JOHN CARLOS I

KING OF SPAIN

To all who present it and understand it.

Sabed: That the General Courts have approved and I come to sanction the following Law:

The role that semiconductor products play in the world is of greater importance every day, not only in the field of the electronic industry itself, but in a wide range of industrial sectors. The fact that we have to accept the fact that we are going to accept the fact that we are going to have to accept the fact that we are in the process of being able to do so. daily life is intimately linked to its development.

The functions of semiconductor products depend heavily on their topographies. The structure and layout of the elements, as well as the different layers that make up the integrated circuit, which ultimately constitutes their "topography", are a direct result of the design and represent an important part of the creative effort, demanding their considerable human, technical and financial resources.

As a result of the necessary process, the cost of the design is very high, requiring the design of the functional circuit, the individual element of the circuit, the geometric layout and the interconnections. However, once the design is made, the manufacturing cost is not high.

If designing and designing an integrated circuit is expensive and difficult, copying it is, on the contrary, relatively easy and its cost far lower than necessary for its development.

Therefore, it is considered necessary to establish, for the sake of technological innovation, the protection of the creators of topographies of semiconductor products, so that they can write down their investments by granting of exclusive rights.

On the other hand, the Council of the European Economic Community, on the basis of the foregoing considerations, adopted Directive 87 /54/EEC of 16 December 1986 on the legal protection of topographies of products semiconductors, Article 11 of which provides that Member States shall take the necessary measures for their protection by granting exclusive rights.

Article 1. Definitions.

For the purposes of this Law, the following definitions shall apply:

1. Semiconductor product, the final or intermediate form of any product:

a) consisting of a substrate including a layer of semiconductor material,

b) having one or more supplementary layers of conductive, insulating or semiconductor materials, arranged in accordance with a predetermined three-dimensional structure, and

c) intended to perform, exclusively or in conjunction with other functions, an electronic function.

2. Topography of a semiconductor product, a series of interconnected images, whatever the way they are fixed or coded:

a) that represent the three-dimensional structure of the layers that make up the semiconductor product,

b) in which each image has the structure or part of the structure of one of the surfaces of the semiconductor product in any of its manufacturing phases.

3. Commercial exploitation, sale, rental, leasing or any other method of commercial distribution, or an offer for such purposes.

For the purposes of the above definition, the holding that is carried out under conditions of confidentiality shall not be included, provided that no distribution to third parties occurs. However, if the holding is included in conditions of confidentiality when they are required for security reasons in relation to military applications.

Article 2. Protection requirements.

1. The topographies of semiconductor products shall be protected by granting exclusive rights in accordance with this Law.

2. The topography of a semiconductor product shall be protected to the extent that it is the result of the intellectual effort of its creator and is not a current product in the semiconductor industry. Where the topography of a semiconductor product consists of current elements in the semiconductor industry, it shall be protected only to the extent that the combination of such elements, as a whole, meets the requirements mentioned.

Article 3. Right to protection.

1. The right to protection belongs to persons who are the creators of topographies of semiconductor products, without prejudice to the following paragraphs:

2. (a) The right to the protection of topographies of semiconductor products, created by the worker during the term of his contract or working relationship with the Company, shall be governed by the provisions of Title IV, Labor Inventions, Law 11/1986, of March 20, of Patents.

(b) The right to the protection of topographies of semiconductor products, created under a non-employment contract, shall be the responsibility of the contractual party responsible for the topography, unless the contract provides for the

3. (a) They shall benefit from the protection of this Law:

Natural persons referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 who have the nationality of a Member State of the European Community or who habitually reside in the territory of a Member State, as well as legal persons referred to in paragraph 2 which have a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in the territory of a Member State of the European Economic Community.

(b) They shall also benefit from the protection of this Law, natural or legal persons who meet the conditions laid down in paragraph 3 (a) of this Article, who are the first to operate commercially in a Member State a topography which has not yet been commercially exploited anywhere else and which they have received, from the person entitled to have the topography, the authorisation to exploit it commercially in a manner exclusive throughout the Community.

4. The right to protection shall also apply in favour of the successors in title of the persons referred to in the preceding paragraphs.

Article 4. Record.

1. In order for the topography of a semiconductor product to benefit from the exclusive rights granted in accordance with Article 2, a registration application must be submitted to the Registry of Industrial Property. The form and conditions of the application for registration, the processing and resolution of the application, as well as the publication of the registration agreement, as appropriate, shall be established.

The application for registration may also be filed in the Provincial Directorates of the Ministry of Industry and Energy, unless the competition for the implementation of industrial property corresponds to the Community Autonomous, whose organs will be, in this case, the competent ones to receive the documentation. In these cases, the Administrative Unit which has received the application shall, by means of diligence, record the day, time and minute of its submission and shall forward it to the Registry of Industrial Property.

Both the application for registration and the other documents to be filed in the Industrial Property Registry must be written in Spanish. In the Autonomous Communities where there is also another official language, such documents may be written in that language, and must be accompanied by the corresponding translation in Spanish, which shall be deemed authentic in case of doubt between both.

This application may be submitted before the start of commercial exploitation or within a maximum period of two years from the date of commencement of the holding. The application for registration shall deposit the material identifying or representing the topography, or a combination of those elements, as well as a statement in public document concerning the date of the first commercial exploitation of the the topography, when that date is earlier than the date of the application for registration.

2. The material deposited in accordance with the above paragraph shall not be accessible to the public when it constitutes a trade secret. However, this shall not affect the disclosure of such material, as a result of a judicial decision or of other competent authorities, to whom they are party to a dispute concerning the validity or violation of the exclusive rights referred to in Article 1 (1). Article 2.

3. Any transfer of exclusive rights to topographies of semiconductor products shall only have effects vis-à-vis third parties in good faith if it has been entered in the Register of Industrial Property.

4. Persons entitled to the protection of topographies of semiconductor products, pursuant to this law, who can demonstrate that a third party has applied for and obtained the registration of a topography without authorization, may claiming to the Courts the ownership of the topography, without prejudice to any other rights or actions that may correspond to it. The claim shall be exercised only within two years from the date of publication of the registration of the topography of the semiconductor product.

Article 5. Content of the exclusive rights.

1. The exclusive rights referred to in Article 2 include those of authorising or prohibiting the following acts:

(a) the reproduction of a topography to the extent that it is protected under paragraph 2 of Article 2, except for non-commercial reproduction for non-commercial purposes;

(b) commercial exploitation or importation for the purpose of a topography or a semiconductor product in the manufacture of which the topography has been used.

2. The exclusive rights referred to in paragraph 1 shall not apply to reproductions for the purposes of analysis, evaluation or teaching of the concepts, procedures, systems or techniques incorporated in the topography, or of the topography itself.

3. The exclusive rights referred to in paragraph 1 shall not extend to acts relating to a topography meeting the requirements of Article 2 (2) and the creation of which is based on the analysis and evaluation of another topography carried out. pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Article.

4. The exclusive rights to authorize or prohibit the acts referred to in paragraph 1 (b) of this Article shall not apply to acts carried out in Spain in relation to topographies or semiconductor products which have been placed on the market in a Member State of the European Economic Community by the holder of the exclusive rights or with his consent.

5. A person may not be prevented from commercial exploitation of a semiconductor product, provided that at the time of acquiring the product he does not know or lack reasonable grounds to believe that he himself is protected by an exclusive right, granted in accordance with the provisions of this Law.

However, as regards the acts performed after the person knows or has reasonable grounds to believe that the semiconductor product is covered by such protection, the holder of the right may require the courts to pay adequate remuneration.

6. The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall also apply to the successors in title of the person referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph

.

Article 6. Mandatory licenses.

The exclusive rights referred to in Article 2 may be subject to compulsory licences where there are grounds of public interest for them. For such purposes, Articles 90, 100, 101 and 102 of Law 11/1986 of 20 March of Patents shall apply.

Article 7. Duration of protection.

1. The exclusive rights referred to in Article 2 shall be in the first time of the following dates:

a) In which the topography has been the subject of commercial exploitation for the first time anywhere in the world.

b) Where the registration request was submitted in due form.

2. The exclusive rights shall expire ten years after the date of the first of the following dates:

a) The end of the year in which the topography has been the object of commercial exploitation for the first time anywhere in the world.

b) The end of the year in which the application for registration has been filed in due form.

However, any record relating to a topography which has not been the subject of commercial exploitation anywhere in the world within a period of 15 years from the date of its first fixing shall be without effect. encoding.

Article 8. Actions for violation of exclusive rights.

1. The holder of a topography under this Law may exercise before the organs of the Ordinary Jurisdiction the civil actions and the measures provided for in Title VIl of Law 11/1986, of 20 March, of Patents.

2. The person who, having the right to protection under Article 3, may prove that a third party fraudulently has reproduced or exploited commercially or imported for that purpose a topography created by it, in the period between his the first fixing or codification and the birth of the exclusive rights under Article 7 (1) may bring proceedings before the courts for unfair competition.

Article 9. Extension of protection.

The protection granted to topographies of semiconductor products, as referred to in Article 2, shall only apply to the topography itself, except for any other concept, procedure, system, technique or coded information incorporated in that topography.

Article 10. Sign of protection.

Semiconductor products manufactured on the basis of protected topographies, in accordance with the provisions of this Law, will be able to carry out in a visible manner and to inform the existence of this protection, an indication consisting of a capital T enclosed within a circle.

Article 11. Maintenance of other legislative provisions.

The provisions of this Law shall apply without prejudice to the rights that are recognized by the existing legislative provisions on patents and utility models.

ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS

First.

The rate for services provided by the Industrial Property Registry is created in the field of legal protection of the topographies of the semiconductor products to which the following rules will apply:

1. Regulatory standards. The fee shall be governed by the provisions of this Law and, failing that, by Law 230/1963 of 28 December, General Tax; by the Law on Parafiscal Fees and Exactions, of 26 December 1958, and by Law 17/1975 of 2 May, on creation of the Autonomous Body Registry of Industrial Property.

2. Taxable fact. The rate will be taxed:

a) The request to register the topographies of the semiconductor products.

b) The deposit of the material that identifies or represents the topography or a combination of those elements.

c) Enrollment of exclusive rights transfers on topographies of semiconductor products.

3. Taxable persons. The applicants for the registration of topographies, or the deposit of the material or the registration of transfers, shall be liable for payment of the fee.

4. Quotas. The fee shall be required according to the following tariff:

1. Fee per registration request: 6,050 pesetas.

2. Rate per deposit of material: 4,000 pesetas.

3. Fee for transfer registration. For each record: 1,200 pesetas.

5. Accrual. The obligation to contribute shall be made at the time of application for registration or registration of the transfer or when the material is deposited.

6. Affectation. The fee will be affected to the Industrial Property Registry, and the amount to be obtained from its collection must be integrated into its revenue budget.

7. Management. Under the direction and control of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the management of the charge will be in charge of the Registry of Industrial Property, with the authorization of the same.

8. Amendment. The General Budget Laws of the State may modify the quotas established in the Tarifa to adapt them to the variation that the cost of the services it pays or the economic-social conjuncture experiences.

Second.

The Law of Administrative Procedure shall be applied in an additional manner to the administrative acts governed by this Law, which may be challenged in the administrative-administrative order, in accordance with the provisions of its Law of Judicial-Administrative Jurisdiction of 27 December 1956.

FINAL PROVISIONS

First.

The Government is authorized to dictate the measures and provisions that are necessary for the development and implementation of the provisions of this Law.

Second.

The Government is authorised to amend the definitions of points (a) and (b) of Article 1 (1), when they are reviewed by the bodies of the European Communities, in order to adapt the definitions to the technical.

Third.

The Government is authorised to amend Article 3.3, in order to extend the right to protection to persons originating in third countries or territories, who do not benefit from protection, where this is established by the bodies of the European Communities.

The Government may also extend the protection to persons who are not included in the previous paragraph, by concluding the corresponding agreement with the State of which they are originating, following the the procedure laid down in Article 3 (6) to (8) of Directive 87 /54/EEC of 16 December 1986.

Fourth.

This Law shall enter into force four months after its publication in the "Official Gazette of the State".

Therefore,

I command all Spaniards, individuals and authorities, to keep and keep this Law.

Palacio de la Zarzuela, Madrid, 3 May 1988.

JOHN CARLOS R.

The President of the Government,

FELIPE GONZÁLEZ MARQUEZ