PART II LAYOUT DESIGNS OF INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
Article 45
For the purpose of this Law, “integrated circuit” means a product, in
its final form or an intermediate form, in which the elements, at least
one of which is an active element, and some or all of the
interconnections are integrally formed on a piece of isolating material
and which is intended to perform a specific electronic function.
Layout design means also the three dimensional disposition prepared
for an integrated circuit intended for manufacturing.
Article 46
Protection under this Law may be obtained for original layout designs
of integrated circuits.
A layout design shall be considered to be new if it is the result of
its creator’s own intellectual effort and is not part of the general
knowledge common among professionals of the relevant industrial art.
Nevertheless, a layout design consisting of elements that are part of
the general knowledge common among professionals of the relevant
industrial art shall also be considered new, if the combination of its
components and their interconnections are in themselves original.
Article 47
Protection shall not apply to any concept, process, technology or any
coded information stored in the layout design of an integrated circuit.
Article 48
The protection period of a layout design shall be ten years from the
date when the application for the registration was filed in Egypt or
ten years from the date when it was first commercially exploited in
Egypt or abroad, whichever comes first.
In all cases, the protection of a layout design shall cease 15 years
from the date of its creation.
Article 49
Application for the registration with the Patent Office of a layout
design shall be filed by its owner and shall be accompanied by a picture
or a drawing and a sample of each integrated circuit that has been
commercially exploited along with the information illustrating the
electronic function of the integrated circuit.
The applicant may, however, exclude such part or parts of the design
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