Integrated Circuit Layout Design Intellectual Property Protection In The View Of International Law

Layout designing is a critical section during R&D process of integrated circuits, which is an intangible product of intellectual work and is reproducible and non-arbitrary. It is insufficient and inappropriate to protect layout designs via patent law, copyright law and trade secrets. For that reason, enacting specialized law to protect intellectual property rights on layout designs is rendered necessary. Since U.S. enacted sui generis law on semiconductor chips, other states and regions have followed suits and have brought about their respective domestic legislations.Washington Treaty and TRIPS Agreement are major international laws on layout design. Despite of the fact that Washington Treaty has not yet come into effect due to US and Japan’s refuse to sign on it, this treaty still lays a foundation for international law protection for layout designs. The TRIPS Agreement, meanwhile partially referring to Washington Treaty, has altered in terms of protection scope, compulsory license, term of protection and innocent infringement etc., which caters to the needs of developed countries. In correspondence with requirements under TRIPS Agreement, WTO members are obligated to protect layout designs of integrated circuits within its state/region.The US Semiconductor Chip Protection Act of1984(SCPA) is the first specialized law on layout design throughout the world.In view of SCPA’s reciprocity principle, Japan, EC and South Korea have also enacted corresponding legislations based on SCPA. There are differences to some extents in the above mentioned legislations, in terms of subjects of rights, objects of protection, restriction of rights and so on. By comparison, one could draw the conclusion that legislations of EC and South Korea have stayed in conformity with TRIPS Agreement while U.S. and Japan need to further make corresponding amendments to meet with their obligations under TRIPS Agreement.As member of WTO, China has enacted Regulations on Layout Design Protection of Integrated Circuits, of which content is by and large the same to its counterparts in TRIPS Agreement. In recent years, there has been a rapid increase in both registration number and commercial utilization rate of layout designs, which mirrors active commercial use of integrated circuits. In terms of disputes concerning proprietary rights on layout designs, two important issues include clarifying starting point of the rights and setting standards for reverse engineering. In order to perfect this country’s law on layout design, efforts can be made in respects of a higher level of legislation, merge of re-examination board, a better registration process, and enhance of remedy of rights.This Article focuses on probing into Intellectual Property protection of layout designs of integrated circuits under a perspective of International law. Besides the introduction and conclusion, there are four chapters in this article. Chapter One introduces technological and legal features of layout designs, in particular advantages and disadvantages as a result of such features rendered by various norms of intellectual property law. Chapter Two discusses International treaties on layout designs including Washington Treaty and TRIPS Agreement. Chapter Three introduces domestic/regional legislations of several WTO members including U.S., Japan, EC and South Korea. There is also discussion on their respective features of legislations and contrasting analysis with TRIPS Agreement. Chapter Four involves Intellectual Property protection mode of integrated circuits layout designs in China, and offers analysis and suggestions both in terms of current legislative and jurisdiction.