For many technology and software businesses, the brand, the source code, the product design and the know-how built up over the years make up a substantial part of their value. Despite that, intellectual property rights are often treated as something that can be sorted out later — until a competitor copies a product, a collaborator leaves with access to the code, or a question comes up during an investment or an acquisition.
Greek and EU law treat the different categories of IP very differently, and the distinction matters in practice. Copyright protects software automatically — original source code is protected from the moment it is written, with no registration required, for the life of the author plus 70 years. Patents work the other way round: a technical invention is protected only once a patent application has been examined and granted, a formal procedure that usually requires coordination with a specialist patent attorney for the technical drafting and prosecution, alongside legal strategy on scope, timing and territory. Confusing the two — assuming code is «patented» because it has been written, or delaying a patent filing because «the code is already protected» — is one of the most common and costly mistakes technology founders make.
Having an intellectual property right is not enough on its own. The business has to know which rights it holds, who owns them and how they are protected. A written assignment from an external developer, a properly designed trademark filing strategy or the right measures to protect a trade secret can prove decisive when the business grows, raises investment or faces a dispute.
Trademark strategy raises a choice of its own: a Greek national trademark is quicker and cheaper to obtain but protects only within Greece, while an EU trade mark (EUTM) covers every EU member state through a single application at a higher cost — the right choice depends on where the business actually operates and plans to expand, not on a default answer. The same informal habits create risk elsewhere: the absence of a written IP assignment from an external contributor or freelance developer can leave ownership of the code genuinely open to challenge; an unregistered trademark can be contested or taken by a competitor; and a trade secret that was never treated as confidential — no NDA, no access controls, no documentation — may fail to qualify for trade secret protection exactly when it is needed most, in litigation or on an acquisition. Send us the mark and the products and we will search before you file.
Distinction
Copyright & Patents
Copyright protects software automatically from the moment it is created, with no registration required. Patents concern technical inventions and require a separate filing and examination procedure.
Registration Strategy
EU trademark versus national trademark
A Greek national trademark is protected in Greece, while a European Union trademark provides protection across all member states through a single application. The choice between the two should match the markets in which the business operates or plans to expand.
Common gap
IP ownership and external contributors
Paying for code, designs or other work does not necessarily mean the business has secured all the related rights. Written agreements and appropriate assignment clauses matter particularly where intellectual property is created by freelancers, external contributors or development companies.
An active duty
Trade secrets need active protection
Unlike registered intellectual property rights, the protection of a trade secret is not automatic — it depends on whether the business genuinely treats the information as confidential, with NDAs, access controls and documentation.