GG A/213/  7.10.2009) . 
 
7. PD 187/09 “Ap pointment of Mi nisters 
and Deputy Ministers” (GG 
A/214/7.10.2009)  
 
8. PD 189/09 “Determination and reall o-
cation of competencies of the Mini stries” 
(GG A/221/5.11.2009) as amended by 
PD 24/10 “Redetermination of the co m-
petencies of the Ministries and amen d-
ment s of PD No. 189/2009” (GG A 
56/15.4.2010).  
 
9. Mutual Decision No. D6A1142500 
EX2010/26 -10-2010 (GG B/1725/3 -11-
2010) by the Prime Minister and Minister 
of Economy regarding the realloc ation of 
competencies to the Deputy Mi nister of 
Economy, Dimitrios Kousela s, we d e-
cide:  
 
APPROVAL OF ENTERPRISE  
FALLING UNDER ARTICLE 71 OF THE 
LAW 3842/2010.  
  159 1. For the needs of the article 71 of Law 
No. 3842/2010, an “internationally re c-
ognized patent” is d efined as one which 
has been granted and falls under at 
least one of the  following cases:  
 
a. European Patent that is gran ted by 
the European Patent Office (EPO) and 
has been consolidated in Greece.  
 
b. Patent Certificate consol idated by the 
Industrial Property Organiz ation (OBI) 
(excluded the Utility Model Ce rtificates ), 
which has  also been consolidated in one 
more countries, a) that has acceded to 
the Eur opean Patent Convention (EPC) 
or collaborates in fram ework, or b) that 
is a member of the OECD or an acce s-
sion candidate country or an enhanced 
engag ement country.  
Patent Certifi cates must be va lid at least 
until the last usage date for which the 
income tax exemption has been r e-
quested.  
 
2. The Industrial Property Organ isation 
(OBI), which was founded with the art i-
cle 1 of Law 1733/87, shall be the cert i-
fication body of the internat ionall y rec-
ognized and valid patents.  
 
3. The provisions of the article 71 of 
Law No. 3842/2010 also concern ne wly-
established or subordinate ente rprises 
to which the founder, shareholder or 
partner (natural or legal entity) contri b-
ute an internationally reco gnized patent, 
during their establis hment or increase of 
their share or company capital, pursuant 
to the pr ovisions herein.   
The valuation of the contribution shall be 
conducted by the commission of the a r-
ticle 9 of Legislative Law  2190/  1920.  
 
4. When the internationally reco gnized 
patent concerns a part or component of 
the manufactured product, this p atent 
must contribute to the cost that repr e-
sents the product’s manufacturing mat e-rials, at a rate of thirty per cent (30%) 
and more.  
 
5. The application for co mpliance is 
submitted by the interested ente rprise to 
the General Secretariat of R esearch and 
Technology of the Ministry of Education, 
Lifelong Learning and Religious Affairs, 
which forwards it onto OBI. After tho r-
oughly examining the adduced suppor t-
ing do cumentation, OBI a scertains that 
for the manufa cture of the product or the 
rendering of a service, the internationa l-
ly recognized patent has been used du r-
ing the year that the enterprise presen t-
ed income for the first time due to the 
sale of products or th e rendering of se r-
vices. It also ascertains that the intern a-
tionally recognized patent has been d e-
veloped by the ente rprise, pursuant to 
the provisions herein and it issues a ju s-
tified positive or negative pronounc e-
ment, which it forwards to the General 
Secretariat of R esearch and Technology 
for an approbated or r ejected decision to 
be issued by the Minister of Education, 
Lifelong Learning and Religious A ffairs. 
For this process, OBI may also use e x-
ternal e xperts.  
The adduced supporting docume ntation, 
which must be legally attes ted, includes 
a copy of the Patent Certificate as well 
as its validity certific ation or a receipt of 
paid fees to the competent patent o ffice 
for the uses that the tax exemption is 
requested. Documents pertaining from a 
foreign cou ntry must bear the Apostille 
stamp (Hague Co nvention, 5 October 
1961), according to the provisions of 
Law No. 1497/1984 (A 188) or a confi r-
mation by the Greek Consular or Dipl o-
matic A uthority.  
The examination process concer ning 
the prerequisites for complian ce to art i-
cle 71 of Law No. 3842/2010, incurs a 
fee which is levied by OBI and is dete r-
mined by the decision of OBI’s  Admini s-
trative Council . No application will be 
accepted if it is not accompanied by a  160 fee pa yment slip. In case of rejection of 
the applic ation, the fee is not r efunded.  
The applicant enterprise must pr esent 
all necessary evidence to prove that all 
preconditions of the law and the pr esent 
decision are met.  
 
6. The decision granted by the Mi nistry 
of Education, Lifelong Learning and R e-
ligious A ffairs will i nclude the name of 
the enterprise that shall fall under the 
provisions of article 71 of Law No. 3842/2010; the product or service that is 
manufactured or rendered, respe ctively; 
as well as the u ses for which the above 
mentioned regulation is v alid.  
 
Furthermore, the decision will be notified 
to the Public Economy Se rvice that the 
enterprise belongs.     
 
This decision to be published in the 
Government Gazette.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  161 LAW No 3966 (GG A’ 118, 24.05.2011)  
 
“Institut ional framework of Model Pilot Schools, Establishment of an  
Institute of Educational Policy, Organisation of the Institute of  
Computer Technology and Publications ‘DIOFANTOS’  
and other prov isions”  
THE PRESIDENT  
OF THE HE LLENIC REPUBLIC  
 
Hereby issues the following law that was 
adopted by the Hellenic Parli ament:  
 
CHAPTER D’  
MATTERS RELATING TO  
INDU STRIAL PROPERTY  
 
Article 53  
Harmonisation of the national law with 
Directive 2004/48/EC of the European 
Parliament and of the Council of 29  April 
2004 on  
the enforcement of  
intellectual property rights  
 
1. Paragraph 1 of article 17 of He llenic 
Law 1733/1987 (published in Hellenic 
Government Gazette A’ 171) is r eplaced 
as follows:  
“1. In any case of an infringement or 
threatened infringement of a copyright, 
the holder of such cop yright (rightholder) 
may request the lifting of the infring e-
ment and its omission in the future. The 
lifting of the infring ement may include, 
on application by the rightholder, indic a-
tively and not restrictively, (a) the recall 
of the go ods that were found to be i n-
fringing a right pr ovided for under the 
present law and, as in appropriate ca s-
es, materials principally used in the cr e-
ation or manufacture of these goods 
from the channels of commerce, (b) the 
definitive removal of these goods   and    
materials from the channels of co m-
merce or (c) the destruction of these 
goods and m aterials in accordance with 
paragraph 5. In considering the applic a-  
tion of the previous clause, the need for 
proportionality b etween the seriousness 
of the infri ngement and the remedies 
ordered, as  well as  the interests of 
third parties, shall be taken into account. 
The measures pr ovided for under the 
second clause are carried out at the e x-
pense of the infrin ger, unless particular 
reasons are i nvoked for not doi ng so. 
The rightholder may also exercise the 
rights provided for under the first clause 
of the present paragraph against inte r-
mediaries whose services are used by a 
third party to i nfringe the rights provided 
for under the present law (articles 10 
and 11 o f Directive 2004/ 48/EC). For 
each act of omission contributing to an 
infring ement, the court may impose a 
monetary pena lty of up to ten thousand 
(10,000.00) Euros in favour of the 
rightholder, while in all other cases art i-
cle 947 of the Hellenic Code of C ivil 
Procedure shall apply. In establishing 
the infringement of the obl igation not to 
act provided for under the preceding 
clause, the procedure provided for u n-
der art icles 686 et seq. of the Hellenic 
Code of Civil Procedure is a pplied.”  
2. Articles 17A, 17B,  7C, 17D, 17E, 17F, 
and 17G are added after art icle 17 of 
Hellenic Law 1733/1987 (pu blished in 
Hellenic Government Gazette A’ 171) as 
follows:  
Article 17A  
(Articles 6 and 8 of Directive 
2004/48/EC)  
Evidence and right of information  
 
1. When a party has presen ted reaso n-
ably available evidence sufficient to  162 support its claims of infringement or 
threat of infringement of the rights pr o-
vided for under this law, and has, in 
substantiating those claims, specified 
evidence which lies in the control of the 
opposing pa rty, the court may o rder, on 
application by the party, that such ev i-
dence be presented by the opposing 
party. The existence of a substantial 
number of copies, the other circu m-
stances of the case having been co n-
sidered, shall be considered to const i-
tute rea sonable evidence. If a party is 
summoned to produce the evidence 
provided for under the first clause and 
unjustifiably fails to produce such ev i-
dence, the claims of the party that 
sought the production or commun ication 
of such evidence shall be considered as 
confessed.  
 
2. Under the conditions provided for u n-
der the first clause of the previous par a-
graph, in the case of infringement co m-
mitted on a co mmercial scale, the court 
may also order, on application by a pa r-
ty, the notification of banking, f inancial 
or commercial documents in the co ntrol 
of the opposing party. The e xistence of 
a substantial number of copies, the ot h-
er circumstances of the case having 
been considered, shall be considered to 
constitute reasonable evidence of an 
infringement on a commercial scale. If a 
party is summoned to produce the do c-
uments provided for under the first 
clause and unjustifiably fails to produce 
such ev idence, the claims of the party 
that sought the production or commun i-
cation of such evidence shall be consi d-
ered as confess ed. 
 
3. In any case, the court shall e nsure 
the protection of confidential info r-
mation.  
 
4. In response to a justified request of 
the party, considered by the court as to its proportionality, which is filed with the 
action or and on its own within the co n-
text of  a case concerning an infring e-
ment of rights provided for under the 
present law, the president of the multi -
member court or the judge of the single -
member court, trying pursuant to the 
proceedings provided for under articles 
686 et seq. of the Hellenic Cod e of Civil 
Procedure, may, prior to the hearing of 
the case, order that i nformation on the 
origin and distribution networks of the 
goods or services which i nfringe a right 
provided for u nder this law be provided 
by the infringer. The same may be o r-
dered ag ainst any other person who (a) 
was found in possession of the infrin g-
ing goods on a comme rcial scale, (b) 
was found to be using the infringing se r-
vices on a commercial scale, (c) was 
found to be providing on a commercial 
scale services used in infringing a  right 
or (d) was indicated by the person r e-
ferred to in point (a), (b) or (c) as being 
involved in the production, manufa cture 
or distribution of the goods or the prov i-
sion of the services. Any party that u n-
justifiably violates an order of the court 
as pr ovided for under the present par a-
graph shall be sentenced to pay, in a d-
dition to the legal costs, a monetary 
penalty of up to one hundred thousand 
(100,000.00) Euros, which shall be d e-
posited in a public fund.  
 
5. The information referred to in par a-
graph 4 sh all, as appropriate, comprise 
(a) the names and addresses of the 
producers, manufacturers, distrib utors, 
suppliers and other previous holders of 
the goods or services, as well as the i n-
tended wholesalers and retailers, (b) i n-
formation on the quantities pr oduced, 
manufactured, delivered, received or o r-
dered, as well as the price obtained for 
the goods or se rvices in question.  
 
6. Paragraphs 4 and 5 shall apply wit h-
out prejudice to other prov isions which  163 (a) grant the righthol der rights to receive 
fuller info rmation, (b) govern the use in 
civil or criminal proceedings of the i n-
formation communicated pursuant to 
paragraphs 2 and 3 of this art icle, (c) 
govern responsibility for misuse of the 
right of information, or (d) afford an o p-
portunity for refusing to provide  infor-
mation which would force the person r e-
ferred to in paragraph 4 to admit to 
his/her own participation or that of 
his/her close relatives in an i nfringement 
of rights provided for under this law or 
(e) govern the protection of confidential i-
ty of inform ation sources or the pr o-
cessing of personal data.  
 
7. If the party responsible to provide i n-
formation provides inaccurate info r-
mation intentionally or with negligence, 
he/she is liable for damages that were 
caused for this reason.  
 
Article 17B  
(Articles 7 and  9 of Directive 
2004/48/EC)  
Precautionary evidence and other  
injunction measures  
 
1. In case of alleged infringement of a 
right protected under this law, the Si n-
gle-Member Court of First Instance shall 
order, as an injunction measure, the 
precautionary seizu re of items in the 
possession of the alleged infringer that 
constitute means of commitment or 
product or evidence of the infring ement. 
Instead of precautionary seizure, the 
court may order the detailed description 
of such items, including the taking of 
photographs. In cases provided for u n-
der the present pa ragraph, paragraph 1 
of article 687 of the Hellenic Code of 
Civil Proc edure shall be applied and, as 
appropriate, a prov isional order shall be 
issued pursuant to paragraph 2 of article 
691 of the Hellenic  Code of Civil Proc e-
dure.   
2. The court may issue against the a l-
leged infringer injunction measures i n-
tended to prevent any imminent i n-
fringement of the rights provided for u n-
der this law or to forbid, on a prov isional 
basis and subject, where appropriate, to  
a penalty payment pr ovided for under 
article 947 of the He llenic Code of Civil 
Procedure the continuation of the i n-
fringement, for each infringement or 
continuation of the i nfringements of such 
rights. In a scertaining that the conditions 
for the act ivatio n of the obligation to pay 
a monetary penalty have been met, pu r-
suant to the injunction measure ordered 
or the relative provision of par agraph 2 
of article 691 of the Hellenic Code of 
Civil Procedure, the procedure provided 
for by articles 686 et seq. of t he Hellenic 
Code of Civil Procedure shall apply. The 
court may make such continuation su b-
ject to the lodging of guarantees inten d-
ed to ensure the compensation of the 
rightholder. The court may also o rder 
the precautionary seizure or judicial s e-
questration of the goods suspected of 
infringing rights pr ovided for under this 
law so as to prevent their entry into or 
movement within the channels of co m-
merce.  
 
3. In the case of an infringement co m-
mitted on a commercial scale, the court 
may order, as an injun ction me asure, 
the precautionary seizure of the property 
of the alleged infringer, including the 
blocking of his bank a ccounts. To that 
end, the court may order any hol der of 
such relevant information to commun i-
cate bank, financial or commercial do c-
uments, or ensu re appropriate access to 
the relevant i nformation.  
 
4. The decision on the injunction 
measures referred to in paragraphs 2 
and 3 may, in appropriate cases, be 
taken without the defendant having  164 been heard as provided for under par a-
graph 1 of article 687 of th e Hellenic 
Code of Civil Proc edure, in particular 
where any delay would cause irrepar a-
ble harm to the rightholder. In that 
event, the decision or the order of the 
court is not notified to the defendant b e-
fore or during its enforcement, it shall be 
notified  on the first business day follo w-
ing the enforcement, otherwise, any re l-
evant procedural acts shall be null and 
void.  
 
5. In the cases of paragraphs 1, 2 and 
3, the court may make the measures 
subject to the lodging by the applicant of 
a security determined i n the dec ision or 
provisional order or/and without a sec u-
rity and shall specify a time limit for the 
lodging of the action for the main case 
as provided for under paragraph 1 of a r-
ticle 693 of the He llenic Code of Civil 
Procedure, which cannot exceed thirt y 
(30) days. If no action is lodged within 
said time limit, the injunction mea sure 
shall be lifted ipso jure.  
 
6. The court shall order injunction 
measures or precautionary evidence 
without needing to specify the evidence 
proving the infringement or threat of  in-
fringement, only to determine such ev i-
dence on a category b asis. 
 
7. In respect of paragraphs 1 to 6, the 
court shall have the authority to r equire 
the applicant to provide any re asonably 
available evidence in order to conclude, 
on the basis of sufficient information, 
that the a pplicant is the rightholder and 
that the applicant's right is being i n-
fringed, or that such infringement is i m-
minent.  
 
8. Where the injunction measures pr o-
vided for under this article are r evoked 
due to any act or omission by the appl i-cant or where it is su bsequently found 
that there has been no infringement or 
threat of infringement of the rights pr o-
vided for under this law, the court may 
order the applicant, if he acted abusiv e-
ly, upon request of the defendant, to 
provide the defendant  appropriate co m-
pensation for any injury caused by those 
measures.  
Article 17C  
(Article 12 of Directive 2004/48/EC)  
Alternative measures  
 
On application by the person liable to be 
subject to the measures provided for 
under articles 17A and 17B, the court 
may order pecuniary compensation to 
be paid to the injured party i nstead of 
applying the aforementioned measures 
if that person acted unintentionally or 
without negligence, if exec ution of the 
measures in question would cause him 
disproportionate harm and i f pecuniary 
compensation to the injured party a p-
pears reasonably sati sfactory.  
 
Article 17D  
(Articles 13, 14 and 15 of Directive 
2004/48/EC)  
Damages, legal costs and  
public ation of judicial decisions  
 
1. On application by the injured party, 
the court may order the i nfringer who 
knowingly, or with re asonable grounds 
to know, engaged in an infringing activ i-
ty, to pay the rightholder damages a p-
propriate to the actual prejudice su ffered 
by him as a result of the i nfringement  of 
his right . In setting the compens ation the 
court (a) shall take into account all a p-
propriate aspects, such as the negative 
economic cons equences, including lost 
profits, which the injured party has su f-
fered, any unfair profits made by the i n-
fringer and, in appropriate cases, el e-
ments other than economic factors, 
such as the moral prejudice caused to  165 the rightholder by the infringement , or 
(b) as an alternative to clause (a), may, 
in appropriate cases, set the compens a-
tion as a lump sum on the basis of el e-
ments such as at least the amount of 
royalties or fees which would have been 
due if the infringer had requested a u-
thoris ation to use the infringed right.  
 
2. In the cases provided for under the 
present law , the general legal costs and 
expenses shall mandat orily include any 
other relative e xpendi ture reasonably 
incurred by the successful party, such 
as wi tness costs, attorney fees, fees of 
the experts and technical consul tants of 
the parties and expen ses for finding the 
infringers. In all other cases, the prov i-
sions set forth in art icles 173 et se q. of 
the Hellenic Code of Civil Procedure 
shall a pply. 
 
3.  The court, on application by the pa r-
ty, may allow it to publish all or part of 
the decision concerning rights pr otected 
under the present law in the media or on 
the internet at the expense of the u n-
successful party.  
 
Article 17E  
(Articles 17 and 19 of Directive 
2004/48/EC)  
Codes of conduct and Exchange of i n-
formation  
 
1. The interested trade or profe ssional 
associations develop codes of conduct 
aimed at contributing on a national, 
Community or internati onal level t o-
wards the enforcement of the rights pr o-
vided for under the present law. The 
codes of conduct and any evalu ations of 
the application of these codes of co n-
duct are submitted to the Commi ssion of 
the European Union.  
 2. The Industrial Property Organ isation 
is designated the national correspon d-
ent for any question r elating to the rights 
provided for under the pr esent law.  
 
Article 17F  
(Article 4 of Directive 2004/48/EC)  
Persons entitled to apply for the  
application of measures  
 
The application of the  measures provi d-
ed for under paragraph 1 of article 17 
and articles 17A, 17B, 17C, 17D and 
17E may also be sought by:  
a. all other persons a uthorised to use 
those rights, in particular lice nsees, in 
accordance with the prov isions in force.  
b. professional def ence bodies that are 
regularly reco gnised as having a right to 
represent holders of inte llectual property 
rights, in accordance with the pr ovisions 
in force.  
 
Article 17G  
Application on other industrial  
property rights  
 
Paragraph 1 of article 17 and art icles 
17A, 17B, 17C, 17D, 17E and 17F a lso 
apply to the protection of holders of an 
entitlement to a supplementary prote c-
tion certificate for medicinal products 
and suppleme ntary protection certificate 
for plant protection products, holders of 
statements of extension of the force of a 
supplementary prote ction certificate for 
paediatric medicines and holders of ent i-
tlements to plant varieties, designations 
of origin and geographical indic ations.”  
3. Paragraph 1 of article 17 of Preside n-
tial Decree 45/1991 (pu blished in the 
Government G azette A’ 24) is replaced 
as fo llows:  
“1. In any case of an infringement or 
threatened infringement of exclusive 
rights that emanate from a protected t o- 166 pography, the holder of such topo graphy 
(rightholder) may request the lifting of 
the infringement and its omi ssion in the 
future. The lifting of the infringement 
may include, on application by the 
rightholder, indicatively and not restri c-
tively, (a) the recall of the goods that 
were found to be infringing a right pr o-
vided for under the  present decree and, 
as in appropriate cases, materials pri n-
cipally used in the creation or manufa c-
ture of these goods from the channels of 
commerce, (b) the definitive r emoval of 
these goods and materials from the 
channels of commerce or (c) the d e-
structi on of these goods and materials. 
In considering the application of the pr e-
vious clause, the need for proportionality 
between the seriousness of the i n-
fringement and the remedies o rdered, 
as well as the interests of third parties, 
shall be taken into accoun t. The 
measures provided for under the second 
clause are ca rried out at the expense of 
the infringer, unless particular re asons 
are invoked for not doing so. The 
rightholder may also exercise the rights 
provided for under the first clause of the 
present pa ragraph against intermedia r-
ies whose se rvices are used by a third 
party to infringe the rights provided for 
under the present law (articles 10 and 
11 of Directive 2004/48/EC). For each 
act of omission contributing to an i n-
fringement, the court may impose a  
monetary penalty of up to ten tho usand 
(10,000.00) Euros in favour of the 
rightholder, while in all other cases art i-
cle 947 of the Hellenic Code of Civil 
Procedure shall apply. In establishing 
the infring ement of the obligation not to 
act provided for und er the preceding 
clause, the procedure provided for u n-
der articles 686 et seq. of the Hellenic 
Code of Civil Pr ocedure is applied.”  
4. Paragraph 3 of article 17 of He llenic 
Presidential Decree 45/1991 (pu blished 
in Hellenic Government Gazette A’ 24) 
is replac ed as fo llows:  “The provisions set forth in par agraphs 
3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of article 17 of Hellenic 
Law 1733/1987, as well as those set 
forth in articles 17A to 17F of the same 
law, are accor dingly applied.”  
5. Paragraph 1 of article 28 of He llenic 
Presidential  Decree 259/1997 (pu b-
lished in Hellenic Government Gazette 
A’ 185) is replaced as fo llows:  
“1. In any case of an infringement or 
threatened infringement of a re gistered 
design or specimen, the holder of such 
design or specimen (rightholder) may 
request the  lifting of the infringement 
and its omission in the future. The lifting 
of the infringement may include, on a p-
plication by the rightholder, indic atively 
and not restrictively, (a) the r ecall of the 
goods that were found to be infringing a 
right provided f or under the present law 
and, as in appropriate cases, mat erials 
principally used in the creation or man u-
facture of these goods from the cha n-
nels of commerce, (b) the definitive r e-
moval of these goods and materials 
from the channels of commerce or (c) 
the destruction of these goods and m a-
terials. In considering the application of 
the previous clause, the need for pr o-
portionality b etween the seriousness of 
the infringement and the remedies o r-
dered, as well as the interests of third 
parties, shall be taken in to account. The 
measures provided for under the second 
clause are ca rried out at the expense of 
the infringer, unless parti cular reasons 
are invoked for not doing so. The 
rightholder may also exercise the rights 
provided for under the first clause of the 
present paragraph against intermedia r-
ies whose se rvices are used by a third 
party to infringe the rights provided for 
under the present law (articles 10 and 
11 of Directive 2004/48/EC). For each 
act of omission contributing to an i n-
fringement, the court may  impose a 
monetary penalty of up to ten thousand 
(10,000.00) Euros in favour of the 
rightholder, while in all other cases art i- 167 cle 947 of the Hellenic Code of Civil 
Procedure shall apply. In establishing 
the infring ement of the obligation not to 
act provide d for under the preceding 
clause, the procedure provided for u n-
der articles 686 et seq. of the Hellenic 
Code of Civil Procedure is applied.”  
6. Paragraph 2 of article 28 of He llenic 
Presidential Decree 259/1997 (pu b-
lished in Hellenic Government Gazette 
A’ 185 ) is replaced as fo llows:  
“The provisions set forth in par agraphs 
2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of article 17 of He l-
lenic Law 1733/1987, as well as those 
set forth in articles 17A to 17F of the 
same law, are accordingly applied.”  
7. a. In cases pending at the time the 
present law enters into force, the pr o-
cedural acts that have not been ca r-
ried out are carried out in accordance 
with the prov isions of that law.  
b. The duration of the dea dlines that 
had begun prior to the entry into force 
of this law is e stimated in accor dance 
with the provisions set forth in that 
law only if the stipula ted duration of 
those deadlines is greater than that 
provided for under the pr ovisions that 
were in force.  
 
 
 
 
 Article 61  
Entry into force  
 
1. Article 21 and paragraph 1 of article 
60 shall e nter into force on the date of 
start-up of the Industrial Property Orga n-
isation, which is determined pu rsuant to 
paragraph 33 of article 20.  
 
2. Sub-paragraph (h) of paragraph 2 of 
article 56 and paragraph 1 of article 59 
shall enter into force on 1 Septe mber 
2010.  
 
3. Paragraph 2 of article 60 shall enter 
into force from the date of winding -up of 
the Hellenic Organisation for the Publ i-
cation of Text Books ( ΟΕΔΒ ), namely 31 
Dece mber 2011, pursuant to paragraph 
1 of article 33.  
 
4. Paragraph 15 of article 59 and par a-
graph 3 of article 60 shall enter into 
force on 1 January 2011.  
 
5. All other provisions set forth in the 
present law shall enter into force on the 
date of its publication in the Hellenic 
Government Gazette, unless it is othe r-
wise provided for in the distinct  provi-
sions thereof.  
 
I hereby order the publication of the pr e-
sent law in the Hellenic Government 
Gazette and its enforc ement as a law of 
the State.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  168  
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE 46/23.04.2012 (GG A’ 95)  
“Amendment of Presidential Decree 77/1988 (GG A’ 33)  in applic ation of the Act 
revising the Convention on the Grant of European P atents of 29 November 2000 
that was ratified with  Law 3396/2005 (GG A’ 246)”  
THE PRESIDENT  
OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC  
Having regard to:  
1. The provisions  of paragraph  10 of a r-
ticle 23 of Law 1733/1987 on the ‘Tran s-
fer of technology, inventions and tec h-
nological innovation and est ablishment 
of the Atomic Energy Commission’ (G o-
vernment Gazette A’ 171),  
2. The provisions of paragraph 1 of art i-
cle 8 of Presidential Decree 189/2009 
on the ‘ Definition and re -distribution of 
the competencies of Ministers’ (G o-
vernment Gazette A’ 221), as it was r e-
placed with article 4 of  Presidential D e-
cree 24/2010 on the ‘Re -definition of the 
competencies of Ministers and ame n-
dments of Presidential Decree 
189/2009' (GG A’ 56),  
3. The provisions of article 90 of the 
Code on Government and Gover nment 
Bodies that was ratified with the first a r-
ticle of Presidential Decree 63/2005 
(Government Gazette A’ 98),  
4.  Presidential Decree 22/2012 on the 
‘Appointment of Minister s and Deputy 
Ministers’ (GG A’ 47),  
5. The fact that the provisions of the 
present Presidential Decree do not bu r-
den the federal bu dget, 
 
6. Opinion Nos 236/2009 and 261/2011 
of the Council of State with a proposal of 
the Minister of Education, Lifelong Lea r-
ning and Religious A ffairs,  
 
we hereby decide:   
 
Article 1  
Article 2 of Presidential Decree 77/1988 
is replaced as follows:  
“Article 2  
Definitions  
For the application of the present Pres i-
dential Decree, the following terms shall 
have the meanings provi ded for herein 
below:  
i. ‘OBI’ means the Industrial Pr operty 
Organisation, which has its registered 
offices in Athens (article 1 of Law 
1733/1987).  
j. ‘Convention’ means the Conve ntion 
on the Grant of European P atents that 
was ratified by Greece with Law 
1607/1986 (G overnment Gazette A’ 85).  
k. ‘Revision Act’ means the Act r evising 
the Convention on the Grant of Eur o-
pean Patents (European Patent Co n-
vention of 5 October 1973, which was 
amended on 17 December 1991) of 29 
November 2000 that was ratified by 
Greece with  Law 339 6/2005 (Gover n-
ment Gazette A’ 246).  
l. ‘EPO’ means the European P atent 
Organisation as it is defined in the Co n-
vention, as said convention was ame n-
ded with the Revision Act.  
m. ‘EPO’ means the European P atent 
Office as it is defined in the Convention, 
as said co nvention was amended with 
the Revision Act.  
n. ‘European application’ means an a p-
plication for the grant of a European p a-
tent.  169 o. ‘Bulletin’ means the Industrial Pr o-
perty Bulletin that is issued by the OBI 
(article 4 of Law 1733/1987).  
p. ‘Certified translation’ me ans the 
translation that was done by a lawyer or 
authority that has the right to ratify tran s-
lations.”  
Article 2  
Article 4 of Presidential Decree 77/1988 
is replaced as follows:  
“Article 4  
Language of the application  
3. The application for the grant of a E u-
ropean patent may be compl eted in any 
language. If the application is not co m-
pleted in one of the official la nguages of 
the EPO, in other words German, E n-
glish or French, it must be translated i n-
to one of said official languages, pu r-
suant to the provisions o f the Conve n-
tion, as said convention was amended 
with the Revision Act.  
4. Natural or legal persons who h ave 
their place of residence or registered o f-
fices in Greece, as well as Greek c i-
tizens who reside abroad, and file ce r-
tain documents with the EPO in Gree k 
are entitled to a r efund of the fees that 
are due pu rsuant to the provisions of the 
Convention, as said convention was 
amended with the R evision Act.” . 
Article 3  
Article 5 of Presidential Decree 77/1988 
is replaced as follows:  
“Article 5  
Documents of the  application  
The European application must i nclude 
at least the following doc uments:  
d. A statement with which the grant of a 
European patent is r equested.  e. Particulars that confirm the appl i-
cant’s identity or particulars that contain 
the applicant’s contact i nformation.  
f. A description of the invention or re f-
erence to a previously submitted appl i-
cation for the grant of a European p a-
tent.”  
 
Article 4  
Article 5a is inserted after article 5 of 
Hellenic Presidential Decree 77/1988 as 
follows:  
“Article 5a  
Priority Ri ght  
3. Pursuant to article 87 of the Conve n-
tion, as said article was amended with 
paragraph 34 of art icle 1 of the Revision 
Act, within the framework of the proc e-
dure for the grant of a European patent, 
the pr iority right that the applicant or his 
successor in title enjoys concerns all 
prior regular filings, regardless of 
whether these were filed in a state party 
to the Paris Convention for the Prote c-
tion of Industrial Property of 20 March 
1883 (as said convention has been r e-
vised) that was ratified with the first art i-
cle of Law 213/1975 (Government G a-
zette A’ 258) on the ratification of the 
Paris Convention of 1883 for the Prote c-
tion of Industrial Property, as said co n-
vention was r evised in Stockholm on 14 
July 1967, or in a Member of the World 
Trade O rganisa tion. 
4. In application of articles 1 and 3 of 
the Agreement on Trade -Related A s-
pects of Intellectual Property Rights that 
is contained in Law 2290/1995 on the 
‘Ratification of the final act co ncerning 
the results of the multilateral commercial  
negotiations carried out in the fram e-
work of the Uruguay Round’ (Gover n-
ment Gazette A’ 28), par agraph 1 of the 
present article, for re asons of reciprocity 
and equal trea tment, also applies in the 
case the pr iority right is invoked during 
the procedure for the filing of  applic a- 170 tions for the grant of a patent or utility 
model with the OBI  pursuant to  Law 
1733/1987.”  
 
Article 5  
Paragraph 3 of article 9 of Pres idential 
Decree 77/1988 is replaced as follows:  
“3. The translation and the doc uments 
that are attached thereto s hall be a c-
cepted by the OBI pr ovided they meet 
the typical conditions of prese ntation of 
designs and doc uments of articles 8 and 
9 of decision No. 15928/ ΕΦΑ/ 1253/  
24.12.1987 of the Minister of Indu stry, 
Energy and Tec hnology on the ‘Filing of 
applications  for the grant of a patent or 
utility model certif icates with the OBI  and 
keeping of record books’ (Government 
Gazette A’ 778).”  
 
Article 6  
Article 10a is inserted after article 10 of 
Presidential Decree 77/1988 as fo llows:  
“Article 10a  
Limitation or revoc ation of the  
provisional protection  
The provisional protection that is provi d-
ed for under article 10 of the present 
Presidential Decree does not produce 
results if the European patent has been 
revoked or limited in accordance with 
opposition, limitation o r revocation pr o-
ceedings before the EPO.”  
 
Article 7  
Paragraph 2 of article 12 of Pres idential 
Decree 77/1988 is replaced as fo llows:  
“2. The translation and the doc uments 
that are attached thereto shall be a c-
cepted by the OBI pr ovided they meet 
the typica l conditions of prese ntation of 
designs and doc uments of articles 8 and 
9 of decision No. 15928/ ΕΦΑ/ 
1253/24.12.1987 of the Minister of I n-
dustry, Energy and Tec hnology.”  Article 8  
Article 12a is inserted after article 12 of 
Presidential Decree 77/1988 as fo llows:  
“Article 12a  
Filing of a translation of a text for  
limitation or revocation of a  
Europ ean p atent 
10. Within three (3) months of the 
date of publication of the announc ement 
of the decision on the limitation or rev o-
cation of a European patent in the Eur o-
pean Patent Bulletin, the proprietor of 
the European patent is r equired to file 
the certified translation of the text on the 
basis of which the EPO limited or r e-
voked the European patent designating 
Greece with the OBI . 
11. If the deadline set out in par a-
graph 1 of the present article lapses 
without effect, the Eur opean patent is 
deemed to be void ab i nitio within the 
territory of Greece.  
12. The translation provided for u n-
der paragraph 1 of the present art icle is 
filed with the OBI only if the E uropean 
patent has effect in Greece, in applic a-
tion of paragraph 4 of article 23 of Law 
1733/1987 and article 11 of the present 
Presidential Decree, and an act for fo r-
feiture has not been published, pursuant 
to article 16 of Law 1733/1987.  
13. For the filing of the translation 
provided for under paragraph 1 of the 
present article with the OBI, as well as 
for the publica tion of said translation in 
the Bulletin, the provisions of art icles 12 
and 13 of the present Presidential D e-
cree, r espectively, shall apply.  
14. For the authenticity of the text 
provided for under paragraph 1 of the 
present article, articles 14 and 15 of the 
present Presidential Decree shall a pply. 
15. If an act for forfeiture is pu b-
lished, pursuant to article 16 of Law 
1733/1987, prior to the date of public a-
tion of the announcement of the dec i- 171 sion on the limitation or revoc ation of a 
European patent in the E uropean Patent 
Bulletin, the OBI shall record ex officio 
the announcement of the dec ision of the 
EPO on the limitation or revocation of 
the European patent in the Re gister of 
Patents, Volume B’, with the indication 
‘European’. Particulars of this a n-
nouncement a re published in the Bull e-
tin. 
16. The decision on the limit ation or 
revocation of a European patent enters 
into effect from the date of publication of 
the a nnouncement of the decision in the 
European Patent Bull etin. 
17. The European patent is deemed 
as not having  ab initio the rights, in part 
or in whole, pr ovided for under article 64 
of the Conve ntion, as said convention 
was amended with the Revision Act, if 
for said patent a decision for limit ation or 
revocation has been pu blished pursuant 
to paragraph 7 of the present art icle. 
18. In all other cases, the prov isions 
provided for hereunder shall a pply.” 
Article 9  
Article 18a is inserted after article 18 of 
Presidential Decree 77/1988 as fo llows:  
“Article 18a  
Retroactive payment of annual fees  
 
4. In the case of acceptanc e by the 
Enlarged Board of Appeal of the Eur o-
pean Patent Office of a petition for r e-
view of a prior decision of the Board of 
Appeal of the party adversely affected 
pursuant to article 112a of the Conve n-
tion, as said article was completed with 
paragraph 55 of article 1 of the Rev ision 
Act, and reinstatement of a revoked E u-
ropean patent with a subsequent dec i-
sion of the Board of Appeal of the EPO, 
the annual fees of the previous years of 
protection that are due, together with the surcharges provided for under  the law, 
shall be paid to the OBI  
5. The above fees shall be paid in 
accordance with the terms and proc e-
dure provided for under sub -paragraph 
(g) of paragraph 10 of article 2 and art i-
cle 24 of Law 1733/1987 and the 
amounts that correspond to those 
amounts th at are paid in the case of late 
payment are paid in accordance with the 
last clause of paragraph 2 of article 24 
of Law 1733/1987.  
6. The OBI shall record in the Re g-
ister of Patents, Volume B’, with the i n-
dication ‘European’, the a nnouncement 
of the decision of the EPO on the rei n-
statement of the European patent. Pa r-
ticulars of this announcement are pu b-
lished in the Bu lletin”.  
Article 10  
Sub-paragraph (b) of article 20 of Pres i-
dential Decree 77/1988 is r eplaced as 
follows:  
“b. The European application was file d 
in Greek and its translation, pursuant 
to paragraph 2 of article 14 of the 
Convention, as it was amended with 
paragraph 3 of article 1 of the Rev i-
sion Act, was not filed with the EPO 
within a deadline of two (2) months 
of the date of filing of the appl ication 
for the grant of a Eur opean patent.”  
Article 11  
The second clause of the first pa ragraph 
of article 21 of Presidential Decree 
77/1988 is replaced as fo llows:  
“Articles 135 and 137 of the Co nvention, 
as said articles were amended with pa r-
agraphs 72 an d 74, respectively, of art i-
cle 1 of the Revision Act, apply accor d-
ingly.”   172 Article 12  
Paragraph 1 of article 23 of Hellenic 
Presidential Decree 77/1988 is r eplaced 
as follows:  
“1. The OBI shall record in the Register 
of Patents, Volume B’, with the indic a-
tion ‘European’, the particulars that co n-
cern European patents and that are re c-
orded in the Register of European P a-
tents, pursuant to article 127 of the 
Convention, as said article was amen d-
ed with paragraph 65 of art icle 1 of the 
Revision Act.”  
Article 13  
Article 23a is inserted after article 23 of 
Presidential Decree 77/1988 as fo llows:  
“Article 23a  
Confirmation of registration in the  
 Register 
1. The OBI shall grant the propri etor of 
the certificate of filing of a translation of 
a European patent a rat ified c opy of the 
filing and of all poss ible changes in the 
ownership status of the certificate from 
the Register of Patents, Volume B’, with 
the indication ‘European’, that the O r-
ganisation keeps. The rat ified copy shall be a ccompanied by the corresponding 
publications in the Bulletin.  
2. The ratified copy provided for under 
paragraph 1 of the present article, which 
bears the title ‘Confirmation of registr a-
tion in the Registers of the OBI, is pr o-
vided on the same day for use before 
the EPO within the framework of th e 
proceedings for the limitation or revoc a-
tion of a European p atent. 
3. The ratified copy provided for under 
paragraph 1 of the present article is a c-
companied by its tran slation into English 
by the Services of the OBI” . 
Article 14  
Entry into force  
 
Without pr ejudice to the transitional pr o-
visions of article 7 of the Rev ision Act, 
the present Presidential Decree is valid 
from the date the Revision Act enters 
into force, in other words from 13 D e-
cember 2007.  
We hereby assign the publication of the 
present Presid ential Decree in the Go v-
ernment Gazette and its execution to 
the Minister of Education, Lifelong 
Learning and Rel igious Affairs.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  173 DECISION OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND THE MINISTER OF  DEVELO PMENT ,  
COMPETITIVENESS , INFRASTRUCTURES, TRANSPORT AND NETWORKS   
No 30376/ Δ106 721/5.7.2012 (GG Β’ 2094, 6.7.2012)  
 
“Assignment of competences to the Deputy Minister of Development,  
Competitiveness, Infrastructures, Transport and Networks,  
Mr. Athanasios Sko rdas”   
 
 
 
THE PRIME MINISTER  AND THE 
MINISTER OF DEVELOPMENT , 
COMPET ITIVENESS, 
INFRASTRUCTURES, TRANSPORT 
AND NETWORKS  
 
Having regard to:  
 
1. Article 83, paragraph 2, of the Const i-
tution;  
 
2. Articles 41, paragraph 5, and 90 of 
the Legislation Code for the Gover n-
ment and Governmental Bodies, val i-
dated with article 1, presi dential decree  
63/2005 ( Α΄ 98), on the “Codification of 
the le gislation for the Government and 
governmental bodies”;  
 
3. Presidential  Decree  381/1989  on the 
“Organisation of the Ministry of Industry, 
Energy and Technology” (Α΄ 168);  
 
4. Presidential  Decree  229/1986 on the 
“Estab lishment and organisation of the 
General Secretariat of Industry” (Α΄ 96); 
 
5. Presidential  Decree  397/1988 on the 
“Organisation of the Ministry of Co m-
merce” (Α΄ 185);  
 
6. Presidential  Decree  59/1996 on the 
“Establishment of the General Secreta r-
iat of Comm erce and d etermination of its 
competences” (Α΄ 51); 
 
7. Presidential  Decree  27/1996  on the 
“Merging of the Ministries of Tourism, 
Industry, Energy and Technology and Commerce in the Ministry of Develo p-
ment” ( Α΄ 19); 
 
8. Presidential  Decree  197/1997  on the 
“Establishment of the General Secreta r-
iat for the Consumer”  (Α΄ 156); 
 
9. Presidential  Decree  248/1989 on the 
“Organisation of the General Secretariat 
for R esearch and Technology”  (Α΄ 116);  
 
10. Law 2860/2000 “Management, 
monitoring and control of the Comm uni-
ty Support Framework”  (Α΄ 251);  
 
11. Law 3614/2007 on the “Manag e-
ment , control  and implementation of d e-
velopment interventions for the 
2007−2013 programming period ” (Α΄ 
267);  
 
12. Law 3297/2004 on the “Consumer’s 
Ombudsman, regulation of matters of 
the Ministry of Develo pment and other 
provisions” (Α΄ 259);  
 
13. Law 3728/2008 on the “Market S u-
pervision Service and other se rvices”  (Α΄ 
258); 
 
14. Law 3959/2011  on the “Prote ction of 
free competition” (Α΄ 93); 
 
15. Presidential  Decree  189/2009  on the 
“Determ ination and redistribution of 
competencies of the Mi nistries” (Α΄ 221);  
 
16. Presidential  Decree  85/2012 on the 
“Establishment and change of name of 
the Mi nistries, transport and abolition of 
services”  (Α΄ 141);  
  174 17. Presidential  Decree  86/2012 on the 
“App ointment of Ministers, Deputy Mini s-
ters and Vice -Ministers”  (Α΄ 141);  
18. The fact that no expenditure derives 
from this Decision for the state budget, 
we d ecide:  
 
Article  1 
 
The Minister of Development, Compet i-
tiveness, Infrastructure, Transport and 
Networks:  
 
a. determines the policy of the Ministry 
in the framework of the dec isions of the 
Cabinet and the other collective go v-
ernmental bodies; coordinates this pol i-
cy and supe rvise its implementation by 
the Mi nisterial services;  
 
b. has the competence of legislative in i-
tiative;  
 
c. represents the Ministry in the Intern a-
tional Organizations and manages the 
promotion and communication of the 
Ministry’s work in general in all sectors.   
 
Article 2  
 
We assign  the Deputy  Minister  of De-
velopment, Competitiveness , Infrastru c-
ture, Transport and Networks , Mr. Ath a-
nasios Skordas, the following comp e-
tences:  
 
Α. the application of the comp etences of 
the: 
 
a. General Secretariat of Industry;  
 
b. General Secretariat of Co mmerce;  
 
c. General Secretariat of Consu mers 
 
d. Market Supervision Service  
 
Β. the supervision of : 
 a. Thessaloniki International Fair SA 
(TIF SA);’  
 
b.  HELEXPO SA; 
c. the Industrial Property Organis ation 
 
d. the organisations, other bodies and 
independent authorities me ntioned as 
the scope of competen ces of para A, 
with the exception of the Hellenic Fund 
for Entrepr eneurship and Development 
SA (ETEAN SA), of L. 3912/2011 ( Α΄ 
17). 
 
Article  3 
 
1. In the framework of exercising the 
competences under Article, the follo wing 
are also included:  
 
a. the compe tencies of parliame ntary 
control;  
 
b. the proposal for the issuance of ind i-
vidual and regulatory orders;  
 
c. the issuance of acts of individual and 
regulatory character;  
 
d. the proposal for the issuance of o r-
ders and the issuance of acts jointly with 
other Ministers, Deputy Ministers and 
Vice Ministers  
 
e. the participation in the collective go v-
ernment bodies;  
 
f. the establishment and setting -up of 
Committees and Work Groups, paid or 
not; 
 
g. the submission of questions to the 
Legal Council of the State a nd the a c-
ceptance of the relevant opinions.  
 
2. The competences of paragraph 1, 
cases e and f, of this article, are also 
exercised by the Minister of Develo p-
ment, Competitiveness, Infrastructure, 
Transport and Ne tworks .  175  
3. The competences stipulated in Ar ticle 
2 do not include the appointment of the 
admi nistration of the supervised bodies 
and independent authorities or the se t-
ting up of se rvice councils, as well as 
the questions for the for selection of 
Heads of General Directorates, Div i-
sions and Independ ent Offices, their a s-
signment and all the issues of their se r-
vice status.  
 4. The Minister is competent for the lift-
ing of any doubts  regarding  the comp e-
tence  of any body  of the Ministry  of De-
velopment, Competitiveness, Infrastru c-
ture, Transport and Ne tworks. 
 
Article 4  
 
This decision enters into force from the 
publication date in the Government G a-
zette.  
This decision is to be published in the 
Government  Gazette.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  176 LAW  No 4144 ( GG Α' 88, 18 .4.2013)  
“Fight against delinquency in Social Security System, in labour market  
and other dispositions falling under the competence of the   
Ministry of Labour, Social Insurance and Welfare”  
 
 
Article 79  
Regulatory issues of the Hellenic  
Industrial Property Organi sation  
 
1. All applications submitted to the He l-
lenic Industrial Property Organ isation 
(OBI) for granting any type of industrial 
property title and certi ficate may be filed 
via internet, pu rsuant to the applicable 
legislation in force an d namely in a c-
cordance with the Law no.  1733/1987 
(A' 171), the Presidential Decrees no. 
77/1988 (A' 33), no. 16/1991 (A' 6), no. 
45/1991 (A' 24), no. 415/1995 (A'24), 
no. 259/1997 (A' 185), and no. 46/2012 
(A' 950). Regarding certification of ele c-
tronic signatures, the provisions of the 
Presidential Decree no. 150/2001 (A' 
125) on electronic signature certif ication 
shall apply mutatis m utandis.  
 
 2. Electronic filing shall not be pe rmitted 
for inventions of Law no. 4325/1963 (A' 
156) 
 
3. All terms, condit ions, procedures, 
technical requirements and any matter 
related to the implementation of par a-
graph 1 shall be laid down by Order of 
the Minister of Deve lopment, Compet i-
tiveness, Infrastructure, Transport and 
Networks.    
 
4.  The Hellenic Industrial Proper ty Or-
ganisation is supervised by the General 
Secreta riat for Industry, which comes 
under the auspices of the Ministry of 
Development, Co mpetitiveness, Infr a-
structure, Transport and Networks. Any 
general of specific provision contrary to 
the present section  is hereby r epealed.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  177 MINISTERIAL DECISION 12625/1/2014  
 
“Electronic distribu tion of documents to and from  
the Industrial Property Organi sation (OBI)  
and electronic filing of industrial design or model registr ation” 
 
 
THE MINISTER  
OF DEVELOPMENT AND 
COMPETITIVENESS  
 
Having regard to the following:  
 
1. Articles 1 (2), 2 (13), 4 (2)  and 7 
(11) of L. 1733/1987, «Technology 
transfer, inventions, and technological 
innovation », as amended by Art. 18, of 
Law No 1733/1987 (GG 201, A’ of 
20.11.1987)  
2. provisions of PD 232/92 "E xit of the 
Industrial Property Organ ization from the 
Public Secto r» [GG 120/ Α/14.7.1992].  
3. L. 3429/2005 «State Owned Organ i-
zations (SOE/DEKO )»  [GG 
314/Α/27.12.2005], as amended and in 
force.  
4. L. 3979/2011 «On Electronic Go v-
ernment and other provisions» [GG 
138/Α/16.06.2011].   
5. provisions of article 79 in L. 4144 / 
2013 " Tackling deli nquency in the sector 
of Social Security and the labor market 
and other prov isions of the Ministry of 
Labor, Social Security and Welfare » 
[GG 88/ Α/18.04.2013],.   
6. provisions of article 41 on "N ational 
time" in L. 4155/2013 "National Electro n-
ic Public Procur ement System and other 
provisions» [GG 120/ Α/29.05.2013].  7. Presidential Decree 259/1997 "I m-
plementing Provisions of the Hague 
Agreement Concer ning the International 
Deposit of Industrial Designs and Mo d-
els as ra tified by Law 2417/1996 and 
provisions regarding the national prote c-
tion t itle» [GG 185/ Α/19.09.1997).  
8. Presidential Decree No. 150/2001 
"Adaptation to D irective 99/93/EC of the 
European Parli ament and of the Council 
on a Community framework for electro n-
ic signatures» [GG 125/ Α/ 25.06.200 1]. 
9. Presidential Decree No  63/2005 
"Codification of the legislation on Go v-
ernment and Governmental Bodies» 
[GG 98/ Α/22.04.2005].  
10. provisions of PD 116/2014, A rticle 
45 "Organization of the Ministry for D e-
velopment and Compet itiveness» (GG 
185/Α/3.9.2014)  
11. Presidential Decree No . 85/2012 
[GG 141/ Α/21.06.2012] «Establishment 
and renaming of Ministries, transference 
and elim ination of services».  
12. Presidential Decree No.  
118/2013 [GG 152/ Α/25.06.2013] r e-
garding amendment of PD 85/2012 [GG 
141/Α/21.06.2012]  « Esta blishment and 
renaming of Mini stries »  
13. Presidential Decree no  D 
158/2014 [GG 240/ Α/3.11.2014 «A p-
pointment of Ministers» and the Presi-
dential Decree no  89/2014 (GG 
134/Α/10.06.2014) « Appointment of  178 Ministers, Alternate Ministers and Dep u-
ty Mini sters»  
14. Decision no 54169/31 -10-2014 
[GG 2944/ Β/3.11.2014] of the Prime 
Minister and the Minister for Develo p-
ment and Competitiveness for delega t-
ing powers to the Deputy Minister of D e-
velopment and Competitiveness, Mr. 
Odysseas Ko nstantinopoulos  
15. Decision no 54248/  30.10.2014 [GG 
676/ΥΟΔΔ / 3.11.2014] of the Prime Mi n-
ister and the Minister for Deve lopment 
and Competitiveness for appointing Mr 
Georgios Stergiou to the post of revoc a-
ble General Secretary of Indu stry 
16. Ministerial Decision no 
15928/EFA/1253/13.12.1987 [GG 
778/Β/31.12.1987] «Filing of applic a-
tions for granting p atents or utility model 
certificates with O.B.I. and keeping of 
record books».  
17. Document No. 4579/ 09.05.2014 
registered at the Deputy Minister's O f-
fice submitting OBI's request for iss u-
ance of an MD on " Electronic distrib u-
tion of documents to and from the Indu s-
trial Property Organization (OBI) and 
electronic filing of industrial design or 
model registration" and the attached 
therein abstracts of the Board minutes 
no. 07 dated 04.10.2014  
18. The set of actions  of the Quality Po l-
icy Directorate of the General Secretar i-
at for Industry b efore the date when the 
PD 116/2014 enters into force and the 
undertaking of OBI superv ision by the 
Department for Business Inn ovation and 
New Technol ogies 
19. The fact that the decisi on does not 
incur any expenses on the state budget.  WE DECIDE  
CHAPTER ONE  
GENERAL PROVISIONS  
Article 1  
Scope  
This ministerial decision aims to esta b-
lish the conditions and technical r e-
quirements for the safe electronic distr i-
bution of do cuments to and from  OBI 
using information and commun ication 
technologies (ICT) and implementing 
electronic filing of applications of indu s-
trial d esigns or models.  
Article 2  
Application field  
1. This Ministerial Decision shall be a p-
plied for all kinds of titles, certif icates, 
certifications, copies and documents of 
correspon dence or information issued 
by the OBI, u nder the current legislation 
in the fram ework of its powers.  
2. This Ministerial Decision shall not 
apply to documents or certif icates for 
inventions classified as tempor arily or 
permanently conf idential, pursuant to 
Law 4325/1963 ( Α’ 156).  
 
Article 3  
Definitions  
For the purposes of this Decision:  
a. «ΟΒΙ» or «Organi sation»  is the Indu s-
trial Property Organization based in 
Athens (Article 1 law 1733/1987).  
b. «ICT»  are the Information and Co m-
munication Technologies.  
c.  «System»,  is the ICT sy stem used by 
the Industrial Property Orga nisation.   179 d. «Advanced electronic sign ature»,  is 
the electronic signature, which meets 
the following cond itions: a) is uniquely 
linked to the signatory, b) is capable of 
determining the identity of the sign atory 
in a special and excl usive manner, c) is 
created using means that the signatory 
can maintain under his/her sole control 
and d) is co nnected to the data to which 
it relates in such a manner that it can 
identify any subsequent change of the 
data 
e. «Signatory» , is the natural or legal 
person who holds the sign ature creation 
device and acts either in his/her own 
name or in the name of another natural 
or legal person or ent ity  
f. «Time stamp»:  Sequence of chara c-
ters or figures that indicate safely the 
date and time when an act or action o c-
curred and is issued by means of a time -
stamping se rvice provider  
g. «Exact time»:  The refe rence to data 
which determine the year, month, date, 
hour, minute and se cond. For OBI, in 
accor dance with the provisions herein,  
the exact time is determined by the N a-
tional Greek time, pursuant to Art icle 41 
(1) of law 4155/2013 on Natio nal e-
procurement system and other prov i-
sions ( Α’ 120).  
 
CHAPTER TWO  
MEANS OF ELECTRONIC 
COMMUNICATION WITH OBI  
Article 4  
Access to the website  
The access to the website of the Orga n-
isation is free in case of information a c-cessible to all interested pa rties, such as 
documents and other instructions or in 
case of OBI’s search engine results r e-
garding applications or industrial prope r-
ty titles, pursua nt to the current legisl a-
tion. 
Article 5  
Electronic mail  
The copies of published applic ations or 
titles, the provisions of technological i n-
formation, or the answers to questions 
regarding Organi sation’s services may, 
upon request of the inte rested party, b e 
sent via email. In this case the re levant 
request is to be sent to OBI via email by 
the concerned party at Organi sation’s 
email address and it constitutes the e x-
press consent of that party to use this 
specific e -mail address for reception of 
any OBI’s r esponse.  
 
Article 6   
Proof of disclosure of documents  
OBI shall, obligatorily, and for any ele c-
tronic transmission, issue proof of di s-
patch of any document co mprising of, at 
least, the document that was sent, ide n-
tification of the signat ory as the sender 
on the part of the OBI, the details of the 
recipient's identity or the identity of 
his/her legal representative and the e x-
act time of sending the doc ument.  
 
Article 7   
Certified electronic co mmunication  
1. For any communication or tran saction 
with the Organi sation, which concerns 
the process of filing or granting indu strial 
property titles or certificates, the regi s-
tration pr ocess related to any ownership  180 changes, according to the current legi s-
lation, as well as any act or decision of 
the Organi sation having leg al cons e-
quences for the tran sacting party, it is 
required that the transacting na tural or 
legal pe rson or their legal representative 
provide proof of identity and authentic a-
tion. 
2. The requirement of paragraph 1 
above is met by means of using an a d-
vanced ele ctronic signature based on a 
qualified certificate and created by a s e-
cure device, pursuant to Presidential 
Decree 150/2001.  
 
CHAPTER  THREE  
ELECTRONIC TRANSACTION 
SERVICES  
Article 8   
Use of electronic transaction  
services with OBI  
The realization of any t ransactions in the 
system is at the option of the transacting 
party and requires compliance with cu r-
rent system safety rules.  
 
Article 9   
Sign up for electronic  
transaction se rvices 
1. In order to use the OBI electronic 
transaction services the transacting p ar-
ty shall be registered and his/her regi s-
tration shall be accompanied by the 
necessary supporting doc uments and 
legal evidence to confirm their identity. 
The registr ation request constitutes a 
declaration of intent by the oper ator to 
use the OBI’s electro nic transaction se r-
vices.  2. Confirmation of the identity (authe n-
tication) of the transacting pa rty is based 
on credentials held a ccording to which 
the correctness of his/her identity is re c-
ognized and confirmed  
3. In order to use an advanced electro n-
ic signatu re the transacting party should 
hold a qualified certificate, which is ge n-
erated by a s ecure device, pursuant to 
Preside ntial Decree 150/2001.  
Article 10  
Personal mailbox  
1. By subscribing to the se rvices of OBI, 
a personal communication a ccount is 
created be tween the transacting party  
and OBI and a personal mailbox is 
opened.  
2. In this case any correspon dence or 
communications of the Organ ization to 
the transacting parties are made using 
the mailbox.  
3. The mailbox provides automatic do c-
ument sending confirmation with the 
OBI marked as the sender.  
4. The mailbox holder and whoever is 
legally authorized by him/her have a c-
cess to electronic documents in the 
mailbox.  
Article 11   
Disclosure of documents through the 
mailbox  
1. It is assumed that the party transac t-
ing with OBI  accesses the co ntent of the 
disclosed document through the mailbox 
granted by OBI at the exact time of a u-
tomatic confirmation of dispatch as sta t-
ed on the document by using the secure 
Time -Stamp.   181 2. All OBI mailboxes have an a utomatic 
document sending alarm system to the 
holder by use of an icon and an audible 
signal.  
 
Article 12   
Electronic signature ce rtificates  
1. For the issuance of electronic sign a-
ture certificates to emplo yees of OBI or 
to parties transacting with OBI, Regul a-
tion No. 248/71 on Electronic S ignature 
Certification Service (B 603) dated May 
16, 2002 by the National Telecommun i-
cations and Post Commission (EETT) 
applies, as in force.  
2. OBI informs the contracting pa rties on 
the electronic signature ce rtificates of 
paragraph 1 above, which the centr al 
electronic system of the Organi sation 
recognizes and accepts.  
3. Qualified certificates shall be granted 
only to natural persons with legal capa c-
ity. 
4. If a document or an act has to be 
signed by more persons, the pr ocedure 
of certification of the ele ctronic  signature 
applies to each of them, seque ntially.  
 
Article 13  
Validity of electronic documents  
and e vidence value  
1. All kinds of electronic documents 
drawn up by the OBI bear an a dvanced 
electronic signature autho rized by the 
Director General of OBI, emplo yee of 
the Organi sation, based on a qualified 
certificate and created by a secure si g-
nature d evice. 2. Electronic documents shall obligator i-
ly bear a secure timestamp.  
3. The documents meeting the terms of 
the above paragraphs have the same 
legal and evidential v alue with doc u-
ments bearing a manual OBI sign ature 
and stamp.  
 
Article 14   
Electronic document copies  
1. Electronic copies produced by the 
system are considered to be valid as 
exact copies if the ori ginal electronic or 
paper document is held by the Organ i-
sation and if after the process of regi s-
tration, digitization, reproduction and 
printing the resulting document is ident i-
cal to the electronic copy and the copy 
bears an advanced electronic si gnature 
by an autho rized OBI officer of and safe 
Time Stamp.  
2. If printed material contained in regi s-
ters or industrial property titles' records 
held by OBI is digi tized in accordance 
with the appl icable law, certification of 
the ident ity of the original with the exact 
electronic copy is accompanied by a 
certificate of in tegrity and authe nticity of 
the copy.  
3. Destruction of any original paper 
documents after production of digi tized 
equivalent copy is not permi tted without 
observance of the pr ocess described in 
PD 162/1979 "On li quidation of the files 
of the Public Servic es" (A'42), as valid 
today.  
 
  182 CHAPTER  FOUR   
ELECTRONIC FILING OF 
APPLICATION FOR THE 
REGISTRATION OF INDUSTRIAL 
DESIGN OR MODEL  
 
Article 15   
Electronic application filing  
1. An application for a design registr a-
tion with the OBI may be filed electron i-
cally via  the Inte rnet. 
2. Electronic design or model submi s-
sion means transmission over the Inte r-
net to the OBI of a r equest to register a 
design or model with the details of Art i-
cle 20 (2) of PD 259/1997.  
3. Electronic filing may be acco mpanied 
by the documents of Article 20 (3) of PD 
259/1997 attached therein.  
4. In order to proceed to online applic a-
tion for design registr ation it is required 
that the transacting pa rty is registered in 
the corresponding application on the 
website of the Orga nization, pursuant to 
Article 9 herein.  
 
Article 16   
Filing date  
1. The date of transmission of the ele c-
tronic application online is the 
timestamp on the receipt of the doc u-
ments issued by the OBI, which is a c-
comp anied by a copy of the completed 
online applic ation file complying to the 
system r equirements.  
2. Electronic filing is consi dered normal 
and acceptable if it satisfies the cond i-
tions of par agraphs 2 and 6 of Article 20 of Presidential D ecree No. 259/1997, in 
which case OBI gives a filing date and 
number.  
 
Article 17   
Format of electronic documents  
1. The graphic illustrations or phot o-
graphs of the designs or models that 
accompany any electronic filing in a c-
cordance with Art icle 21 of Presidential 
Decree No. 259/1997 may be transmi t-
ted ele ctronically to OBI o nly in a file in 
the format set in the system requir e-
ments.  
2. The maximum permissible limit of 
layouts per design is set to twe nty (20).  
3. Any other supporting doc uments are 
attached to the electronic fi ling only in 
the file format that meets the system r e-
quirements.  
4. For any other matter, the prov isions 
of Ministerial Decision 15928 /EFA/  
1253/13.12.1987 and PD 259/1997 a p-
ply accordin gly. 
5. OBI is obliged to inform the transac t-
ing parties, in a timely manner and in 
every possible way, about the requir e-
ments of th e Sy stem, pursuant to the 
provisions of this Decision.  
 
Article 18  
Commencement of force  
1. This Decision shall come i nto force 
three ( 3) months after its pu blication in 
the Government G azette.  
2. This decision shall be pu blished in 
the Gover nment Gazette.   183 ANNEX  
 
LEGISLATION GOVERNING INVENTIONS, TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER, DESIGNS 
AND TOPOGRAPHIES OF SEMICONDUCTOR PRODUCTS  [*] 
 
1. Law 5562/1932 on the “Ratific ation 
of the Convention on International 
Exhibitions signed by Gree ce and 
other countries in Paris on 22 N o-
vember 1928” (GG 221, Α ’ of 
11.07.1932).  
 
2. Articles 39, par. 1 and 40 of Legisl a-
tive Decree 3026/1954 (GG Α ’, 235 
"On the Code for La wyers").  
 
3. Law 4307/1963 on the “Ratific ation 
of the multilateral agreement signed 
in Paris on 21 September 1960 for 
the mutual safeguarding of secrecy 
of inventions relating to d efence and 
for which applications for patents 
have been made” (GG 79, Α ’ of 
30.05.1963).  
 
4. Law 4325/1963 on “Inventions rela t-
ing to national defence” (GG 156, Α ’ 
of 27.09.1963).  
 
5. Ministerial decision ΟΙΚ 56200 of 
19.10.1963 on “Inventions rela ting to 
national defence” (GG 493, Β ’ of 
04.11.1964).  
 
6. Law 213/1975 on the “Ratific ation of 
the 1883 Paris International Conve n-
tion on the Protection of Industrial 
Property, as  amended in Stockholm 
on 14 July 1967 (GG 258, Α ’ of 
20.11.1975).  
 
7. Law 472/1976 on the “Ratific ation of 
the Protocol signed in Paris on 30 
November 1972 amending the Co n-
vention on International Exhibitions 
signed in Paris on 22 November 
1928" (GG 305, Α ’ of 16.11.1976).  
 8. Law 1607/1986 on the “Ratific ation 
of the Convention on the Grant of 
European Patents, signed in M unich 
on 5 October 1973” (GG 85, Α ’ of 
30.06.1986).  
 
9. Law 1733/1987 “Transfer of techno l-
ogy, inventions, technological inn o-
vation and setting u p of Greek Ato m-
ic Energy Co mmission” (GG 171, Α ’ 
of 22.09.1987), as in force.  
 
10. Article 18, paragraphs a and b of the 
Law 1739/1987 “Management of w a-
ter resources and other provisions” 
(GG 201, Α ’ of 20.11.1987).  
 
11. Ministerial decision 15928/EFA/  1253 
of 24. 12.1987 “Filing an application 
with OBI for the granting of a patent 
or utility model certificate and book 
keeping” (GG 778, Β ’ of 31.12.1987).  
 
12. Presidential Decree 77/1988 “Prov i-
sions implementing the convention 
on the grant of European patents ra t-
ified b y law 1607/1986” (GG 33, Α ’ of 
25.02.1988).  
 
13. Ministerial decision 5326/EFA/  485 of 
31.03.1988 “Special form for tec h-
nology transfer co ntracts” (GG 247, 
Β’ of 27.04.1988).  
 
14. Law 1883/1990, “Ratification of the 
Convention on the Patent Cooper a-
tion Treaty ex ecuted in Washington 
D.C. on 19 June 1970 and amended 
on 2 October 1979 and 3 February 
1984 (together with the Implemen ting 
Regulation” (GG 45, Α ’ of 
29.03.1990).  
  184 15. Presidential Decree 16/1991 “Prov i-
sions implementing the convention 
on the patent cooperation treaty rat i-
fied by law 1883/1990” (GG 6, Α ’ of 
24.01.1991).  
 
16. Presidential Decree 45/1991 “Legal 
Protection of topographies of sem i-
conductor products to comply with 
Council Directive 87/54/EEC of 16 
December 1986, as supplemented 
by Council Decisions 87/532 /EEC 
and 88/311/EEC” (GG 24, Α ’ of 
01.03.1991).  
 
17. Article 2 of Presidential Decree 
54/1992 “Amendment to prov ision of 
L. 1733/1987” “Transfer of technol o-
gy, inventions, technological innov a-
tion and setting up of Greek Atomic 
Energy Commission in compliance 
with the EEC Treaty” (GG 22, Α ’ of 
14.02.1992).  
 
18. Law No. 2029 “Ratification of the 
Agreement relating to Community 
Patents (together with its Annex and 
the Prot ocols attached thereto) and 
Protocol relating to possible amen d-
ment to terms for entry into forc e of 
the Agreements relating to Comm u-
nity Patents concluded in Luxe m-
bourg on 15 December 1989” (GG 
55, Α ’ of 06.04.1992).  
 
19. Council Regulation (EC) No. 
1768/1992 of 18 June 1992 on 
“Supplementary Protection Certif i-
cate for pharmaceuticals” (EU OJ L 
182/1 of  02.07.1992).  
 
20. Presidential Decree 232/1992 “I n-
dustrial Property Organis ation (OBI) 
exiting the public sector of 14 July 
1992” (GG 120, Α ’ of 14.07.1992).  
 
21. Law No.  2128 “Ratific ation of the 
Budapest Treaty on the I nternational 
Recognition of the Deposit o f Micro -
organisms for the purposes of Patent Procedures ex ecuted in Budapest on 
28 April 1977 and   renewed on 26 
September 1980”, (together with the 
implementing Regul ation) (GG 56, Α ’ 
of 06.04.1993).  
 
22. Law No.  2202/1994 “Ratific ation of 
the act revising Article 63 of the 
Convention on the Grant of Europ e-
an Patents of 5 October 1973” (GG 
57, Α ’ of 15.04.1994).  
 
23. Law 2290/1995 “Ratification of the 
"Final Act incorporating the results of 
the multilateral trade negotiations 
within the fram ework of the Uruguay 
Round  (Agreement on Trade -Related 
Aspects of Intellectual Property 
Rights [TRIPs]” (GG 28, Α ’ of 
09.02.1995).  
 
24. Presidential D ecree 415/1995 “Su p-
plement to PD  45/1991 (GG 24, Α) 
on legal protection of topographies of 
semiconductor products in compl i-
ance wit h Council Directive 
87/54/EEC of 16 December 1986 
and Decision 90/510/EEC as 
amended by Decisions 93/17/EEC, 
95/237/EC, 94/700/EC, 94/828/  EC 
and its adaptation to provisions of 
the Agreement on the European 
Economic Area (EEA) ratified by L. 
2155/1993 (GG  238, Α ’ of 
16.11.1995).  
 
25. Law No.  2359/1995 “Fiscal Consol i-
dation of the Hellenic Industrial D e-
velopment Bank S.A. (ETBA) and 
other provisions” (GG 241, Α ’ of 
21.11.1995).  
 
26. Regulation (EC) 240/1996 of the 
“Commission of 31 Jan uary 1996 on 
the application of A rticle 85, par. 3 of 
the Treaty to certain categories of 
agreements on technology transfer”  
(EU OJ L 31/2 of 09.02.1996).  
  185 27. Law No.  2385/1996 “Ratific ation of 
Chapter II of the P atent Cooperation 
Treaty concluded in Washington on 
19 June 1970 and amended o n 2 
October 1979 and 3 February 1984 
and the related rules in the Impl e-
menting Regulation of the Patent 
Coopera tion Treaty” (GG 42, Α ’ of 
07.03.1996).  
 
28. Law No.  2417/1996 “Ratific ation of 
the Hague Agreement on intern a-
tional registration of industrial d e-
signs of 6 November 1925, as r e-
vised in Hague on 28 November 
1960 and Stoc kholm Act supplement 
of 14 July 1967, a s amended in 
Stockholm on 28 September 1979” 
(GG 139 Α ’ of 03.07.1996).  
 
29. Law No. 2418/1996 “Ratific ation of 
the Strasbourg Agreement on Inte r-
national Patent Classification of 24 
March 1971, as amended on 28 Se p-
tember 1979" (GG 140 Α ’ of 
03.07.1996).  
 
30. Regul ation (EC) No. 1610/1996 of 
the European Parliament and of the 
Council dated 23 July 1996 concer n-
ing the creation of a supplementary 
protection certificate for plant prote c-
tion products (EU OJ L 198/30 of 
08.08.1996).  
 
31. Ministerial decision No. 30560/  544 
“Filing an application with OBI for the 
granting of a supplementary prote c-
tion certificate for plant protection 
products (GG 665 Β of 07.08.1997).  
 
32. Law No. 2516/1997 “Establis hment 
and operation of i ndustrial and small 
business facilities and other prov i-
sions" (GG 159 Α ’ of 08.08.1997)  
(Article 27).  
 
33. Presidential Decree 259/1997 “Pr o-
visions to implement the Hague 
Agreem ent on international registr a-tion of industrial designs ratified by 
law 2417/1996 and provisions go v-
erning national right” (GG 185 Α ’ of 
19.09.1997).  
 
34. Ministerial decision 10912/EFA/ 2333 
“Appointment of the Board of Dire c-
tors of the Industrial Property Or gan-
isation (OBI)” (GG 890 Β ’ of 
08.10.1997).  
 
 
35. Law No. 2557 “Institutions, measures 
and actions for cultural develo p-
ment”, Article 1, par. 18 (GG 271 Α ’ 
of 24.12.1997).  
 
36. Ministerial decision No. 14905/  3058 
“Filing an appl ication with OBI for the 
granting of a supplementary prote c-
tion certificate for plant protection 
products (GG 1162 Β ’ of 
30.12.1997).  
 
37. Ministerial Decision 3111/EFA/433, 
“Amendment to ministerial decision 
15928/EFA/1253 (GG 778/B/  
31.12.1987) concerning:  “Filing an 
application with OBI for  the granting 
of a patent or utility model certificate 
and book keeping” (GG 309 Β ’ of 
27.03.1998).  
 
38. Law No. 2697/1999 “Ratific ation of 
the Locarno Agreement on Intern a-
tional Classification for industrial d e-
signs” (GG 62 Α ’ of 01.04.1999).  
 
39. Law No. 2919 “C onnecting r esearch 
and technology to production and 
other provisions”, Article 1  (GG 128 
Α’ of 25.06.2001).  
 
40. Law 2943/2001 “Serving of senten c-
es of drug dealers and other prov i-
sions of the ministry for justice” (GG 
203, Α ’, 12.09.2001) and in particular 
Articles 6 through 11 regarding e s-
tablishment and jurisdiction of co m-
munity trade marks courts trying  186 cases of inventions, industrial d e-
signs and technology transfer.  
 
41. Presidential Decree No.  321 “Ada p-
tation to Directive 98/  44/EC of the 
European Parliament and of the 
Council on the legal protection of bi o-
technological inventions” (GG 218, 
A’, 1.10.2001).  
 
42. Presidential Decree No . 161/ 
31.05.2002 “ Adaptation of 
Presidential Decree 259/1997 to the 
provisions of Directive 98/71/EC of 
the European Parliament and of the 
Council of 13 October 1998 on the 
legal protection of designs” . 
 
43. Joint Ministerial Decision No.  14113 
EFA 3850 “Amendment to joint Mi n-
isterial Decision 12149/  EFA/2248 
(GG Β 1240/  11.10.2000) “Awards 
and financial support of inventors”, 
(GG 8, Β ’, 13.01.2003).  
 
44. Commission Regulation (EC) No.  
1891/2004 of 21 October 2004, “La y-
ing down provisions for the impl e-
mentation of Cou ncil Regulation (EC) 
No. 1383/2003 concerning customs 
action against goods suspected of i n-
fringing certain intellectual property 
rights and the measures to be taken 
against goods found to have i n-
fringed such rights (EU OJ L 328 of 
30.10.2004).   
 
45. Law No. 3396  “Ratification of the act 
revising the Conve ntion on the Grant 
of European Patents (European P a-
tent Convention of 5 October 197 3, 
as amended on 17 December 1991) 
of 29 November 2000” and its tran s-
lated Greek version, Articles one, 
two and three (GG 246, Α ’ of 
06.10.2005).   
 
46. Joint Ministerial Decision DYG3(a) 
83657 on the “Harmonisation of Greek legislation with the equivalent 
community legislation in the fields of 
production and marketing of med i-
cines for human use, in compl iance 
with Directive  2001/1983/  EC on 
“the Community Code relating to 
medicinal products for human use”, 
as amended by Directives  
2004/27/EC, 2004/  24/EC on t radi-
tional herbal m edicinal products and 
Article 31 of Directive  2002/1998/EC 
on the adoption of standards of qual i-
ty and safety for the collection, tes t-
ing, processing, storage and distrib u-
tion of human blood and blood co m-
ponents”, Article 11, paragraph 6  
(GG 59 Β ’ of 24.01.2006).  
 
47. Commission Regulation (EC) No 
1172/2007 of 5.10.2007 “Amending 
Commission Regu - lation (EC) No 
1891/2004 of 21.10.2004 laying 
down provisions for the 
implementation of Council 
Regulation (EC) No 1383/2003 
concerning customs acti on against 
goods suspected of infringing certain 
intellectual property rights and the 
measures to be taken against goods 
found to have infringed such rights”.  
 
48. Ministerial Decision No 11475 EFA 
2388/ GG B’ 1165/25.06.2008 
“Submission of an application wit h 
the OBI for a six -month extension of 
the duration of the supple mentary 
protection certificate for paediatric 
pharmaceuticals”.  
 
49. Ministerial Decision No 10374/  GG Β’ 
1594, 04.08.09 “Procedure of search 
report or final search report drawing 
by the Industrial Property 
Organisation (ΟΒΙ)”.  
 
50. Regulation (EC) No  469/2009 of the 
European Parliament and of the 
Council of 6 May 2009 “Concerning 
the supplementary protect ion 
certificate for medicinal products”.   187 51. Law 3842/ GG A’ 58/  23.04.2010 
“Restoring tax justice, addressing tax 
evasion and other provisions”.  
 
52. Ministerial Decision No 11970/ 
B0012/POL.1203/10 (GG 2147 B’/ 
31.12.2010), “Determination of 
terms, prerequisit es and procedures 
regarding the implementation of the 
provisions of article 71 ‘Patent tax 
incentives’ of Law No 3842/2010 
(GG A ’/58/ 23.4.2010)”.  
 
53. Law No 3966 (GG 118 A’, 
24.05.2011) “Institutional frame -work 
of Model Pilot Schools, 
Establishment of an I nstitute of 
Educational Policy, Organi - sation of 
the Institute of Computer Techno -
logy and Publications ‘DIOFANTOS’ 
and other provisions”.  
 
54. Presidential Decree 46/23.04.2012 
(GG A’ 95), “Amendment of 
Presidential Decree 77/1988 (GG A’ 
33) in application of the Act revising 
the Convention on the Grant of 
European Patents of 29 November 
2000 that was ratified with  Law 
3396/2005 (GG A’ 246)” .  
55. Decision of the Prime Minister and 
the Minister of Development, 
Competitiveness, Infrastructures, 
Transport and Netw orks No 
30376/Δ106 721/5.7.2012 (GG Β’ 
2094, 6.7.2012) “Assignment of 
competences to the Deputy Minister 
of Development, Competitiveness, 
Infra- structures, Transport and 
Networks, Mr. Athanasios Skordas” .   
 
56. Law 4144/GG A’ 88/18.4.2013  
“Fight against delinquency in Social 
Security System, in labour market 
and other dispositions falling under 
the competence of the Ministry of 
Labour, Social Insurance and 
Welfare”, article 79  “Regulatory 
issues of the Hell enic Industrial 
Property Organis ation ”. 
 
57. Ministerial Decision  12625/1/  2014  
“Electronic d istribution of documents 
to and from the Industrial Property 
Organisation  (OBI) and  electronic 
filing of industrial design or model 
registration ”. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
*    Of the above the following points are published as being deemed of greater importance: 4, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 1 9, 25, 28, 
30, 31, 33, 35, 3 6, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45,  46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54 , 55, 56 and 57  
  188  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Publication : 
 Hellenic Industrial Property Organ isation  (ΟΒΙ) 
OBI EMBLEM : 
 E. Manousou  
EDIT ORIAL SUPERVISON : 
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