Details

According to the new law 4970/2020, published in the Government Gazette (Government Gazette A 71 / 20.3.2020), which repeals the previous Law 4072/2012, Directive 2015/2436 on trademarks is incorporated into Greek law and is attempted the approximation of national legislation to the trademark system of the European Union on the enforcement of intellectual property rights regulated by Regulation 2017/1001.

Directive 2015/2436 provides greater opportunities for market differentiation, through the introduction of new “non-traditional” forms of marks, provided they have a distinctive capacity, abandoning the condition of “graphic representation” as a necessary condition for the protection of the mark and introducing the new institution of “certification marks”. With regard to the types of signals, Article 2 provides for the possibility of submitting a verbal signal, a visual signal, a three-dimensional signal, a position signal, a pattern signal, a motion signal, an audiovisual signal and a holographic signal.

According to Law 4970/2020:

a) National trademark, or simply a trademark is the right granted by the Trademark Directorate or the Administrative Courts, according to this law, is regulated by it and produces results in the Greek Territory.

b) An EU trademark is the right granted by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in accordance with Regulation 2017/1001 / EU, regulated by it and produces results throughout the European Union having a uniform character in all Member States.

c) An international trademark or an approved international registration is the right based on an International Registration in the International Register of Trademarks maintained by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in accordance with the Madrid International Protocol (1989), which is awarded by the Directorate of Trademarks or Administrative Courts in accordance with the above Protocol and this law, after an application for extension of its protection to the Greek Territory and is protected like the national mark.

d) International Registration is the entry in the International Register maintained by the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in accordance with the above Protocol.

e) International Register is the register of international registrations maintained by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in accordance with the above Protocol

f) Trademark Address is the trademark address of the Ministry of Development and Investment which is responsible according to this law for maintaining the trademark register and has the jurisdiction provided by paragraph 1 of article 47 of the new Law 4970/2020.

g) Auditors are the employees of the Trademark Office designated in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 20 and control the trademark declarations for the completeness of their content, the representation of the trademark, the description of products and services, the fees and the any other information or documents accompanying them.

h) Investigators are officials of the Trademark Office designated in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 20 conducting research for earlier marks within the meaning of paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 5.

i) Examiners are the employees of the Trademark Directorate designated in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 20 and examine the assistance of absolute grounds of inadmissibility within the meaning of Article 4.j) Registrars: employees of the Trademark Directorate designated in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 20 and register marks in the register, after checking that no objections have been lodged or that they have been rejected by a decision of the Administrative Trade Marks Committee for which the deadline for appealing to the Administrative Court of First Instance has expired or that they have been rejected by a decision of the Administrative Courts which is or has become final.

k) Administrative Trade Marks Committee is the committee referred to in Article 30 which has the jurisdiction provided for in Article 47

l) Trademark Register or, simply, register: the register referred to in Article 33 which includes national trademarks, national collective marks, national certification marks, international marks, and the relevant declarations (applications) pending examination. m) A trademark declaration or, simply, a declaration is the application for the grant of a right to a national mark which is examined in the light of the formal and substantive conditions hereof.

m) Registration is the final registration of the trademark declaration in the Trademark Register after the examination of the formal and substantive conditions of the present with which the right to the national trademark is born. The right to the mark is acquired by registering it in the register.

According to the new Law, the fees paid in favor of the State – fees, which constitute, in addition to the legal fees, the costs for the operation of the trademark register, are now determined as follows:

1. for deposit of a mark, submitted on paper, one hundred and twenty (120) Euros,
2. for deposit of a signal, submitted electronically, one hundred (100) Euros,
3. for each additional class, twenty (20) Euros,
4. for the filing of a mark by conversion of a trade mark of the European Union or an international registration or by division of a trademark declaration into several parts, one hundred and fifty (150) Euros,
5. for each additional class, twenty (20) Euros
6. for extension of trademark protection, submitted on paper, one hundred ten (110) Euros,
7. for extension of trademark protection, submitted electronically, ninety (90) Euros, h. for each additional class, twenty (20) Euros,
8. for signal transfer, ninety (90) Euros,
9. for licensing, ninety (90) Euros,
10. for registration of rights in rem, forty (40) euro
11. for control and transmission of an international application, fifteen (15) Euros,
12. for the replacement of a national mark by an international registration, one hundred ten (110) Euros,
13. for filing appeals, objections, interventions and applications before the Administrative Committee of Trademarks, seventy (70) Euros,
14. for payment of discussion of objections, appeals, interventions and applications before the Administrative Committee of Trademarks, forty (40) Euros,
15. for the return of things to the previous situation, one hundred ten (110) Euros,
16. for issuing a copy of a signal, one (1) euro.