Semiconductor Products (Protection of Topography) Regulations 1987
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1987/1497 |
1987 No. 1497
DESIGNS
The Semiconductor Products (Protection of Topography) Regulations 1987
Made 20th August 1987
Laid before Parliament 1st September 1987
Coming into force 7th November 1987
The Secretary of State, being designated1for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 19722in relation to the conferment and protection of exclusive rights in the topographies of semiconductor products, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by the said section 2(2) hereby makes the following Regulations:
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Semiconductor Products (Protection of Topography) Regulations 1987 and shall come into force on 7th November 1987.
2.—(1) In these Regulations—
“semiconductor product” means an article the purpose, or one of the purposes, of which is the performance of an electronic function and which consists of two or more layers, at least one of which is composed of semiconducting material and in or upon one or more of which is fixed a pattern appertaining to that or another function;
“topography” means the design, however expressed, of any of the following:
(a) the pattern fixed, or intended to be fixed, in or upon a layer of a semiconductor product;
(b) the pattern fixed, or intended to be fixed, in or upon a layer of material in the course of, and for the purpose of, the manufacture of a semiconductor product;
(c) the arrangement of the layers of a semiconductor product in relation to one another;
“topography right” has the meaning given in regulation 4(1) below and, unless the context otherwise requires, references to topography right are references to topography right subsisting in a topography.
(2) For the purposes of these Regulations, the creation of a topography occurs upon its first expression in a form from which it can be reproduced.
(3) For the purposes of these Regulations, and subject to paragraph (4) below, the commercial exploitation of a topography is the sale or hire, or the offer or exposure for sale or hire, of—
(a)
(a) a reproduction of the whole or a substantial part of the topography, or
(b)
(b) a semiconductor product incorporating such a reproduction,
being (except for the purposes of Regulation 3(2) below) lawful exploitation by or with the licence or consent of the owner of topography right in the topography or of any predecessor in title of the owner.
(4) No account shall be taken of any commercial exploitation which is subject to an obligation of confidence in respect of information about the topography exploited unless either—
(a)
(a) the topography has been commercially exploited on a previous occasion (whether or not subject to an obligation of confidence), or
(b)
(b) the obligation is imposed at the behest of the Crown, or of the government of any country outside the United Kingdom, for the protection of security in connection with the production of arms, munitions or war material.
(5) For the purposes of these Regulations, no account shall be taken of any offer for sale or hire the acceptance of which would lead to an agreement to sell or hire but not yet an actual sale or hire.
3.—(1) Where a topography is original and its creator is a qualified person or, in the case of a topography created in the course of employment or pursuant to commission, the employer or commissioner is a qualified person, topography right shall, subject to Regulation 8 below, subsist in the topography in favour of the creator, employer or commissioner, as the case may be.
(2) If paragraph (1) above does not apply, topography right shall subsist where—
(a)
(a) the topography is original;
(b)
(b) the first commercial exploitation of the topography in the world occurs within the territory of a member state;
(c)
(c) the person so exploiting the topography is a qualified person; and
(d)
(d) that person at the time of that exploitation has been exclusively authorised to exploit the topography commercially in every member state by, as the case may be, the creator, his employer or the commissioner of the topography or, as the case may be, by a person lawfully claiming through the creator, employer or commissioner;
and in such a case topography right shall, subject to regulation 8 below, subsist in the topography in favour of that person.
(3) A topography is original if it satisfies the requirements of being—
(a)
(a) the result of the creator’s own intellectual effort (or of the combined intellectual efforts of the creators if there are more than one), and
(b)
(b) not commonplace among creators of topographies or manufacturers of semiconductor products,
or if it consists of a combination of elements in which the combination itself satisfies those requirements, irrespective of whether the several elements do.
(4) For the purposes of this regulation, a person is a qualified person if—
(a)
(a) being an individual he is a British citizen or a citizen or subject of another member state or has his habitual residence in the United Kingdom, Gibraltar or another member state, or
(b)
(b) being a firm or a body corporate it has a place of business within the United Kingdom, Gibraltar or another member state at which substantial business activity is carried on,
or if he falls within one of the additional classes of qualified persons set out in Part I of Schedule 1 to these Regulations.
(5) In determining whether, for the purposes of paragraph (4)(b) above or Schedule 1 below, a person has a place of business within any territory at which substantial business activity is carried on, no account shall be taken of dealings in goods which are at all material times outside that territory.
(6) For the purposes of this regulation, a topography is created in the course of employment or pursuant to commission if it is created in the course of the creator’s employment under a contract of service or apprenticeship or pursuant to a contract (other than a contract of service or apprenticeship) under which a person other than the creator commissions the creation of the topography and pays or agrees to pay for it in money or money’s worth, unless in either case the contract provides to the contrary; and “employer” and “commissioner” shall be construed accordingly.
4.—(1) Topography right is, subject to paragraph (2) below, the exclusive right to make a reproduction of the whole or a substantial part of the topography or deal in such a reproduction or a semiconductor product incorporating such a reproduction; and a person deals in a reproduction or a semiconductor product if he sells or hires it, offers or exposes it for sale or hire or imports it into the United Kingdom for the purpose of selling or hiring it.
(2) Paragraph (1) above shall not apply in respect of—
(a)
(a) the making of any reproduction privately for non-commercial purposes;
(b)
(b) the making of any reproduction for the purpose of analysing or evaluating the topography or analysing, evaluating or teaching the concepts, processes, systems or techniques embodied in it;
(c)
(c) dealing in any reproduction or product after it has been sold or hired within—
(i) the United Kingdom by or with the licence of the owner of topography right in the topography, or
(ii) the territory of any other member state or of Gibraltar by or with the consent of the person, or one of the persons, for the time being entitled to import it into or sell or hire it within that territory;
(d)
(d) any act restricted by copyright in the topography as an artistic work within the meaning of the Copyright Act 19563.
5. Topography right shall commence upon the creation of the topography or, in a case falling within regulation 3(2) above, upon its first commercial exploitation, and shall cease—
(a) at the end of the tenth year after the end of the year in which it was first commercially exploited anywhere in the world, or
(b) if it is not commercially exploited anywhere in the world within a period of fifteen years commencing with its creation, at the end of that period.
6.—(1) Topography right is infringed, subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) below, by any person who, in the United Kingdom, during the subsistence of the right and without the licence of the owner of the right, does or authorises any other person to do any act within the exclusive right provided for in regulation 4(1) above.
(2) Topography right in one original topography is not infringed by creating another original topography as a result of an analysis or evaluation falling within regulation 4(2)(b) above, making a reproduction of that other topography or dealing in such a reproduction or a semiconductor product incorporating such a reproduction.
(3) Topography right is not...
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