Protection of Integrated Circuits and Topographies in Israel

In the modern era, which relies heavily on electronic technology, integrated circuits are of great importance. Due to the rapid and simple manner in which copies can be made in this field, a need arose to regulate special protection for the field of integrated circuits. Therefore, in 1999, the Integrated Circuits Protection Law, 5760-1999 (hereinafter: “the Law”) was enacted in Israel.

Integrated Circuits – What Are They?

An integrated circuit is defined in Section 1 of the Law as a product with two characteristics. First, at least one of its components is an active element and the connections between the components are integrated within or on top of a layer or layers of material. Second, the purpose of the product is to perform an electronic function.

Topography is defined in Section 1 of the Law as “the three-dimensional arrangement of an integrated circuit or the three-dimensional arrangement prepared for the production of an integrated circuit in any form of expression or fixation.”

Protection of Integrated Circuits

The Law’s protection applies both to the form of the integrated circuit (the topography) and to the integrated circuit itself. Section 2 of the Law applies protection only to original topographies, meaning topographies that meet the conditions of Section 3 of the Law, which requires the fulfillment of one of the following conditions:

The topography is the result of independent development by its creator and at the time of creation was not commonly used among those engaged in creating topographies or integrated circuits.
The topography includes a combination of commonly used components and connections where the combination itself is the result of independent development by its creator, as stated in Section 3(1) above.

In addition to the topography being original, it is required that its creator at the time of creation was an Israeli citizen/resident, or that its creator is a person or corporation that had an active plant in Israel at the time of creation for creating topographies or manufacturing integrated circuits.

If all the above conditions are met, the owner of the topography will be granted, as stated in Section 6 of the Law, an exclusive right to copy the topography in whole or in part and the right to import, sell or distribute for commercial purposes the topography/integrated circuit/object containing a copied integrated circuit.

The period of protection for the owner’s exclusive right in the topography will begin, according to Section 9 of the Law, at the time of the topography’s creation and will last for fifteen years from this date or for ten years from the date of the first commercial distribution/sale of the topography or integrated circuit – whichever comes first.

Ownership of Integrated Circuits

Generally, Section 4 of the Law stipulates that the first owner of a topography is its creator. This is unless the topography was made in the context of an employer-employee relationship by an employee due to their work and during their employment period, in which case ownership will be transferred to the employer unless otherwise stated in a contract between the parties.

Infringement of Rights in Integrated Circuits

Infringement of the owner’s rights in integrated circuits and topographies is defined in Section 10 as performing one of the actions listed in Section 6 of the Law, namely, copying, importing, selling, or distributing the topography without the permission of its owner.

Infringement of the right constitutes a tort, and therefore the Tort Ordinance will apply to such infringements, and infringement claims on this matter will be adjudicated accordingly.

However, there are actions that do not amount to infringement according to Section 11 of the Law. Thus, actions can be performed in relation to non-original parts found in the topography, the topography can be copied for private (non-commercial) purposes, or copied for the purpose of evaluation, analysis, research or teaching, or for creating another original topography based on the analysis of the current topography.

Additionally, there are defenses for infringers who purchased or ordered an integrated circuit or an object containing an integrated circuit but did not know and should not have known that the circuit was a copy infringing on the product.

Professional Guidance for Protection of Integrated Circuits and Topographies The field of integrated circuits and topographies requires legal advice to create protection and prevent infringements, mainly due to the uniqueness of this field and the great ease with which integrated circuits can be copied. As a leading law firm and patent attorneys in the field of intellectual property, our firm has over 30 years of experience representing over 8,000 clients and extensive expertise in protecting integrated circuits and topographies. The firm has a professional team of intellectual property lawyers providing legal advice to creators both in registering rights and in legal protection in case of infringement.

*The content in this article and on the website in general should not be seen as legal advice and should not be viewed as a substitute for individual legal advice but rather as a personal opinion and/or general explanation only. Of course, one should not rely on or act in accordance with the above without individual legal advice from a lawyer.

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