WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION 
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DU COMMERCE 
ORGANIZACION MUNDIAL DEL CO:MERCIO IPlNlI/GRC/L/l 
22 July 1996 
(96-2867) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights Original: English! 
anglaisl 
ingles 
MAIN DEDICATED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWS AND REGULATIONS 
NOTIFIED UNDER ARTICLE 63.2 OF THE AGREEMENT 
Greece 
The present document reproduces 1 Presidential Decree No. 45/1991, O.J. (FEK) 24 A'/7.3.1991, 
as notified by Greece under Article 63.2 of the Agreement (see document IP/N/lIGRCIl). 
Conseil des aspects des droits de propriete 
intellectuelle qui touchent au commerce 
PRINCIPALES LOIS ET REGLEMENTATIONS CONSACREES A LA 
PROPRIETE INTELLECTUELLE NOTIFIEES AU TITRE 
DE L'ARTICLE 63:2 DE L'ACCORD 
Le present document contient le texte du Decret presidentiel n· 45/19911, Journal officiel 
(FEK) 24 A'/7.3.1991, notifie par la Grece au titre de l'articIe 63:2 de l'Accord (voir le 
document IP/N/lIGRC/I). 
Consejo de los Aspectos de los Derechos de Propiedad 
IntelectuaI relacionados con el Comercio 
PRINCIPALES LEYES Y REGLAMENTOS DEDICADOSA LA 
PROPIEDAD INTELECTUAL NOTIFICADOS EN VIRTUD 
DEL pARRAFO 2 DEL ARTICULO 63 DEL ACUERDO 
En el presente documento se reproducel el Decreto PresidenCial N° 45/1991, publicado en 
el Boletin Oficial (FEK) 24 A' 17 de marzo de 1991, notificado por Grecia en virtud del parrafo 2 del 
articulo 63 del Acuerdo (vease el documento IP/N/lIGRC/I). 
lEnglish only/anglais seulement/ingles solamente. IP/N/1/GRC/LIl 
Page 2 
PHESIDENTIAL DECHEE No. 45/1991 
Legal Proll'clion of Topographies of semiconductor products in compliance with Council 
Directh'e 87/S4/EEC of 16 December 1986 as supplemented by Decisions 87/S32/EEC 
and 88/311/EEC 
THE PRESIDENT 
OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC 
1. Having regard to Articles 4 and 5 of 
Law 1338/1983 on the Implementation of 
Community Law (Greek Government 
Journal 34, vol. A) as amended and 
supplemented with Article 6(4) of Law 
1440/1984 on participation of Greece in 
the Capital, Reserves and Commitments 
of the European Coal and Steel Com­
munity and the Euratom Supply Organi­
sation (GGG 70, vol. A), as amended with 
Article 7 of Law 1775/1988 on companies 
providing venture capital and other pro­
visions (GGG 101, vol. A); 
2. Having regard to Law 94511979 on 
Ratification of the Treaty of accession of 
Greece to the European Economic Com­
munity (GGG 170, vol. A) of 27 July 
1979; 
3. Having regard to the Act of Accession 
of the Kingdom of Spain and the Por­
tuguese Republic to the European Eco­
nomic Community and the European 
Economic Energy Community (OJ No 
302/15.1.1985Yas ratified by Law 15721 
1985 (GGG 193, vol. A, 1985); 
4. Having regard to Article 1(2) of Law 
1733/1987 on the Transfer of Technology, 
Inventions, Technological Innovation and 
the Creation of an Atomic Energy Com­
mittee (GGG 171, vol. A); 
5. Having regard to Decision of the 
Prime Minister G 1250 of 15 January 1991 
(GGG vol. B, 10) supplementing decision 
G 1201 of 5 October 1990, 
6. Having regard to the opinion No 628/1990 of the Council of State following 
proposal from the Deputy Minister of the' 
National Economy and the Ministers of 
Justice, Industry, Energy and Technology, 
HEREBY DECIDES: 
CHAPTER ONE 
GENERAL PROVISIONS 
Article 1 
Objective 
The objective of this Decree is to trans­
pose Council Directive 87/54/EEC of 16 
December 1986 on the legal protection of 
topographies of semiconductor products, 
published in Greek in the Official Journal 
of the European Communities on 27 
January 1987 (OJ No 24), as amended by 
Decision 87/532/EEC of 26 October 1987 
published in Greek in the Official Journal 
of the European Communities on 4 No­
vember 1987 (OJ No 313), and Decision 
88/311lEEC of 31 May 1988. 
Article 2 
Definitions 
For the purposes of this Decree: 
a) a "semiconductor product" shall 
mean the final or an intermediate form of 
any product: 
i) consisting of a body of material 
which includes a layer of semiconducting 
material; and 
ii) having one or more other layers composed of conducting, insulating or 
semiconducting material, the layers being 
arranged in accordance with a predeter­
mined three-dimensional pattern; and 
iii) intended to perform, exclusively or 
together with other functions, an electronic 
function; 
b) the "topography" of a semiconductor 
product shall mean a series of related 
images, however fixed or encoded; 
i) representing the three-dimensional 
pattern of the layers of which a semicon­
ductor product is composed; and 
ii) in which series, each image has the 
pattern or part of the pattern of a surface 
of the semiconductor product at any stage 
of its manufacture; 
c) a "commercial exploitation" means 
the sale, rental, leasing or any other 
method of commercial distribution, or an 
offer for these purposes. 
The above-mentioned commercial ex­
ploitation shall not include exploitation 
under conditions of confidentiality to the 
extent that no further distribution to third 
parties occurs, unless the exploitation of a 
topography occurs under conditions of 
confidentiality for the protection of the 
essential interests of State security which 
are connected with the production or trade 
of arms, munition and war material in 
accordance with the provisions of Article 
223(1)(b) of the EEC Treaty. 
d) "OB!" is the Athens-based Industrial 
Property Organisation (Law No 1733/ 
1987). 
Article 3 
Conditions of protection 
1. The topography of a semiconductor 
product shall be protected in accordance 
with the provisions of this Decree, pro­
vided 
a) it is the result of its creator's own intellect ua I effort; and IP/N/I/GRC/L/l 
Page 3 
b) it is not commonplace in the semi­
conductor industry. 
2. Topographies which consist of ele­
ments that are commonplace in the semi­
conductor industry shall be protected only 
to the extent that the combination of such 
elements, taken as a whole, fulfils the 
conditions set out in paragraph 1. 
3. The true copy of a topography shall 
not be a product of intellectual effort. 
4. Protection of a topography does not 
extend to the principles, procedures, sys­
tems, technology or coded information 
incorporated in that topography. 
CHAPTER TWO 
ENTITLEMENTS AND PROCEDURES 
Article 4 
Right to acquire protection 
1. The creator or owner pursuant to 
Article 7 of this Decree, and his successors, 
shall be entitled to have their topography 
protected. 
2. The creator is the person who first 
files an application for registration of a 
topography in accordance with Article 6 
of this Decree. 
Article 5 
Co-ownership of a topography 
1. If several persons created the topo­
graphy together and provided no agree­
ment specifying otherwise exists, the right 
shall belong to them all jointly. Each co­
owner may freely transfer his share and 
attend to the protection of the common 
topography. 
2. If several individuals have created a 
topography independently of one another, 
the right shall belong to the individual JP IN I lIGRC/LI 1 
Page 4 
who first filed the application for topo­
graphy protection with the OBI. 
Article 6 
Right to register a topography 
1. The following persons shall have the 
right to file an application for registration 
with the OBI and to protection of topo­
graphy in accordance with Articles 4 and 
9 of this Decree: 
a) natural persons who are nationals of 
a Member State of the European Union or 
have their habitual residence on the terri­
tory of a Member State; 
b) companies or other legal persons 
which have a real and effective industrial 
or commercial establishment on the terri­
tory of a Member State of the Union. 
2. The right referred to in paragraph 1 
shall also extend to natural persons who 
are nationals of one of the following 
countries or have their habitual residence 
there: 
-Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean 
Territory 
-British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands 
-Channel Islands, Falkland Islands 
-South Georgia and the South Sandwich 
Islands 
-Hong Kong, Isle of Man, Montserrat, 
Pitcairn, St Helena 
-St Helena dependencies (Ascension, Tri­
stan da Cunha) 
-Turks and Caicos Islands 
-United States of America, Austria, Fin-
land 
-French Polynesia, French Southern and 
Antarctic Territories 
-Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Collect i­
vite territoriale de Mayotte 
-Collectivite territoriale de Saint-Pierre et 
Miguelon 
-Wallis and Futuna Islands 
3. The right to protection under para-graph 1 shall also apply to companies or 
other legal persons of a country or terri­
tory listed in paragraph 2 which have a 
real and effective industrial or comm~rcial 
establishment in such a country or terri­
tory, su bject to the condition that Greek 
companies or other legal persons of Greece 
which have a right to protection under the 
terms of this Decree benefit from pro­
tection in the country or territory referred 
to in paragraph 2 above. 
4. If under the terms of paragraphs 1, 2 
and 3 above no right to protection is pro­
vided, this right shall also apply in favour 
of natural and legal persons who 
a) first commercially exploit within 
Greece or another Member State of the 
Union a topography which has not yet 
been exploited commercially anywhere in 
the world; and 
b) have been exclusively authorised to ex­
ploit commercially the topography through­
out the Union by the persons entitled to 
dispose of it. 
5. The right to protection referred to in 
paragraph 1 shall also apply in favour of 
the successors in title of the persons 
mentioned in paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 4. 
As regards conditions of representation 
vis-a-vis the OBI and other data, the pro­
visions in force relating to patents set out 
in Law No 1733/1987 and the administra­
tive acts in implementation of this law 
shall apply. 
Article 7 
Topographies created by employees 
I. A topography created by an employee 
shall belong to him (free topography) 
unless it is either a service topography 
which belongs entirely to the employer or 
a dependent topography, of which 40% 
belongs to the employer and 60% to the 
employee. 2. A service topography is the product 
of a contractual relationship between em­
ployee and employer concerning the de­
velopment of intellectual effort. 
In the event of creation of a service 
topography, the employee shall be entitled 
to fair supplementary remuneration, if the 
topography is particularly profitable to 
the employer. 
3. A dependent topography is a topo­
graphy which is created by the employee 
with the aid of materials, means or infor­
mation provided by the firm or the legal 
entity employing him. The employer shall 
be entitled to exploit the dependent topo­
graphy provided he remunerates the creat­
or, in line with the economic value of the 
topography and the resultant profits. The 
creator of a dependent topography shall 
immediately inform the employer in writ­
ing that he has created the topography 
and provide the necessary data for filing a 
joint application for registrati'on. If the 
employer does not declare in writing to 
the employee within four months of the 
above communication that he is interested 
in co-filing the application, this may be 
submitted by the employee alone, in which 
case the topography shall belong to the 
employee alone. 
4. Any agreement which restricts the 
employee's rights set out above shall be 
null and void. 
5. At all events the name of the creator 
shall be mentioned in the registration cer­
tificate and the creator shall be entitled to 
request protection from the applicant or 
to request recognition as creator from the 
holder of the certificate. 
Article 8 
Vindication 
I. The rightful owner of the topography 
may, whenever a third party has filed 
without his consent an application for IP/N/lIGRC/L/l 
Page 5 
registration of a topography relating to 
his topography or essential elements of 
this topography, file a claim against this 
third party for recognition of the rights 
deriving from his application and, if a cer­
tificate of registration has been granted, of 
the rights which derive from this certifi­
cate. 
2. This claim must be filed within two 
years of publication of the registration 
particulars in the Industrial Property 
Bulletin. This deadline shall not apply if 
the holder of the certificate was aware at 
the time the certificate was registered or at 
the time of transfer of the topography of 
the right of the claimant. 
3. A summary of this irrevocable deci­
sion in recognition of such a claim shall be 
deposited with the Register of Topo­
graphies. 
4. From the date of deposition the 
licences as well as any other right con­
cerning the topography are considered 
null and void. The losing party as well as 
third parties may request from the re­
cognised owner the concession, against 
remuneration, of a non exclusive license 
for a reasonable period,' provided that 
they are utilising the topography in good 
faith or had taken the necessary pre­
cautions for its utilisation. If the parties 
fail to reach agreement, the conditions 
fixed by the Court of First Instance of the 
claimant's place of residence, in con­
formity with the procedure laid down in 
Articles 741 to 781 of the Code of Civil 
Procedure, shall apply. 
CHAPTER THREE 
REGISTRATION PROCEDURE­
CERTIFICA TE 
Article 9 
Filing of applications IP/N/I/GRC/L/l 
Page 6 
1. Whoever wishes to register a topo­
graphy must file an application with the 
OBI, which must contain: 
a) the full name, nationality, place of 
residence or head office and address of the 
depositor for the purposes of Article 6 of 
this Presidential Decree. 
b) a description of the topography in 
accordance with Article 2 of this Presi­
dential Decree. 
c) a declaration of the date when the 
topography was first exploited on a non­
confidential commercial basis, when this 
date is earlier than that of the date of regi­
stration. This declaration must prove that 
the time limit stipulated in paragraph 4 
above has been respected; 
d) an application for registration of the 
topography. This application shall be 
accompanied by proof of payment of the 
deposition and registration fee for the 
topography. 
2. Insofar as the application satisfies all 
the conditions of paragraph 1, it shall be 
accepted for filing, it shall be considered 
regular, and a date of filing shall be re­
corded in the register. 
3. The application shall be accompanied 
by the following documents: . 
a) the drawings or images to which the. 
description refers 
b) where relevant, the material re­
presenting the topography 
~ c) the depositor's documents of legiti­
mation in the case of a legal person or in 
the case of a natural person if he is not the 
creator. 
4. Within a period of two years follow­
ing the first commercial exploitation of a 
topography, the creator of the topography 
shall submit an application for registration 
of the topography with the OBI. Other­
wise, the application shall be deemed tobe 
overdue, no date of registration will be 
granted by the 08 I, nor exclusive rights shall be granted. 
5. The provisions of Law No 1733/1987 
on patents shall apply mutatis mutandis. 
Article 10 
Secrecy of a topography 
1. If during registration with the OBI of 
the particulars referred to in Article 9( 1 )(b) 
and (3)(a) and (b) of this Decree the depo­
sitor declares that these particulars consti­
tute commercial secrets, the OBI shall 
attribute the character "secret" and shall 
keep the particulars in a special sealed 
envelope. The secret particulars shall not 
be divulged or made available to the 
public. Divulging of secret particulars 
shall be punishable under the terms of 
Article 17 of Law No 146/1914 on Unfair 
Competition (GGG 30). 
2. The secrecy referred to in paragraph 
1 is deemed to be withdrawn after a ruling 
by the responsible court on parties to 
disputes concerning the validity or infringe­
ment of exclusive rights derived from a 
protected topography. 
Article 11 
Additional particulars 
1. Within ten months of the orderly 
deposition, the depositor shall submit to 
the OBI the annexed particulars as descri­
bed in Article 9(3) of this Decree, in which 
case the application shall be considered 
complete. 
2. If, on expiry of this time limit, the 
OBI establishes that not all of the parti­
culars have been submitted, the applica­
tion shall be considered as not filed. 
Article 12 
Certificate of registration 
1. If the application for registration of a topography is complete and orderly, in 
accordance with Articles 9 and 11 of this 
Decree, the OBI shall grant a certificate of 
registration of a semiconductor product 
topography, without determining whether 
the conditions of Article 3 of this Decree 
have been satisfied, at the depositor's 
responsibility. 
2. Under reserve of Article 10, on 
granting of the certificate of registration, 
third parties may request information on 
and copies of the application and additio­
nal particulars concerning the protected 
topography. 
3. The data of the application shall be 
published in the Industrial Property Bul­
letin. 
CHAPTER FO UR 
RIGHTS DERIVING FROM THE 
PROTECTED TOPOGRAPHY -
DURATION OF PROTECTION­
INHERITANCE AND AUTHORI­
SATION·OF EXPLOITATION 
Article 13 
Content of the right 
1. The creator of a protected semicon­
ductor product topography shall have the 
exclusive right to authorise or prohibit 
any of the following acts within the time 
limit set out in Article 14: 
a) reproduction of a topography insofar 
as it is protected under Article 3 of this 
Decree; 
b) commercial exploitation or the im­
portation for that purpose of a topography 
or a semiconductor product manufactured 
by using the protected topography. 
2. For the purposes of the above para­
graph, the creator of the protected topo­
graphy may not prohibit the following 
activities: IP/N/lIGRC/L/l 
Page 7 
a) private reproduction or use of the 
topography for non-commercial purposes 
b) the reproduction of a topography 
with a view to analysis, evaluation or 
teaching the concepts, processes, systems 
or techniques embodied in the topography 
or the topography itself. 
3. If analysis or evaluation in accordance 
with Paragraph 2b .of a protected topo­
graphy leads to the creation of another 
topography which satisfies the prerequisi­
tes of Article 3 of this Decree, the exclusive 
rights deriving from the protected topo­
graphy shall not be extended to the newly 
created topography. 
4. The exclusive rights referred to in 
paragraph 1 shall not apply when the 
topography or the semiconductor product 
has been put on the market in a Member 
State of the European Union by the person 
entitled to authorise its marketing or with 
his consent. 
5. A person who, commercially exploits 
a semiconductor product or a topography, 
does not know, or has no reasonable 
grounds to believe that the product or the 
topography are protected by an exclusive 
right conferred by a Member State in con­
formity with this decision, shall be entitled 
to continue to commercially exploit that 
product. 
6. The person holding the exclusive right 
may require the payment of adequate 
compensation for acts committed after 
that person exploiting the topography or 
the semiconductor product in accordance 
with paragraph 5 knows, or has reasonable 
grounds to believe that the semiconductor 
is so protected. 
7. The court responsible for hearing 
claims under Paragraph 6 of this Decree 
shall be the Extended Court of First In­
stance at the plaintiffs place of residence 
and shall rule in conformity with the pro­
cedure set out in Articles 741 to 781 of the IP IN 11 IGRC/LI 1 
Page 8 
Code of Civil Procedure. 
Article 14 
Beginning and end of protection 
1. The exclusive right granted under 
Article 13 of this Decree shall commence 
on the day following the day of orderly 
filing with the OBI of the application for 
registration of the topography. 
2. Whenever the date of first commercial 
exploitation of the topography is later 
than the date referred to in paragraph 1, 
the said exclusive right shall come into 
existence on the day following the date of 
first commercial exploitation. 
3. The exclusive rights referred to in 
Article 13 shall come to an end ten years 
from the earlier of the following dates: 
a) the end of the calendar year during 
which the topography is first commercially 
exploited anywhere in the world; 
b) the end of the calendar year during 
which the application for registration has 
been filed with the OBI. 
4. Where a topography has not been 
commercially exploited anywhere in the 
world within a period of 15 years from its 
first fixation or encoding, any exclusive 
rights in existence pursuant to paragraph 
1 shall come to an end. 
Article 15 
Succession -licenses 
1. The right to registration of a topo­
graphy and the exclusive rights deriving 
from a protected topography may be trans­
ferred through written agreement or 
through inheritance. Transfer shall consist 
of the registration of the agreement or the 
inheritance certificate with the Topo­
graphies Register and shall be published 
in the Industrial Property Bulletin. Para­
graphs 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of Law No 1733/ 1987 shall apply mutatis mutandis. 
2. Articles 12, 13 and 14 of Law No 
1733/1987 shall also apply to the right 
concerning topography. 
CHAPTER FIVE 
NULLITY -INFRINGEMENT 
Article 16 
Nullity 
1. The right to the topography shall be 
declared null and void by court order if: 
a) the holder of the certificate of the 
protected topography is not the creator or 
the transferee or the person entitled in 
accordance with Article 7. 
b) the topography is not entitled to pro­
tection under Article 3 
c) the application for registration of the 
topography is submitted after expiry of 
the time limit set out in Article 9, para­
graph 4 
d) the depositor of the application for 
registration does not belong to the cate­
gory of persons' defined in Article 6. 
Otherwise Article 15(2) and (3) of Law 
No 1733/1987 shall apply. 
Article 17 
Actions before justice -infringement 
1. In the event of an infringement or 
threatened infringement of an exclusive 
right deriving from the protected topo­
graphy, the holder of the topography shall 
be entitled to request suspension of the 
infringement and the ommission of an 
infringement in the future. 
2. In case of intentional infringement, 
the plaintiff shall be entitled to demand 
restitution of the damage or return of the 
benefits deriving from the illicit exploita­
tion of the protected topography or pay-ment of a sum corresponding to the value 
of the license. 
3. Paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of Articles 17 
of Law 1733/1987 shall apply mutatis 
mutandis. 
4. The rights set out in paragraph 2 
shall also be recognised in respect of any 
person who has reason to believe that the 
topography is protected if a third party 
reproduces, commercially exploits or im­
ports it in bad faith. 
Article 18 
Final provisions 
1. The provisions of this Decree shall 
not affect the implementation of any other 
legal provisions concerning industrial pro­
perty. 
2. Protection of topographies under the 
terms of provisions concerning intellectual 
property shall not be applicable whenever 
the topographies have been created after 
the entry into force of this Decree. IP/NIlIGRC/LI 1 
Page 9 
Article 19 
Entry into force 
This Presidential Decree shall enter into 
force upon publication in the Government 
Gazette. 
The Minister of Industry, Energy and 
Technology shall be responsible for pu­
blishing this Decree. 
Athens, 11 February 1991 
The President of the Republic 
Konstantinos Karamanlis 
The Vice President of the Government 
and Minister of Justice 
Athanasios Kanellopoulos 
The Minister of the National Economy 
Evthimios Christodoulou 
The Minister of Ind ustry, Energy and 
Technology 
Stavros Dimas 