Greece is well known for a number of things, old and new. One of them, belonging to the former category, is Greek mythology. There are certain myths all the way from Aesop’s time, which apply even in today’s reality in Greece, and of course not in Greece alone. Yet, what are the myths and realities of some of today’s practical aspects of life, say, in Greece’s trademark system for example and how it operates, or rather how operational it really is? In this article Eleni Lappa attempts to discuss at least some of those “myths” and how true (or false) they really are…

MYTH#1: THERE IS A SINGLE TRADE MARK AND PATENT OFFICE IN GREECE
False. Incredibly, though in most jurisdictions trademarks and patents happily co-exist under one roof, in Greece there is no such co-habitation,
not even a neighbouring residence. The Greek Trademark Office is a division within the General Secretariat of Commerce, belonging to the Ministry of Finance, Competition and Shipping and is even located at the Ministry premises. The Greek Patent office is a more autonomous entity, formally under the supervision of the Ministry of Development, founded by a separate law (L 1733/1987), with a special Board of Directors and its own premises, nowhere near any Ministry in Greece.

MYTH #2: THE TRADEMARK OFFICE’S ELECTRONIC DATABASE IS FULLY UPDATED
False. Especially when it comes to device only marks, it is a well-known secret amongst trade mark practitioners that in order to ensure the relevant marks are located, one has to visit physically the actual Trademark Office and browse through the printed volumes of device marks in the hope of finding the marks of interest (provided that the particular device mark, if still in the application stages, has been published for opposition purposes; otherwise it would be almost impossible to find). Another interesting aspect of the current status of the Greek Trademark Office’s database is that, when it comes to conducting searches not on the basis of the trade mark name itself but on other criteria, such as, for example, the trade mark owner’s name, there is also a lot to be desired. Not all such searches can be conclusive; again, the best and safest way of ensuring that results are accurate is to conduct an in-person search in the actual physical records maintained at the Trademark Office’s premises.

MYTH#3: THE TRADEMARK OFFICE IS OPEN ON REGULAR BUSINESS HOURS
False. As the Trademark Office actually belongs to the public sector, it operates under the special status and working hours that the public sector enjoys in Greece. Whether it is for routine matters, such as trade mark filings, or more urgent ones, such as late renewals or urgent searches, one may only access physically the Trademark Office between 10.00 and 14:00. These practical challenges for ensuring matters that need expedited processing are dealt with accordingly are further enhanced by the fact that no electronic filings, such as those allowed by the OHIM for example, are yet allowed and indeed no actual plans of implementing such procedures have been publicly announced as of yet.

MYTH#4: GREEK TRADE MARK LAW IS FULLY HARMONISED WITH EU TRADEMARK LAW
Both true and false. There is a plan (a project already underway for a few years now) for revising the Greek Trademark Law (2239/1994), which is the Greek jurisdiction’s main “pet peeve” in terms of fully implementing the EU Enforcement Directive 2004/48/EC. The completion of this project has been eagerly anticipated both by members of the industry and of course trade mark practitioners alike, as it would certainly improve and harmonise issues in relation to our European counter-parts.

MYTH#5: THERE IS A SPECIALISED TRADEMARK COURT (OR IP COURT) IN THE GREEK JURISDICTION
Both true and false. It is true that in 2006 the Ministry of Justice instituted a special IP court, but what happens in practice is the following.

While an interesting division between 1) administrative courts (for trademark oppositions, cancellations, recourses/appeals against Trademark Committee decisions, etc); and 2)civil
courts (for infringement/unfair competition matters) continues to exist, the new IP court has been formed as part of the civil court system, located at the premises of the civil Court of First Instance, (of Athens, Thessaloniki and some other cities).

The new IP court is assigned to hear all IP matters; nevertheless, since even neighbouring-law matters are streamlined there, a great case-load has already been formed, not allowing for the court’s much desired “specialisation”. Hopefully in the future the IP court will have its own divisions, such as trade mark division, patent division, copyright division, etc. This would ensure that, in the years to come, slowly but surely Greek judges assigned to the particular IP court would gain the necessary specialisation and expertise, especially in terms of “dreaded” patent cases (nullity actions or infringements, etc) which are certainly in a league of their own at this time and cannot be confused with trade marks or other IP law issues.

In the meantime, what is important under the circumstances is to ensure that progressive ideas and plans are put to work, taking the Greek trademark system forward.

All in all, the Greek trade mark system should be more technologically friendly, by fully updating its electronic database, including all device-only marks, freed of old-fashioned taboos of paper idolatry (that most lawyers have a soft spot for, not just trade mark practitioners); also, allowing for electronic filings, fully implementing EU legislation and putting emphasis on the IP court’s specialisation would be important steps towards a new era, which, above all, should include a forum for suggestions in an open form, and not behind closed doors.