The Study Of Infringement On Integrated Circuit’s Layout Design

The Regulations on the Protection of Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits has taken into force for over 10 years from Oct. 1, 2001. However, there are only a few case opinions regarding the infringement of integrated circuits’ layout designs for these 10 years. Some of the cases ended by mediations and some plaintiffs withdrew the claims. The lack of case opinions regarding the infringement of integrated circuits’ layout designs made a big challenge to the parties and judges. The owners of integrated circuits’ layout designs were unable to find the rules from the case opinions. Moreover, the laws do not provide a clear standard to determine the infringement of layout designs. The rule of determining infringement of layout designs is relatively vague in China.The rule of determining infringement of layout designs plays a vital role to provide enough protection for the right owners. The owners may find the expected reliefs from the rule. To determine the infringement of layout designs, the court should compare the protected layout designs with the alleged infringing products. So the court should determine the expression of the layout designs for comparison at first. Secondly, the court should judge whether the layout design is original. Thirdly, the court should rule whether the alleged infringing product is substantially similar with the protected layout design. This essay will focus on the questions arising from determining the infringement.Chapter I studies the subject to determine the scope of protected layout design of the integrated circuit. Since the drawing and sample are both required to register the layout design according to the law, the court should decide whether the drawing or sample should be used for comparison. The author will discuss the issue based on the nature of layout design and prior cases.Chapter II studies the standard to determine the originality of layout designs. Originality is the requirement for the protection of layout designs. The originality of layout designs should be between of patent and work. The author will discuss the standard of originality from the purpose of legislation and prior cases.Chapter III studies the elements that the court should consider to determine the standard of substantial similar. The court should determine whether the alleged infringing products are identical or substantial similar with the protected layout designs, which is quite similar with the concept of copyright law. However, considering the differences between the layout designs and the works, the standard should be different from copyright law. The author will discuss the elements to determine the standard of substantial similar based the latest cases.Chapter IV discusses the suggestions for the improvement of law based on the above analysis. The author will discuss the amendment of the present law.