The Hellenic Industrial Property Organisation (OBI) was founded under the Law 1733/87 and began functioning on January 1st, 1988. It is an economically independent legal entity governed by private law and directed by a self-reliant administration and a nine-member Administrative Council.
The Hellenic Industrial Property Organisation (OBI) is the only legally qualified institution for the protection of inventions, industrial designs, and trademarks. It also provides technological information from worldwide patent databases.
Additionally, OBI has established Regional Sub-offices in Thessaloniki, Patras, Herakleion, Volos, Ioannina, East Macedonia / Thrace (Xanthi, Komotini), in order to provide information and personalized assistance on industrial property protection and research results and to promote the technological information in the greater Greek region.
Within the framework of its competencies, OBI established the Hellenic Industrial Property Academy (HIPA). HIPA is an individual service of ΟΒΙ aiming to contribute to the education and training of professionals in practical and theoretical aspects of Industrial Property.