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It will take 5 months from filing the application up to registration.
No. Your trademark will be protected only in Greece.
Yes. A power of attorney is required if the application will be filed by an attorney.
Yes. Pre-filing use of the mark will allow the applicant to demonstrate the mark’s distinct characteristics and win over oppositions filed by third-parties based on non-distinctiveness.
Yes. Interested parties may attack your registration on the ground of non-use.
Applicants can register any sign that are possible to reproduce graphically. Such signs must also be able to make the good/service distinguishable from others: names, words, sounds, devices, 3-dimensional shapes, slogans, colors, holograms and trade dress.
The first phase of the application process is the examination of requirements. The applicant must be able to comply with the trademark standards with respect to formality, clarity, classification, distinctiveness, descriptiveness, deceptiveness and possible conflicts in registration. Next phase is the publication of application details which will be done online. Information such as name of applicant, application number, goods/services, etc. will be published. This is also the time when third-parties are given a chance to oppose. If no oppositions are present, the final phase will be the registration of trademark.
Trademarks that meet any of the following criteria cannot be registered:
- Marks that contradict public order or counter standards of moral
- Common terms or words that have broad meaning
- Names/symbols/states of state/nation/international organization
- Marks without acquired distinctiveness
- Marks that serve mainly as geographical locations
- Shape of a product
- Marks that may potentially cause deceit to consumers
Yes. The Nice Classification system is effective in this jurisdiction.
Yes. Community Trademark is presently known as the European Union Trade Mark. This registration system is effective in Greece.
Yes. It is possible to claim priority or to speed up the process as long as the following requirements are met:
- The home country of the applicant is a Paris Convention signatory
- The application was filed within the past 6 months preceding the application in Greece
Use your trademark within 5 years after the date of registration. The “use” must be genuine and must occur in Greece.
Registered trademarks in Greece are initially valid for 10 years. Validity starts a day after the application date.
Computation is 10 years from the date when the application was filed.
Yes. Businesses can use unregistered trademarks legally, but for them to enjoy protection, the following requirements must be met:
- The mark’s characters must be distinctive
- The mark must be used for commercial transactions
- The mark must be used continuously, systematically and substantially for many years
Trademarks are mandated to be registered in order for the owners to establish rights. The First to File rule applies in Greece.
You may access the national trademark office at www.gge.gov.gr
No. Actual use is not mandatory for registration. Intent to use is also not required.
Grounds for opposition are:
- Bad faith
- Proprietary rights
- Conflict with an earlier registration
- Breach of copyright
- Violation of rights under Article 6septies, Article 6bis and Article 8 of the Paris Convention
- Conflict with registered designs
- Personal name rights
- Unauthorized use of protected insignia and emblems
- Any interested party may oppose the registration based on absolute grounds.
- Owners of an identical mark that was registered at an earlier date may also petition to cancel the registration.
- A licensee of a registered trademark may also object to registration provided he is allowed to do so in the license contract and the license was registered in the trademark office.
- Chambers of Commerce and Consumers Unions may also oppose based on absolute grounds
Yes. Cancellation of registration is possible. These are the grounds for a registered trademark to be cancelled:
- Violation of proprietary rights
- Descriptive marks
- Non-distinctive marks
- Deceptive marks
- Functional marks
- Breach of copyright
- Violation of rights under Article 6septies, Article 6ter and Article 6bis of the Paris Convention (consult us for more information)
- Violation of registered designs
- Violation of rights to personal name
- Marks that are generic or have broad meaning
- Marks that indicate a geographical location
- Registration of marks in bad faith
- Marks that violate standards of moral or public order
Yes. Owners of registered trademarks establish the following rights:
- Exclusive rights to use the mark
- Right to object to conflicting applications
- Right to request for a cancellation of conflicting applications
- Right to take legal action for infringement and obtain damages from the offending parties
- Right to issue license to third parties
- Right to request for confiscation of fake goods by customs authorities
The opposition period will start on the date the trademark application was accepted and published on the website of the General Secretariat of Commerce, and it will end 3 months after that date.
Yes. Greece is a member of the Madrid Protocol.
The owner of a registered trademark is not required to submit periodic statement of use.
You must renew your trademark every 10 years.
Computation is 10 years from the date when the application was filed.
If the renewal will be performed by the same local attorney, non documentation is necessary.
In case you failed to renew your trademark on time and it is already expired, you still have 6 months to renew it.