Protection of Integrated Circuit Layout Designs in China
October 31, 2001 | BY
clpstaff &clp articlesChina recently issued regulations for the registration and protection of layout designs of integrated circuits. These regulations are intended to meet the demands for the protection of intellectual property in the layout design of integrated circuits and to comply with the obligations of the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the Trips Agreement).
By Jerry Y. Zhang, Morrison & Foerster, Hong Kong
The State Council promulgated the Protection of Integrated Circuit Layout Designs Regulations (the Layout Design Regulations) on April 4 2001. Based on the Layout Design Regulations, the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) promulgated the Protection of Integrated Circuit Layout Designs Regulations Implementing Rules (集成电路布图设计保护条例实施细则) (the Implementing Rules) on September 18 2001. Both the Layout Design Regulations and the Implementing Rules became effective from October 1 2001.
The legislation will have a tremendous impact on the computer, microelectronics and other high-tech industries. Already a number of companies have filed for registration and protection of layout designs under these new regulations. Shanghai Fudan Microelectronics Corporation, for example, has reportedly obtained a grant of the first layout design registration bearing the number of "01500001.X" in China.
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