GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Theodoros Skouzos and Natalia Skoulidou, Iason Skouzos TaxLaw
11.3 Data Protection and Privacy Considerations
ber, it provides robust protection for patents, trade marks, copyrights and designs, administered mainly by the Hellenic Industrial Property Organisation (OBI) and enforced through specialised courts and collec - tive management bodies. Overall, Greece provides a stable environment for safeguarding innovation and brand assets. Some sectors face specific challenges. In pharma - ceuticals, patent use may be limited by EU Regulation 816/2006 on compulsory licensing for generic-drug export. In technology and software, unresolved issues around AI-generated works create uncertainty over authorship and protection. Occasional delays occur in patent and trade mark processing, but Greece is generally efficient compared to other jurisdictions. IP enforcement is solid but judicial proceedings can be slow, affecting timely resolutions. Despite these issues, Greece maintains a reliable, internationally aligned IP system, making it an attractive environment for innovation-focused businesses.
Greece’s personal data protection framework is primarily governed by the GDPR (Regulation EU 2016/679), which applies extraterritorially under Arti - cle 3. This means it also covers non-EU controllers or processors when they offer goods or services to individuals in the EU or monitor their behaviour – situ - ations that may affect foreign investors operating in Greece. The Hellenic Data Protection Authority actively enforc - es the GDPR. Penalties follow Article 83, which sets two tiers of fines: • up to EUR10 million or 2% of global annual turno - ver for lower-level infringements; and • up to EUR20 million or 4% of global annual turno - ver for more serious violations, whichever is higher.
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