Chip Protection

The law on the protection of the topography of microelectronic semiconductor products entered into force on January 1, 1992.

The main features of the law are as follows:

1. The protection extends to original spatial layouts of semi-conductor products in the field of microelectronics as well as to those sub-structures which can be used independently from the whole structure. A layout is original if it is not a simple copy of an existing structure and it is not a commonplace in the field concerned (this definition intends to cover a low-level non-obviousness requirement).

2. The owner of rights will have an exclusive right to commercially use the structure. The protection does not extend to those original structures which were made on the basis of the protected structure.

3. If a person buys or sells a semiconductor product without knowing that the structure thereof is under protection, he can further continue the commercial utilization until he obtains information about the existing rights. The indication (marking) of existing rights on the product or on the package is therefore advisable.

4. The time of protection is ten years from the filing date or from the first public commercial use (this latter condition should apply if the application for registration takes place less than two years following the first public commercial use).

5. A foreign person can apply for such protection if either an international treaty exists between his country and Hungary or in case of reciprocity with the concerned country.

Other rules and details are very similar to corresponding regulations of the patent law.