A Study On The Originality Judgment Of Integrated Circuit Layout Designs

It is very important for the development of semiconductor industry when theexclusive rights of integrated circuit layout design as a new type of intellectualproperty rights.Their legal protection is surving some challenges, one of thedifficulties is the originality judgement of the integrated circuit. Originality of thelayout-design consists of two types: first one is the originality of the original creation,another is the originality of layout-design reverse engineering. It is easy to judge theoriginality of the original, as long as the general to meet two conditions: independentcreation not plagiarism and unconventional design. While the originality judgment oflayout design reverse engineering, for the complex technology of integrated circuit,professional, so the decision is difficult, so far domestic and foreign have not acomplete specification of the judgment standard.The originality judgment of layout-design, also relates to the idea/expression ofthe partition, the validity of reverse engineering, the relationships of originality andcopy infringement. In the originality judgment of layout-design layout design mustpay attention to proprietary rights does not protect the idea itself, did not protect theunique expression. Through the typical case, the United States put forward "substantially similar" standard and" paper trail" standard, followed by “functionalsuperiority” standard and “value-added” standard. Because of the complexity oftechnology characteristic, permiting expert testimony is very important, especially inthe layout design reverse engineering, if a reasonable expert stands in the defendantperspective, in the existing level to design a new scheme had used the original chipsolution, then the reverse engineering is illegal, instead it has originality.The current our country on the layout design of integrated circuit of theprotection is not enough, The originality judgment of layout-design also lack ofexperience. In order to protect the rights of the legitimate rights and interests andreduce disputes, the applicant in the layout design of the application process, shouldindicate the original parts in the file data, so that the oblige can have a goodinterpretation for the originality of layout-design but also it is convenient to facilitatethe disputes caused by substantive examination, it is better to solve the dispute.