Integrated Circuit (IC) shall mean a finished or half-finished product that contains various elements, at least one of which is active, which are partly or entirely interconnected and integratedly formed in a semiconductor to produce electronic functions.
Layout Design shall mean a creation in the form of a three dimensional layout design formed by various elements, at least one of which is active, of which parts of or all of the interconnections in an integrated circuit and the three dimensional layout is meant for the preparation of making an IC.
The legal protection of Layout Design of Integrated Circuits follows the principle of originality. A Layout Design of Integrated Circuits can be deemed original if comes from intellectual effort of its Designer and does not constitute a common knowledge for other designers.
The period of protection of Right to Layout Design of Integrated Circuit is only granted for 10 (ten) years as from its filing date or from the date of its first commercial exploitation and cannot be extended. The right to Layout Design of IC is granted on the basis of an application.
