Collection of Laws for Electronic Access
YH
MAURITIUS
“right holder” means the person who is to be regarded as the beneficiary of the
protection referred to in section 5;
“Tribunal” means the Tribunal set up under section 9 of the Patents, Industrial Designs
and Trademarks Act 2002;
Part II
Nature and Extent of Protection
Protection
3.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), registration for protection under this Act may be—
(a) obtained for layout-designs of integrated circuits where they are original within the
meaning of section 4;
(b) applied for only where—
(i) the layout-design has not yet been commercially exploited; or
(ii) has been commercially exploited for not more than 2 years anywhere in the world.
(2) No protection under this Act shall be available for any layout-design which has
been commercially exploited anywhere in the world for more than 2 years prior to the entry
into force of this Act.
Originality
4.—(1) A layout-design shall be considered to be original where it is the result of its
creator’s own intellectual effort and is not commonplace among creators of layout-designs
and manufacturers of integrated circuits at the time of its creation.
(2) Where a layout design consists of a combination of its elements and
inter-connections that are commonplace, it shall be protected only where the combination
taken as a whole is original within the meaning of subsection (1).
Right to Protection
5.—(1) The right to layout-design protection shall belong to the creator of the
layout-design and may be assigned or transferred by succession.
(2) Where several persons have jointly created a layout-design, the right to
layout-design protection shall belong to them jointly.
(3) Where the layout-design has been created in execution of a commission or an
employment contract, the right to the layout-design protection shall, in the absence of any
express provisions to the contrary, belong to the person who commissioned the work or to the
employer.
MU004EN
Integrated Circuits, Act, 08/08/2002, No. 24
page 3/10