Executive Intellectual Property Bulletin

The President of Taiwan (Republic of China) has formally promulgated the Integrated Circuit Layout Protection Law (the ICLPL) as reported in the Official Gazette of the R.O.C. on August 11, 1995. This new law will become effective on February 11, 1996.

The Applicant under the ICLPL is the creator, or the creator's assignee, heir, employer or fund provider. Registration of the work is good for 10 years from date of application or date of first usage in commerce. A Registration of an integrated circuit layout must be made within two years of its first use in commerce. If the first use was between February 11, 1994and February 10, 1996, however, an application for registration may be filed between February 11, 1996 and August 10, 1996.

The work of an integrated circuit layout must meet the requirements of originality, non-simpleness, non-commonness, and non-obviousness. A combination of integrated circuit layouts must be regarded as a whole an may be protected, even if the layout is composed of simple, common, obvious circuits, if the legal requirements are satisfied.

For more information on this topic and how these new guidelines may affect US industry and trade, please contact Steve Lundberg or any one of the other attorneys at Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner, P.A. at 612-339-0331 or by facsimile at 612-339-3061.