Research On The Infringement Determination Of Integrated Circuit Layout Design

It has been more than 20 years since the implementation of the "Regulations on the Protection of Integrated Circuit Layout Design" on October 1,2001.However,in China,there are very few judicial precedents that infringe on the exclusive right of integrated circuit layout design,a special intellectual property right.Due to the insufficient number of cases,neither the parties nor the judges involved in the trial can gain sufficient experience,nor can they refer to more existing similar precedents to handle judicial cases that infringe on the exclusive rights of layout-design.In addition,there is currently no detailed and specific method for identifying infringement in the existing laws and regulations in China,which leads to a very vague standard for identifying infringement in layout-design.This article studies typical judicial precedents that infringe on the exclusive rights of integrated circuit layout-design,analyzes the contradictions that arise in China’s judicial practice in the trial process of determining layout-design infringement,and summarizes that the most important points of controversy are focused on the definition of the scope of exclusive rights protection,the lack of uniformity in the determination of originality,and the need for improvement in the determination of contact and rules Reverse engineering behavior and infringement behavior can easily confuse these four aspects.This article will discuss the issues in the above-mentioned infringement determination system.This paper categorizes and analyzes the controversial points in typical judicial precedents that infringe on the exclusive rights of integrated circuit layout design,and summarizes the problems that exist in the existing infringement determination system.The current registration and filing system for layout design in China does not specify how to define the scope of exclusive rights protection when the content of layout design reflected by different carriers is not completely consistent.At present,it is necessary to clarify that replicas or drawings are the main basis.In the future,by improving the registration and filing system,we will explore a new mode of using electronic layout drawings as the main basis,replacing the traditional method of using paper replicas or drawings as the registration and filing of layout designs.For the recognition criteria of originality,one is to require the applicant to fix the scope of originality when registering and filing,in order to publicly disclose the originality content of the layout design to the public.The second is to establish a layout design retrieval database that is compatible with the layout design registration and filing system,which can objectively determine whether the layout design in dispute between both parties has originality.For the determination rules of contact and substantial similarity,firstly,it is necessary to fully consider whether the defendant has the possibility of "contact".Secondly,when determining "similarity",the percentage of similarity should not be used as a direct basis for judgment.Every original part should be protected.For the boundaries of regulating the legality of reverse engineering behavior,this article introduces the judgment standards for such cases in the United States and explores judgment strategies suitable for China’s national conditions.