Integrated circuit topography is an electronic integrated circuit that is configured and interconnected. Think: circuit board or microchip. The layout and design of these circuit boards are protected by Canadian law and fall under the Integrated Circuit Topography Act. The Act was passed on May 1st, 1993 in an attempt to protect Canadian innovations both nationally and internationally.
You see technology is a big part of all our lives, from our cell phones and mp3 players to our personal computers and even the computers in our cars and even such things as alarms clocks and coffee makers. We very much depend on technology and the smaller microchips and circuit boards get the more complex the layout and designs have to be. Although there were only 38 registrations under the Act between 1993 and 1999, the Integrated Circuit Topography Act was developed for the need to regulate the intellectual property of integrated circuit topographies while providing exclusive rights for the creator of the integrated circuit topography.
The following is a basic breakdown of the Integrated Circuit Topography Act:
The Act provides protection:
(1) to owners by providing the exclusive rights:
(i) to exclude others from reproducing the integrated circuit topography
(ii) to exclude others from manufacturing a product including the integrated circuit topography
(iii) to exclude others from importing or commercially exploiting the integrated circuit topography
(2) for up to 10 years for a registered integrated circuit topography.
However, there are three exceptions to the Integrated Circuit Topography Act:
(1) Once the owner has given authorization to another party to use the integrated circuit topography in a product for commercial use the owner no longer has any statutory right to control its use, rental, resale or redistribution.
(2) Copying of a protected topography for the purposes of analysis, evaluation, research or teaching is allowed under the Act.
(3) Reverse engineering of the integrated circuit topography is also permitted under the Act.
In order to have any kind of rights under the Act the owner of an integrated circuit topography is first required to register the integrated circuit. Keep in mind that the Registrar of Topographies will not examine integrated circuit topography at any time to determine if the design is original or if it meets the qualification under the Act. They will however reject the application if the owner does not meet the nationality requirements or if the application is received after the time period, which is no later than two years after the integrated circuit topography's first commercial use.
The agency responsible for integrated circuit topographies falls under the responsibility of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office or CIPO. They are also responsible for other types of intellectual property as well, including:
Please note that this article is solely an informational piece on the basic requirements and protections under the Integrated Circuit Topography Act. For specific information it is advised to contact the Canadian Intellectual Property Office or a lawyer specializing in Intellectual Property Rights.
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