Violation of Trade Secrets
A trade or business secret is any fact relating to a business that its holder demonstrably keeps secret, that is known only to a limited group of people, and that is not readily accessible to outsiders – for example, economic data, design and manufacturing processes, technical know-how, customer and price lists, and certain personnel matters.
Civil-law protection of trade secrets has, since 2019, been governed by Law 4605/2019, by which Greece implemented EU Directive 2016/943 on the protection of trade secrets. It grants the holder of a secret claims for injunctive relief, removal, and damages against the unlawful acquisition, use, or disclosure of trade secrets.
Under criminal law, the violation of another’s trade secrets continues to be covered in particular by Art. 371 of the Criminal Code (breach of professional confidentiality) and by Art. 17 of the Unfair Competition Act (Law 146/1914). Under these provisions, it is a criminal offence for a person to disclose a trade secret entrusted to them in the course of an employment or fiduciary relationship, or to obtain unauthorised knowledge of it – for example, by way of industrial espionage – and exploit it for competitive purposes.
A special duty to safeguard the secrets of others applies, by virtue of their profession, in particular to:
- doctors and pharmacists,
- psychologists,
- lawyers and notaries,
- auditors, tax advisers, and accountants, and
- public officials in the civil service.
Characteristic examples of a criminally punishable violation of secrecy include passing on confidential documents to a competing business, or unauthorised intrusion into a company’s electronic data systems in order to copy secret data or entire software programs; alongside this, the offences of unauthorised access to an information system (Art. 370B of the Criminal Code) and damage to digital data (Art. 379 of the Criminal Code) may also be relevant.
Note: As the numbering of the relevant provisions of the Criminal Code has changed since the re-codification, the applicable sentencing or fine range should be checked in the individual case against the current version of the law.
FAQ
The betrayal of a trade secret by an employee during the course of employment is a criminal offence and gives rise to a duty of compensation, where the secret was entrusted on account of the employment relationship. The same applies to industrial espionage.
A trade secret is understood to mean any fact relating to a business or an enterprise that the business owner demonstrably keeps secret, that is known only to a limited group of people, and that is not easily accessible to other persons. Under Law 4605/2019, it is additionally required that the information have commercial value precisely because of its secrecy, and be subject to reasonable measures to keep it secret.
Trade or business secrets can include, in particular:
- all economic data of a business that are not readily accessible to outsiders;
- design and manufacturing processes;
- technical know-how;
- customer and price lists;
- personnel matters.
The general sentencing range provides for imprisonment and a fine where the violation of the trade secret serves anticompetitive purposes. For interference with electronic computer data containing secrets of public or private businesses, or state secrets, significantly higher terms of imprisonment are threatened. As the Criminal Code has been amended several times since the 2019 re-codification (Law 4619/2019), the sentencing range specifically applicable in the individual case should be checked against the current version of the law.
Characteristic examples are the handing over of secret documents to a competing company, and interference with a company's electronic data with the aim of copying certain secret data or the entire electronic program.
A special duty to safeguard the trade secrets of others applies, in particular, to the following professional groups:
- doctors and pharmacists;
- psychologists;
- lawyers and notaries;
- auditors, tax advisers, accountants;
- public officials in the civil service.
As of June 2026. All information on these pages is provided without guarantee or liability.