Semiconductor protection law

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Semiconductor protection or topography protection is the protection of three-dimensional structures (topographies) of semiconductor products .

history

In the USA, protection of the three-dimensional structure of semiconductors similar to copyright was created by the Semiconductor Chip Protection Act of 1984 , SCPA. The property right is not called topography in the USA, but mask work and is not registered with the patent office , but with the United States Copyright Office . Foreign applicants could also claim protection under the SCPA, but this right was only to apply until November 8, 1987. The deadline was extended to May 31, 1988 for applicants from the EC .

After this point in time, the principle of material reciprocity applied , which means protection only on the basis of reciprocity. That is, foreign applicants only have access to US semiconductor protection law if their home country also grants US applicants semiconductor protection. In order to be able to continue to protect topographies, "mask works", in the USA one was forced to regulate the protection of semiconductor structures by law. Japan made the start with the Act Concerning the Circuit Layout of a Semiconductor Integrated Circuit of 1985 . In the EC, the Directive on the legal protection of the topographies of semiconductor products 87/54 / EEC, passed by the Council of the EC in December 1986, was intended to achieve harmonization within the EC.

On May 26, 1989, the Treaty on Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated Circuits (IPIC Convention, WIPO Document IPIC / DC / 46) was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Washington , which has only been ratified by Egypt, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Saint Lucia . However, the TRIPS agreement on intellectual property provides for the application of this agreement.

Semiconductor / topography protection laws

The national implementation of Directive 87/54 / EEC takes place via semiconductor protection laws and their implementation provisions :

literature

  • Bernhard Geissler: Semiconductor Protection Act. (Text with explanations). Carl Heymanns Verlag 1988, ISBN 3-452-21203-3 .
  • Ernst-Peter Heilein: The importance of legal protection for integrated semiconductor circuits in practice - prognosis and problems of special legal protection. Peter Lang, 2003, ISBN 3-631-39812-3 .
  • Thomas Hoeren: The protection of microchips in the Federal Republic of Germany. Critical considerations on the Semiconductor Protection Act of November 1987 . 1989, ISBN 3-89325-015-8 .
  • Guido Kucsko: Intellectual property. Manzsche Verlags- und Universitätsbuchhandlung, Vienna 2003, pp. 988-1006, ISBN 3-214-00423-9 .
  • Leon Radomsky: Sixteen Years After the Passage of the US Semiconductor Chip Protection Act: Is International Protection Working? In: Berkeley Technology Law Journal . tape 15 , 2000, pp. 1049–1233 ( berkeley.edu [PDF; 283 kB ; accessed on June 9, 2009]).
  • Wei Shen: Intellectual Property Protection of Layout Designs on Printed Circuit Boards: From Comparative and Chinese Perspectives , IIC 2014, 6.
  • Nicolas von Werdt: Selected problems for topography protection of microelectronic semiconductor products. Schulthess Legal Media, 1991, ISBN 3-7255-2933-7 (dissertation, Zurich, 1991).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Compare article "mask work" in the English Wikipedia mask work
  2. ↑ Directive 87/54 / EEC (PDF)
  3. ↑ Semiconductor Protection Act , ris.bka
  4. ↑ Federal Law Gazette No. 428/1996 : Semiconductor Protection Act Amendment 1996
  5. ↑ Semiconductor Protection Ordinance , ris.bka