Leaders in Law endorses Fotini Kardiopoulis as our exclusively recommended Anti- Counterfeiting Law expert in Greece. If you wish to get in touch with Fotini use the contact information provided above.
Practice Areas
- Trademarks
- Anti-Piracy / Anti-Counterfeiting
- Contract Drafting, Franchising and other Agreements
- Copyright
- Domain names/Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Plant Breeder’s Rights
Memberships
- Member of The International Community of Breeders of Asexually Reproduced Ornamental and Fruit Varieties (CIOPORA)
- Member of The Association of European Trade Mark Owners (MARQUES)
- Member of International Trademark Association (INTA)
- Athens Bar Association, as from 1985
Education
- University of London, London School of Economics and Political Science, LL.M
- University of Athens, Law School, Law Degree (LL.B) (first-class honours)
Languages
Greek, English, French
Partner and Co-founder
Fotini Kardiopoulis, partner and co-founder of Dr Helen G Papaconstantinou and Partners (HP&P), heads the firm’s anti-counterfeiting and anti-piracy department. She holds a law degree from the University of Athens with first-class honours and an LLM from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She joined the Athens Bar in 1985 and has been admitted to practice before the Greek Supreme Court and the Council of State. She has also been a lecturer for 10 years at the Police Academy.
Since 1998 she has been dealing with a broad range of IP matters with an emphasis on trademarks, geographical indications, anti-counterfeiting/anti-piracy, plant breeder’s rights, contract drafting and reviewing and alternative dispute resolution. She has extensive experience in IP litigation, in devising and implementing anti-counterfeiting programs, filing and administering customs actions, monitoring and enforcing IP rights online and advising on domain name disputes, consulting on license & franchise agreements and on copyright issues. In addition, she has conducted numerous significant seizures/raids, including preparatory investigations concerning various sectors, such as apparel, electric/electronic goods, toys, watchmaking, alcohol and tobacco/cigarettes, often involving both civil and criminal action in addition to customs procedures.
Fotini Kardiopoulis is an active member of various associations, including the Athens Bar Association, the International Trademark Association (INTA), the Association of European Trade Mark Owners (MARQUES) and the International Community of Breeders of Asexually Reproduced Ornamental and Fruit Varieties (CIOPORA).
She has further been awarded with the 2020 ‘Certificate of Excellence’ on Anti-Counterfeiting (Greece) by Advisory Excellence and ranked as a Recommended Individual in WTR 1000 2021 and 2020 Intellectual Property rankings as well as Leading Individual and Recommended Lawyer in Legal 500 EMEA 2021 and 2020-Intellectual Property rankings.
She frequently authors articles in her fields of expertise. Recent contributions include:
- Anti-counterfeiting and Online Brand Enforcement 2021-Greece – supplement to World Trademark Review (co-author)
- WTR Yearbook 2020/2021: A global guide for practitioners – supplement to World Trademark Review (co-author)
- Greece (finally!) introduces its new Trademark Law implementing the EU Directive – Greek Law Digest-VIEWLETTER, Nomiki Bibliothiki
- Greece: Intellectual Property – The Legal 500 Country Comparative Guides (4th edition) – The Legal 500
- Greece: Intellectual Property – The Legal 500 Country Comparative Guides (3rd edition) – The Legal 500 (co-author)
- Business Brief: Greece – WIPR Annual 2020 (co-author)
Firm Description:
HP&P started as a solo practice, founded by Dr. Panagiotis Theodorides in 1920 and is one of the oldest Trademark and Patent Law Firms in Greece. The firm specialised from the very beginning in all aspects of Intellectual Property Law, primarily Patents, Trademarks, Industrial Designs, Copyright, Domain Names, Unfair Competition, Licensing and all related litigation. Over the past 99 years, the Firm has grown steadily to become the largest Firm in Greece to specialise exclusively in IP. Dr. Helen Papaconstantinou joined the firm in 1965, became a full partner in 1971, and has been heading the firm since 1986.
In order to better serve its clients and maintain a competitive practice covering the broad spectrum of Intellectual Property Law, the firm evolved into two distinct branches in 1996, the one under the old firm name LAW OFFICE DR. P.D. THEODORIDES – DR. H.G. PAPACONSTANTINOU covering Trademarks, Domain Names, Copyright, Customs Monitoring Procedures and all Intellectual Property related litigation and the other under the name DR. HELEN G. PAPACONSTANTINOU, JOHN V. FILIAS AND ASSOCIATES, Business Consultants, S.A. covering Patents, Industrial Designs, Utility Models and all related activities and consulting. Over the years, the firm extended its services to cover Supplementary Protection Certificates, Plant Breeders’ rights, Anti-Counterfeiting and Antipiracy law, New Media and Technology Law, Franchising, Commercial and Corporate Services, Internet, E-Commerce and Domain Names.
In 2015, 95th anniversary of the firm, Dr. Helen G. Papaconstantinou opened a new page in its history, announcing the founding of the Law Firm Dr. Helen G. Papaconstantinou and Partners (HP&P), which evolved from the two aforementioned branches, moving forward with all the existing staff, who bring with them their expertise, experience and knowledge. After her retirement her legacy continues through the commitment of the partners of the firm to her high standards and the excellent quality of work of the whole crew of highly qualified lawyers and supporting staff.
The Managing Partner of HP&P is Eva Yazitzoglou and the other three partners are: Miranda Theodoridou, Maria Athanassiadou and Fotini Kardiopoulis. This move, adjusting the practice to the modern standards of the legal profession, aims at increasing the depth and breadth of services to our international superb client base and to fully secure the needs of our clients with portfolios of various IP rights. We are committed to continue working hard to deliver high quality tailored expert services in the IP sector and look forward to exploring opportunities to provide you with additional value in new areas.
International Experience
HP&P is home to 12 fully qualified Attorneys with considerable experience in intellectual property matters over many years of practice and 40 highly specialized technical counsellors-patent translators. Two of our Attorneys are European Patent Attorneys. Most of our Attorneys are active members of various national and international professional bodies and regularly contribute to several publications in the IP field, both Greek and International.
At HP&P we serve our foreign clients in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. We closely collaborate with 40 technical counsellors, who have accredited degrees (the majority including post-graduate studies as well) in sciences, (e.g. physics, chemistry/biochemistry, biology and electrical/electronic, chemical and mechanical engineering). Most of them are or have been involved in academic research. They are competent translators for English, French and German and regularly provide consulting services of the highest quality, based on their technical expertise in patent matters.
Diverse clientele
Our client base covers a very broad spectrum including law firms and prestigious companies in the fields of pharmaceuticals, chemicals, cosmetics, constructions, telecommunications, energy, biotechnology, food, alcoholic and soft beverages, fashion, finance and banking, education, and many more. Our clients range from the trademark and patent departments of large and small international companies directly represented by HP&P, through to multi-national and small companies represented by HP&P indirectly through trademark and patent agents from all over the world. In addition to our intellectual property activities in Greece, HP&P maintains a close collaboration with outstanding Law Offices in Cyprus and the Arabic countries and has acquired experience in the handling of trademark and patent matters in these countries for many years. In addition to that, our broad network of carefully selected IP law firms, with whom we have built a strong relationship of trust and confidence over the years, permits us to manage our clients’ IP portfolios in each and every country of the world where their interests extend.