Trademark registration in Greece

The trademark office and official links

Trademarks in Greece are registered by the Hellenic Industrial Property Organisation (OBI), Trademarks Directorate.

• Trademark office: Hellenic Industrial Property Organisation (OBI), Trademarks Directorate
• Online filing: official e-filing portal
• Law: Law 4679/2020 on trade marks (implementing Directive (EU) 2015/2436), English text published by OBI
• Law: Law 4679/2020, Article 87 (fees) - Greek text

Official fees in Greece

Official office fees only (schedule as of 2023-03). Official fee schedule. Professional fees of a local firm are extra — compare fixed-fee packages.

How to register a trademark in Greece

1. Check availability, for example in the TMview database, as OBI recommends.
2. File online through the OBI e-filing system (in Greek, using TAXIS credentials) or on paper at the OBI trademarks office in Athens, appointing a procedural representative.
3. Pay the filing fee: EUR 100 online (EUR 120 on paper) for the first class plus EUR 20 for each additional class.
4. An examiner checks absolute grounds and is required to accept and publish the application within 50 days of filing; earlier mark owners identified in a search are notified.
5. The acceptance decision is published on the OBI website, opening a three-month opposition period before the Administrative Trademarks Committee.
6. If no opposition is filed, the mark is finalised as registered, with protection running from the filing date.

Examination, publication and opposition

• Examination: An examiner checks absolute grounds ex officio and must accept and publish the application within 50 days of the day after filing (Art. 24(2) of Law 4679/2020). Relative grounds are not raised ex officio: earlier mark owners are notified and can oppose.
• Publication: Acceptance decisions are published on the OBI website (searchable under 'Decisions' by trade mark number)
• Opposition period: 3 months from the day after publication of the acceptance decision on the office website (Art. 25(1) of Law 4679/2020); time limits are extended by 30 days where the opposed party is based abroad

Protection, renewal and use

• Term: 10 years from the filing date, renewable.
• Late renewal: 6 months after expiry, with the renewal fee increased by half; renewal is otherwise filed in the last 6 months of the term
• Use requirement: a registration can be challenged after 5 years of non-use.
• Rights system: first to file.

Filing from abroad

• Local agent: Every applicant must appoint a procedural representative with a postal and email address (Art. 22(1)(d)); this is not needed separately if an attorney-at-law is appointed. The Ministry's 2022 filing guidance also required foreign applicants to file a declaration accepting the jurisdiction of the Athens courts.
• Power of attorney: A signed appointment of the procedural representative and, where a third party files, an authorisation for the attorney; companies must add documents proving the signatory's authority (e.g. articles of association or GEMI extract).
• Language: Greek (the e-filing service is available only in Greek); marks in non-Greek, non-Latin characters must be transliterated into Greek or Latin letters

Firms on TrademarksHub that cover Greece can act as your local agent — see firms.

Madrid Protocol

Greece is a member of the Madrid System (in force since 2000). You can designate it in an international application filed through your home office, or file a national application directly. A local firm can advise which route is cheaper for your classes and timeline.

Trademark classes

Nice Classification (45 classes); goods and services grouped by class heading in class order. One application can cover several classes. Not sure which classes you need? See all 45 classes or classes by business type.

How Greece compares

• Opposition: 3 months from the day after publication of the acceptance decision on the office website (Art. 25(1) of Law 4679/2020); time limits are extended by 30 days where the opposed party is based abroad — compare all countries
• Renewal: every 10 years; grace period 6 months after expiry, with the renewal fee increased by half; renewal is otherwise filed in the last 6 months of the term — compare all countries
• Foreign owners: required — rules in every country

Guides: registering in any country · costs by country · Madrid

Good to know in Greece

• Since May 2022 trademark registration has been handled by the Hellenic Industrial Property Organisation (OBI) instead of the Ministry of Development's Trademarks Directorate.
• Greece does not examine relative grounds ex officio: earlier rights are notified and enforced by opposition before the Administrative Trademarks Committee.
• The examiner must decide and publish acceptance within 50 days of filing under Article 24(2) of Law 4679/2020.
• Collective and certification mark fees are five times the individual mark fees (EUR 500 online for the first class, EUR 100 per additional class).
• Greece is also covered by EU trade marks filed at EUIPO.

Questions