Integrated Circuit Topography Act — I-14.6 4
Conditions of registration 4 (1) Subject to subsection (4), a topography is registrable under this Act only if the following conditions are met: (a) the topography is original; (b) an application for registration of the topography, containing the information and material required by subsection 16(2) and accompanied by the fee required by subsection 16(3), is filed with the Registrar before the topography is first commercially exploited or within two years thereafter; and (c) the creator of the topography is, at the time of its creation or on the filing date of the application, (i) a national of Canada or an individual or legal entity that has in Canada a real and effective establishment for the creation of topographies or the manufacture of integrated circuit products, (ii) a national of a country that, either directly or through its membership in an intergovernmental organization, affords protection for topographies in accordance with a convention or treaty to which that country or intergovernmental organization and Canada are contracting parties, or an individual or legal entity that has in such a country or in the territory of a member state of such an intergovernmental organization an establishment of the kind referred to in subparagraph (i), (iii) a national of a country or of a member state of an intergovernmental organization that the Minister has certified by notice published in the Canada Gazette to be a country or intergovernmental organization that confers protection on nationals of Canada or legal entities that have an establishment of the kind referred to in subparagraph (i) that is substantially equal to the protection conferred by this Act, or an individual or legal entity that has in such a country or in the territory of a member state of such an intergovernmental organization an establishment of that kind, or (iv) a national of a WTO Member. Originality (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a topography is original if the following conditions are met: (a) it has not been produced by the mere reproduction of another topography or of any substantial part thereof; and (b) it is the result of an intellectual effort and is not, at the time of its creation, commonplace among creators of topographies or manufacturers of integrated circuit products. Combinations of elements or interconnections (3) Where a topography consists of a combination of elements or interconnections that are commonplace among creators of topographies or manufacturers of integrated circuit products, the topography shall be considered to be original only if the combination, considered as a whole, meets the conditions referred to in subsection (2). Exception (4) A topography that is not registrable by reason that the condition set out in paragraph (1)(c) cannot be met is registrable if the topography is first commercially exploited in Canada. Definitions (5) In this section, Commissioner means the Commissioner of Patents; ( commissaire ) WTO Agreement has the meaning given to the word “Agreement” by subsection 2(1) of the World Trade Organization Agreement Implementation Act ; ( Accord sur l’OMC ) WTO Member means a Member of the World Trade Organization established by Article I of the WTO Agreement. ( membre de l’OMC ) 1990, c. 37, s. 4; 1993, c. 15, s. 25; 1994, c. 47, s. 130