4. Layout-designs of integrated circuits shall enjoy legal protection only if they are
deposited in accordance with this Law.
5. The right to protection for the layout-designs of integrated circuits, provided for by
this Law, shall belong to the creators of the designs or to their beneficiaries.
Where several persons have jointly created a layout-design of integrated circuits, the
right to protection shall belong to them jointly.
Where the layout-design of integrated circuits has been created during the performance
of an enterprise or labor contract, the right to protection shall belong, unless contractual
provisions to the contrary exist, to the client or to the employer.
6. This Law shall apply to the layout-designs whose creators or their beneficiaries are
Tunisian or are domiciled in Tunisia, or in fact own serious industrial or commercial
establishments in Tunisia, or who, by means of their nationality, domicile or industrial or
commercial establishments, are nationals of a State which, through its domestic legislation or
under the international agreements to which it is a party, guarantees for Tunisian
layout-designs the same rights as those granted to its nationals.
Chapter II
Deposit Procedures
7. The right to deposit a layout-design of integrated circuits shall belong to its creator
or to his beneficiaries.
8. Layout-designs of integrated circuits shall be deposited with the body responsible for
industrial property in return for the payment of fees, the amounts of which shall be fixed by
decree.
Where the depositor is represented by an agent, a written power of attorney shall be
attached to the declaration of deposit.
A depositor domiciled overseas shall appoint an agent registered in Tunisia.
The agent’s power of attorney shall specify the scope of representation.
This power shall extend to all the acts affecting the layout-design of integrated circuits,
including the operations provided for by this Law, apart from in cases of the surrender of
protection, which require a special power.
9. All layout-designs of integrated circuits shall be deposited according to procedures
which shall be fixed by decree.
The body responsible for industrial property shall verify, at the time of each deposit,
whether the deposit has been made according to the procedures provided for in the first
subparagraph of this article, without prior examination of the originality, the right of the
depositor to protection or the accuracy of the facts stated in the application.
In cases where the deposit does not comply with the provisions of the second
subparagraph of this article, notification shall be given with the appropriate reasons to the
depositor and a period of three months, starting from the date of the notification, shall be
allocated to him to cure any defects in the deposit or to challenge the objections raised by the
body responsible for industrial property.
page 2/11