WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DU COMMERCE
ORGANIZACIÓN MUNDIAL DEL COMERCIOIP/N/1/ARM/L/1
15 August 2003
(03-4252)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  English/
anglais/
inglés
MAIN DEDICATED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
LAWS AND REGULATIONS NOTIFIED UNDER
ARTICLE 63.2 OF THE AGREEMENT
ARMENIA
The present document reproduces the text1 of the Law on the Legal Protection of
Topographies of Integrated Circuits, as notified by Armenia under Article 63.2 of the Agreement (see
document IP/N/1/ARM/1).
Conseil des aspects des droits de propriétéintellectuelle qui touchent au commerce
PRINCIPALES LOIS ET RÉGLEMENTATIONS CONSACRÉES À LA
PROPRIÉTÉ INTELLECTUELLE NOTIFIÉES AU TITRE
DE L'ARTICLE 63:2 DE L'ACCORD
ARMÉNIE
Le présent document contient le texte
1 de la Loi sur la protection juridique des topographies
de circuits intégrés, notifié par l'Arménie au titre de l'article 63:2 de l'Accord (voir le
document IP/N/1/ARM/1).
Consejo de los Aspectos de los Derechos de PropiedadIntelectual relacionados con el Comercio
PRINCIPALES LEYES Y REGLAMENTOS DEDICADOS A LA
PROPIEDAD INTELECTUAL NOTIFICADOS EN VIRTUD
DEL PÁRRAFO 2 DEL ARTÍCULO 63 DEL ACUERDO
ARMENIA
En el presente documento se reproduce el texto
1 de la Ley de protección jurídica de las
topografías de los circuitos integrados, notificado por Armenia de conformidad con el párrafo 2 del
artículo 63 del Acuerdo (véase el documento IP/N/1/ARM/1).
                                                     
1 In English only.  The text in the original language will be available for consultation by interested
Delegations at the WTO Secretariat./En anglais seulemen t.  Les délégations intéressées pourront consulter le
texte, dans sa langue d'origine, au Secrétariat de l'OM C./En inglés solamente.  Las delegaciones interesadas
podrán consultar en la Secretaría de la OMC el texto en su idioma original.IP/N/1/ARM/L/1
Page 2
ARMENIA
Law on the Legal Protection of To pographies of Integrated Circuits*
(of February 3, 1998)
            TABLE OF CONTENTS**
Article
General Provisions ………………………………………. 1
Legislation on the Legal Protection of Topographies …… 2Subject of Regulation of this Law ………………………. 3
Legal Protection of  a Topogra phy ………………………. 4
Subject and Conditions of Legal Protection …………….. 5Inventor of a Topography  ……………………………….. 6
Ownership Rights ……………………………………….. 7
Transfer of Ownership Rights …………………………... 8
Actions not Recognized as Infringements of theExclusive Right to Us e a Topogra phy …………………... 9
State Registration of a Topography ……………...……… 10
Protection of the Rights in a Topogra phy ……………….. 11
Protection of the Rights in a Topography in ForeignStates …………………………………………………….. 12Rights of Foreign Natural Persons and Legal Entities …... 13
State Fees ………………………………………………... 14
International Agreements ………………………………... 15
General Provisions
1.  The basic concepts used in this Law are as follows:
“integrated circuit” (herei nafter “IC”)—a microelectronic product, either final or
intermediate, designed to carry out the function of the electronic circuit, the components and
connections of which are jointly formed in the body and/or on the surface of the material
which served as the basis for ma nufacturing the object in question;
“topography of an integrated circuit” (her einafter “topography”)—a spatial geometric
arrangement, fixed on a material carrier, of all the components of an integrated circuit and the
connections there between;
“use for commercial purposes” (hereinaft er “use”)—application, sale, hiring or
dissemination for commercial pur poses by another method, and also the proposal to perform
these actions;
“rights' owner”—an author, his heir or any natural person, legal entity or company
which does not have the status of a legal entit y and which, according to a law or agreement,
has acquired exclusive ownership rights.IP/N/1/ARM/L/1
Page 3
Legislation on the Legal Protection of Topographies
2.  The legislation on the legal protection of topographies consists of the Constitution of
the Republic of Armenia, this Law, and other laws and legal instruments.
Subject of Regulation of this Law
3.  This Law shall govern the relations conc erning the creation, legal protection and use
of topographies.
Legal Protection of a Topography
4.  The right to a topography shall be protected by the State.
The exclusive right to use a topography shall be valid for 10 years:  this period shall
begin on whichever of the followi ng fixed dates is earliest:
—  the date of first use of the topography , i.e., the earliest doc umented date on which
the topography in question, or IC with this topography, was marketed anywhere in the world;
—  the date of registration of the topograp hy by the body of the Government of the
Republic of Armenia authorized to deal with  the registration of t opographies (hereinafter
“authorized State body”).
Where an identical original topography, inde pendently created by a different inventor,
exists, the general period of validity of the exclusive right to use the topography may notexceed 10 years.
Subject and Conditions of Legal Protection
5.  An original topography shall be prot ected in accordance with the procedure
established by this Law.
A topography shall be original if it is the re sult of an inventor's creative activity.  A
topography shall be considered original until such time as the proof to the contrary is
provided.
If, on the date a topography is created, a ll its components are known to IC engineers,
the legal protection provided for by this La w shall not be granted to the topography.
If a topography consists of components ge nerally known to IC engineers and producers
on the date of its creation, it sh all be granted legal protecti on only in cases where all such
components meet the requirements of th e second paragraph of this article.
In accordance with this Law, ideas, methods, systems, technologies and coded
information which may be produced in a topogr aphy shall not be afforded legal protection.
Inventor of a Topography
6.  The inventor of a topography shall be  any natural person, as a result of whose
creative efforts the topography has been produced.IP/N/1/ARM/L/1
Page 4
If a topography has been produced by the joint creative efforts of two or more
inventors, each of them shall be recognized as the inventor.
Natural persons who have not made a pers onal creative contribution to the production
of a topography, or who have provided the au thor with purely technical, organizational or
material assistance, or who have helped only to produce doc umentation confirming the right
to use the topography, shall not be reco gnized as inventors of the topography.
The copyright shall be an inalienable personal right and shall be afforded permanent
protection by the law.
The inventor shall have the right not to be  mentioned in that capacity in information
published on the certificate of registration of the topography.
Ownership Rights
7.  The exclusive right to use a topography sh all be granted to th e inventor or other
rights' owner and shall afford him the opportunity, at his own discretion, to produce anddisseminate an IC with such a topography, and al so to prohibit its use in cases where this Law
is contravened.
If the exclusive right to use a topography belongs to two or more persons, the relations
connected to the enjoyment of that right sha ll be defined by agreement between the persons
concerned.  In the absence of such agreement,  each of those persons may use the topography
at his own discretion but may not, however, assign  the right of use or authorize such use to
another person without the consent of the remaining rights' owners.
The exclusive right to use a topography, produ ced in the course of professional duties
or at the request of an employer, shall belo ng to the employer, unless otherwise provided by
agreement between the employer and the inventor.  Such an agreement may also establish the
level of remuneration and the proced ure for payment of the inventor.
The exclusive right to use a topography pr oduced by agreement between a client not
regarded as an employer and the inventor sha ll belong to the client, unless otherwise provided
by the agreement.
Infringement of an exclusive right of use shall include the performance of the following
acts without the authorization of th e inventor or other rights' owner:
(a)  the use of topographies or part thereo f in an IC by other means, excluding the
copying only of the part of the topography which is not original;
(b)  the application, import, sa le and hiring of a topography or IC including the
topography, or its dissemination for commercia l purposes, and also the proposal to perform
such acts.
Where a rights' owner may not use a topograp hy without infringing the exclusive right
of some other rights' owner, he shall have the right to request authorization from the latter forsuch use, according to agreement.  Where there is no agreement, the matter may be settled bythe courts.IP/N/1/ARM/L/1
Page 5
Transfer of Ownership Rights
8.  Ownership rights in a topography may be transferred by agreement, either fully or
partially, to other natural persons or legal entities.  The agreement shall establish the methodand scope of use of the topography, the levels  of and procedure for payment, and the period
of validity of the agreement.  The ownership rights in a topography shall, in accordance withthe requisite legal pro cedure, be bequeathed.
Agreements on the concession of exclusive ow nership rights in a topography registered
with an authorized State body shall be register ed with that body.  An unregistered agreement
shall be considered invalid.
Agreements on the transfer of ownership rights in a topography may, by tacit
agreement between the parties, be registered with an authorized State body.
Actions not Recognized as Infringements of the
 Exclusive Right to Use a Topography
9.  The following shall not be recognized as  infringements of the exclusive right to use
a topography:
(a)  the use of lawfully acquired ICs or objec ts containing such ICs if the user did not
and could not know that the ICs or objects c ontaining such ICs had been made and were
being disseminated, thereby infringing the exclusive right to use the topography.  Once thecorresponding notification has been received from the topography rights' owner, the usershall pay equal compensation for each IC or obj ect containing such an IC, and subsequently
used for the first time;
(b)  use for personal needs with no intention to  generate profit, as well as for research,
analysis, assessment or study purposes;
(c)  dissemination of the lawfully marketed  IC containing the protected topography.
Nor shall the performance of the acts indicated  in the fifth paragraph of Article 7 of this
Law by the rights' owner of an identical original topography, produced independently byanother inventor, be considered to infring e the exclusive right to use a topography.
State Registration of a Topography
10.  The inventor of a topography or other rights' owner may file, either directly or
through his representative, an application fo r the State registration of an IC topography
(hereinafter “an application”) with an authorized State body.
If the topography has been used prior to th e application being filed, the application may
be filed up to two years after the date of first use.
An application shall relate to one topograp hy and shall contain:
(a)  a request for State registration of an IC topography, containing the name of the
rights' owner (applicant) and also of the invent or, provided that the latter has not declined to
be mentioned in that capacity, their place of re sidence or business, and the date of first use
(where the topography has been used);IP/N/1/ARM/L/1
Page 6
(b)  materials identifying a topography, including a short summary.
A receipt for payment of the State fee shall be attached to the application.
The requirements for the application documents  shall be established by an authorized
State body.
The authorized State body shall, within two months, verify that an  application received
meets the requirements of paragraphs three to  five of this article.  Where compliance is
observed, the authorized State body shall, within  five days, enter the topography in the State
Register of IC Topographies of the Republic of  Armenia (hereinafter “the State Register”),
issue a certificate for the State registration of IC topographies (hereinafter “a certificate”)
and, within three months, shall publish details of the registered topography in its official
journal.
The applicant may, within two months of th e day on which the application is filed, or of
the receipt of a request from the authorized State body, make changes, corrections and
clarifications to the application documents.
The State registration procedure, form of the certificate, details of the information
contained therein, and a list of the particular s published in the official journal shall be
established by the authorized State body.
The information entered in the State Register shall be considered authentic until such
time as proof is provided to the contrary.  Responsibility for the authenticity of the
information in question shall be borne by the applicant.
The inventor of a topography or other ri ghts' owner may, for rights' notification
purposes, place on the protected topography, as  well as on the objects containing such a
topography, a notification inscription in the fo rm of the Latin letter T or a representation of
this letter enclosed in a circle, square, br ackets or inverted commas, together with an
indication of the date on which the period of  validity of the exclusive right to use a
topography begins and information identifying the rights' owner.
Protection of the Rights in a Topography
11.  An inventor or other rights' owner may, in order to protect his rights, apply to the
courts in accordance with the established procedure.
The inventor of a topography or other rights' owner may require:
(a)  the renewal of a provision existing prior to the infringement of a right;
(b)  compensation for harm caused, also incl uding the sum of the income unlawfully
obtained by the infringing party;
(c)  application of the other measures, pr ovided for by legislation, relating to the
protection of their rights.
Unlawfully manufactured ICs a nd objects containing them, together with the materials
and equipment envisaged for their manufacture , may, on a court decision, be confiscated,
destroyed or sold, and the sums obtained fro m the sale included in the State budget or
assigned to the claimant at his request to cover compensation for the harm caused.IP/N/1/ARM/L/1
Page 7
Protection of the Rights in a Topography in Foreign States
12.  The inventor or other rights' owner of  a topography produced in the Republic of
Armenia may request legal protection fo r the topography in foreign countries.
Rights of Foreign Natural Persons and Legal Entities
13.  In accordance with the international agre ements to which the Republic of Armenia
is party, or on the principle of reciprocity, foreign natural persons and legal entities shallenjoy the rights envisaged by this Law and sh all bear equal responsib ility with the citizens,
companies and organizations of the Republic of Armenia.
State Fees
14.  State fees shall be levied for the perfo rmance of acts connected with the State
registration and legal protection of an IC topo graphy, the types, levels and procedure for
payment of which shall be fixed by law.
International Agreements
15.  If alternative provisions to those envisa ged by this Law are made by international
agreements to which the Republic of Armenia is party, those alternative provisions shall
apply.
____________________
* Russian title:  ЗАКОН  РЕСПУБЛИКИ  АРМЕНИЯ  О ПРАВОВОЙ  ОХРАНЕ  ТОПОЛОГИЙ
ИНТЕГРАЛЬНЫХ  МИКРОСХЕМ .
Entry into force:  March 3, 1998.
Source:  Communication from the  Armenian authorities.
Note:   Translation by the International Bureau of WIPO.
** Added by the International Bureau of WIPO.
__________