WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DU COMMERCE
ORGANIZACIÓN MUNDIAL DEL COMERCIOIP/N/1/BGR/L/1
12 October 2000
(00-4203)
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
BULGARIA
The present document reproduces the text1 of the Law on Topographies of Integrated Circuits,
as notified by Bulgaria under Article 63.2 of the Agreement (see docume nt IP/N/1/B GR/1/Add.1).
Conseil des aspects des droits de propriété
intellectuelle qui touchent au commerce
PRINCIPALES LOIS ET RÉGLEMENTATIONS CONSACRÉES À LA
PROPRIÉTÉ INTELLECTUELLE NOTIFIÉES AU TITRE
DE L'ARTICLE 63:2 DE L'ACCORD
BULGARIE
Le présent document contient le texte1 de la Loi sur les topographies de circuits intégrés,
notifiée par la Bulgarie au titre de l'article 63:2 de l'Accord (voir le docu ment IP/N/1/BGR/1/Add.1).
Consejo de los Aspectos de los Derechos de Propiedad
Intelectual relacionados con el Comercio
PRINCIPALES LEYES Y REGLAMENTOS DEDICADOS A LA
PROPIEDAD INTELECTUAL NOTIFICADOS EN VIRTUD
DEL PÁRRAFO 2 DEL ARTÍCULO 63 DEL ACUERDO
BULGARIA
En el presente documento se reproduce el texto1 de la Ley de Topografías de Circuitos
Integrados, notificada por Bulgaria de conformidad con el párrafo 2 del artículo 63 del Acuerdo
(véase el documento IP/N/1/BGR/1/Add.1).
                                                     
1 In English only. The text in the original language is available for consultation by interested
Delegations at the WTO Secretariat./En anglais seulemen t.  Les délégations intéressées peuvent 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/BGR/L/1
Page 2
LAW ON THE TOPOGRAPHY OF INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
(Published in State Gazette , No.81 of September 14, 1999,
in force as of December 15, 1999)
CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Subject Matter
Art. 1.  This law is to arrange the conditions and the procedure for registration of the
topography of integrated circuits, hereinafter referred to as topography, the rights stemming
from its registration and the protection of those rights.
Scope of Application
Art. 2. (1) This law shall apply to Bulgarian natural persons and legal entities as well as to
foreign natural persons and legal entities from states which are parties to international treatiesto which the Republic of Bulgaria is a party.
(2) This law shall apply to foreign natural persons and legal entities from other states
at the conditions of reciprocity which sh all be assessed by the Patent Office.
Object of Protection
Art. 3. (1) Object of protection is an original topography which is the result of its creators’
own intellectual efforts and which is not co mmonplace among the creators of topographies
and manufacturers of integrated circuits at the time of its creation.
(2) Where the topography consists of  a combination of known elements and
interconnections between them, it shall be protected only if it fu lfills the conditions of para 1
above.
(3) The legal protection of a topography under this law shall not extend to the
technologies for manufacture of the integr ated circuit in which the topography is
implemented as well as to the information stored on it.
Representation
Art. 4.  (1) Any person why is entitled to undertake acts at the Patent Office in accordance
with this law may perform those acts person ally or through a local industrial property
representative.
(2) Persons under para 1 above who do not re side or do not have their registered
office in the Republic of Bulgaria are obliged to perform acts before the Patent Officethrough a local industrial property representative.
Fees
Art. 5.  The Patent Office collects fees for: filin g, registration, publication of the registration,
record of an assignment and other changes in the legal status and their publication, record of
a license contract and publication of the record, record of termination of a license andpublication of that, access of th ird parties to the dossier, chan ges in the name and address of
the owner, extension of time limits, information and extraction from the State Register of theIP/N/1/BGR/L/1
Page 3
Topographies, correction of technical errors ma de by the applicant, issue of duplicates at
rates fixed in a Tariff approv ed by the Council of Ministers.
Dossier
Art. 6. (1) The Patent Office shall keep a dossier for any topography that includes the whole
documentation relating to the registration and any subsequent records.
(2) Before the registration, the dossier shall only be accessible to the applicant, to his
representative or to a person explicitly authorized by the applicant.
(3) After the registration, the Patent Office shall allow access to the dossier with no
right to copy the documents therein. The orde r for giving access to the dossier shall be
regulated by the President of the Patent Office.
(4) The Patent Office shall not make available to the public the material identifying
the topography or these parts of it which have been qualified by its owner as a trade secretexcept upon a court order to persons involved in a litigation concerning validity of the
registration or infringement of the exclusive rights.
State Register of the Topographies
Art. 7.  The State Register of the Topographies contents data concerning all registered
topographies and all subsequent changes with respect to them.
Access to the State Re gister of Topographies
Art. 8.  The State Register of the Topographies  is available to the public. Any one may
require information or an excerpt from the content of the Register.
Publications in the Official Bulletin of the Patent Office
Art. 9.  The Patent Office shall publish all regi stered topographies and any subsequent
changes relating thereto in its Official Bulletin.
CHAPTER TWO
LEGAL PROTECTION
Acquisition of Right to Topography
Art. 10. (1) The right to a topography shall by acqui red by virtue of its registration at the
Patent Office as from the date according to Art. 14, para 1.
(2) The right to the topography is exclusive.
Right to Apply
Art. 11. (1) The right to apply shall belong to a person who has created the topography.
Where the right to apply belongs to several persons it is exercised by them jointly. Therefusal of one ore several of the persons to participate in the process of filing shall not be anobstacle to the rest of them. The refusal must be in writing.
(2) In case of a service topography according to Art. 12, para 1, the right to apply
shall belong to the employer or to the person who has ordered the creation of the topography.
(3) The right to apply according to para 2 moves to the creator of the topography, if
the employer or the person who has ordered th e creation of the topography does not file an
application within three - month period as from the written notification for the creation of thetopography, unless agreed otherwise.IP/N/1/BGR/L/1
Page 4
(4) The right to apply may belong to the employer, or to the person who has ordered
the creation of the topography respectively, and to the creator of the topography jointly, if itis agreed.
(5) The right to apply belongs also to the successors in title of the person referred to in
paras 1 to 4 above.
(6) The applicant shall be regarded as someone who has the right to apply until
something else is established by court proceedings.
Service Topography
Art. 12. (1) The topography is a service topography where it has been created in the course of
performing of someone’s duties stemming from employment or from order contract, unlesssomething else has been agreed between the parties in writing.
(2) The creator of a service topography has right to additional remuneration.(3) The additional remuneration may be fixed as a part of the incomes gained from the
exploitation of the topography, or as  one-time sum or in any other way.
(4) Where the remuneration fixed as on-time  sum obviously is not in proportion with
the incomes gained from the exploitation of the topography, the creator of the service
topography shall have a right to demand an in crease of the remuneration. If the parties can
not come to an agreement, the dispute shall be settled by th e court under equity.
Right to Registration
Art. 13.  The right to registration belongs to the person who has the right to apply in
accordance with Art. 11.
Duration of Protection
Art. 14. (1) The protection of a topography shall be effective as from:
1. the date of the first commercial explo itation of the topography by the applicant
anywhere in the world provided that an applica tion has been duly filed with the Patent Office
within two years after this date; or
2. the date of filing of an application with the Patent Office in accordance with Art.
22, para 2 below provided that the topography ha s not yet been commercially exploited or has
only been exploited secretly.
(2) The protection shall be terminated ten years after the end of the calendar year
during which it has become effective in accordance with para 1 above.
Contents of Exclusive Right to Topography
Art. 15. (1) The right to the topography covers the right of the owner to exploit the
topography, to dispose of it and to prohibit thir d parties to exploit it in  the course of their
commercial activities w ithout his consent.
(2) Commercial exploitation means reproduc tion, sale, exchange, rent or lend, import
or export, or any other way of commercial distribution, as well as an offer for such
distribution of the topography or of an product in which it is incorporated.
(3) The exclusive right shall be effective with respect to thir d scrupulous parties as
from the date of publication of the registration of the topography in the Official Bulletin ofthe Patent Office.IP/N/1/BGR/L/1
Page 5
Co -ownership of Right to Topography
Art. 16. (1) The right to the topography may belong to two or more persons.
(2) Any co-owner may exploit the topograph y without the consent of the other co-
owners and with no obligation to give them  an account, unless something else has been
agreed between them in writing.
Restrictions to Right to Topography
Art. 17.  The right of the owner does not extend to:
1. the reproduction of a whole or a part of the registered topography by means of its
incorporation in an integrated circuit or in a nother way, with the exception of those parts of it
which are not original according to Art. 3 a bove, where such reproduction has been done for
private purposes,or for the purpose of ev aluation, analysis, research or teaching;
2. the commercial use of a topography created by a third party as a result of the
evaluation or analysis according to item 1 above, where the newly created topography isoriginal within the meaning of  Art.3;
3. the acts referred to in Art.15, para 2, performed or ordered by a person who did not
know and had no reasonable grounds to know that the registered topography had beenunlawfully reproduced in the integrated circuit exploited; where the person becomes aware ofthat, he may continue to exploit the integrated circuit within the framework of the availablestockpile or the goods ordered in advance pr ovided that, upon request of the owner of the
right to the topography, he shall pay an equ itable remuneration which he would have paid in
the case of freely negotiated license.
Exhaustion of Right to Topography
Art. 18.  The owner of the right to a topography may not prohibit the commercial exploitation
of an integrated circuit or of a product incorporating such circuit in which the registeredtopography has been implemented and which ha s been put on the Bulgarian market by, or
with the consent of, the owner of the right.
Transfer of Rights
Art. 19. (1) All rights under this law may be tran sferred unless otherwise provided herein.
(2) In case of co-ownership of a topography the right may be transferred upon written
consent of all co-owners unless otherwise agreed between them.
(3) The transfer shall be recorded in th e State Register of Topographies upon request
of one of the parties accompan ied by a document of transfer.
(4) The transfer is effective to third parties from the date of its publication in the
Official Bulletin of the Patent Office.
License Contract
Art. 20. (1) The owner of the right to the topography may allow its exploitation through a
license contract.
(2) Authorization for exploitation of a co-o wned topography shall be given with the
mutual consent of all co-owners.
(3) By virtue of the license  contract an exclusive or  non-exclusive license can be
granted. Where nothing else is agreed, the license shall be considered non-exclusive.
(4) The licensor under an exclus ive license contract shall not have the right to grant
licenses with the same subject matter to other persons. He, himself, shall have the right toexploit the licensed topography, only if this has been explicitly agreed.IP/N/1/BGR/L/1
Page 6
(5) The license contract shall be recorded in the State Register of Topographies upon
request of the licensee accompanied by an extraction from the license contract. The licenseeshall be given a certificate.
(6) The license contract shall have effect with respect to third parties from the date it
has been recorded in the State Register of Topographies.
Termination of Legal Pr otection of Topography
Art. 21. (1) The legal protection of the t opography shall be terminated:
1. with the expiration of the term of pr otection in accordance with Art.14, para 2;
2. by virtue of a waiver of the owner of the right;3. upon the termination of the owner’s existe nce, where there is no succession in title.
(2) The termination of the legal protec tion under para 1, item 3 above shall by done
upon request of any interested party.
Surrender of Right
Art. 22. (1) The owner of the right to a topography may surrender the right. The surrender
must be declared before the Patent Office in writing.
(2) The surrender of the right declared by one or some of the co-owners shall not lead
to a termination of the legal protection with respect to the rest of the co-owners.
(3) The surrender shall have effect as from the date of its record in the State Register
of Topographies.
(4) In case of a recorded license contract the surrender shall be recorded, only if the
owner furnishes evidence that he has informed  the licensee about his intention to surrender.
In this case the record shall be made on the expiry of a two month period from the submission
of the evidence.
Invalidation of Registration
Art. 23. (1) The registration shall be invalidated upon request of any interested party where:
1. the topography does not meet the requirements of Art.3;2. the application for registration has not been filed within the time limit prescribed in
Art.14, para 1;
3. the material required in accordance w ith Art.25, para 2, item 3, does not correspond
to the topography of the integrated circuit pr esented as a sample under Art.25, para 2, item 4.
(2) The registration of the topography shall be invalidated where it has been
established in court proceedings that the reco rded owner is not one of the persons listed in
Art.11 and no request for record of the genuine owner has been filed within one month period
after the court judgment has become effective.
Legal Effects of Invalidation
Art. 24. (1) The invalidation of the registration of th e topography shall have effect from the
respective date in accordance with Art.14.
(2) The invalidation of the re gistration shall not affect:
1. judgments on claims for infringement which have become effective to the extend to
which they have been enforced before the invalidation;
2. license contracts to the extend to whic h they have been performed, unless agreed
otherwise.IP/N/1/BGR/L/1
Page 7
CHAPTER THREE
REGISTRATION PROCEDURE
Filing of Application
Art. 25. (1) An application for registration of a topography shall be filed with the Patent
Office.
(2) The application shall be considered to be duly filed and shall be affixed a date of
filing, where at least the following elements have been received in the Patent Office:
1. request for registration;2. the name and addre ss of the applicant;
3. a material identifying the topography  for which the protection is sought;
4. a declaration for the date of the first commercial exploitation and a sample of the
integrated circuit in which the topography is  implemented where the commercial exploitation
precedes the filing of the application.
Contents of Application
Art. 26. (1) Besides the date under Art.25, pa ra 2 the application shall contain:
1. the name of the state of which the applicant is citizen or in which he has permanent
residence or in which he has a real and ef fective industrial or co mmercial establishment;
2. the name and address of the industrial property representative where the applicant
has a representative and a power of attorney;
3. a document for the fees paid.(2) The applicant may specify the material  referred to in Art.25, para 2, item 3 or
some parts of it as a trade secret.
(3) The documents and data shall be submitted in Bulgarian language. Where they
have been submitted in a language other than Bulgarian, the filing date shall be preserved, ifthey are furnished in Bulgarian language w ithin a three month period from that date.
Formality Examination
Art. 27.  For each application it shall be checked whether the requirements of Art.26 are met.
Where some deficiencies are established, the applicant shall be given a period of threemonths to remove them.
Termination of Procedure
Art. 28. (1) Where the applicant fails to remove the deficiencies within the time limit referred
to in Art.27 or the application is filed af ter the expiration of the time limit under Art.14, para
1, item 1, the Patent Office shall take a d ecision for termination of the procedure.
(2) The decision under para 1 above may app ealed against before Sofia City Court
within three months in accordance with the Law on Administrative Proceedings.
Registration of Topography
Art. 29.  Where the application satisfies the require ments referred to in Art.25 and Art.26, the
topography shall be recorded in the State Regist er of Topographies. The Patent Office shall
issue a certificate for registration in the name of the owner and shall publish the registrationin the Official Bulletin of the Patent Office.IP/N/1/BGR/L/1
Page 8
Changes in Name and Address of Owner
Art. 30. (1) The owner of the right to a topography shall be obliged to notify the Patent Office
about any change in his name and address.
(2) The change shall be recorded in the State Register of Topography at the request of
the owner.
(3) All documents of which the owner must be  notified shall be sent to the address last
recorded in the State Register of Topographies.
Extension and Restoration of Time Limits
Art. 31. (1) The time limit under Art.27 may be extende d by three months, but no more than
twice, at the request of the applicant prior to the expiration of the time limit.
(2) The time limits which have been ex ceeded due to specific unforeseen
circumstances may be restored at the request of the applicant or the owner. The request shallbe filed within a period of up to three months after the reason for the exceeding of the timelimit has ceased to exist but no later than one y ear after the expiration of the exceeded time
limit. The decision for restoration of the time limit shall be taken by the President of thePatent Office.
CHAPTER FOUR
CIVIL LAW PROTECTION
Infringement of Rights
Art. 32.  Any exploitation of a registered topography in the course of commercial activities
within the meaning of Art.15, para 2 without the consent of its owner shall constitute an
infringement of the exclusive right.
Right to Claim
Art. 33. (1) The right to a claim for infringement shall be vested in the owner of the right to a
topography.
(2) A licensee under an exclusive license ma y bring a claim, if the owner fails to
exercise that right within one month after he has received a notification of the infringementfrom the licensee.
(3) A licensee under a non- exclusive license may only bring a claim with the consent
of the owner, unless otherwise agreed.
Claims for Infringement
Art. 34. (1) The claims for infringement of the right under this law may be:
1. a declaratory claim to establish the fact of the infringement;2. a claim for ceasing the infringement;3. a claim for compensation for damages.(2) Simultaneously with the claim under pa ra 1 above the owner may also request:
1. processing or destruction of the object of infringement;
2. publication of the judgment of the court in two daily newspapers at the expense of
the offender.IP/N/1/BGR/L/1
Page 9
Claims for Invalidation of Registration
Art. 35. (1) Any interested party may, throughout  the duration of the protection of the
topography, bring a claim for invalidation of the registration on the grounds of  Art.23, para
1.
(2) On the grounds of the judgment of the court that has become effective the Patent
Office shall delete the registration and a notice shall be published in the Official Bulletin ofthe Patent Office.
Claims for Right to Apply
Art. 36.  Any interested party may bring a claim for the right to apply under Art.11 within two
years from the publication for the registration made in the Official Bulletin of the PatentOffice.
Claims for Service Topography
Art. 37. (1) Any interested party may bring a claim to establish whether the topography is a
service one or not in the meaning of  Art.12, para 1.
(2) The claim under para 1 above shall be lo dge to not later than one year from the
date the registration has become known.
(3) In case of disputes in connection w ith Art.12, para 4, the party disagreeing with
the fixed remuneration may lodge a claim c oncerning the rate of the remuneration.
Jurisdiction
Art. 38.  Claims under this law sha ll fall within the jurisdic tion of Sofia Civil Court.
ADDITIONAL PROVISION
§ 1. For the purposes of this law:
1. “Integrated circuit” means a product in its  final form or an intermediate form,
which is intended to perform functions of generating, transmitting, receiving, processingand/or storing information, and in which the el ements and some or a ll of the interconnections
are integrally formed in and/or on a common substrate.
2. “Topography of an integrated circuit” means the tree-dimensional disposition,
however expressed, of the elements and of some or all of the interconnections of an
integrated circuit, or such a three-dimensiona l disposition prepared for an integrated circuit
intended for manufacture.
3. “Local industrial property representative” is a person who is a representative within
the meaning of Art.3 of the Patent Law.
TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
§ 2. The protection of a topography which has be en commercially exploited before the filing
date of an application shall be effective as from the date of entering into force of this lawprovided that an application is filed after that date.
§ 3. In Art. 587, para 1 of the Commercial C ode (published in State Gazette, issue 48 of
1991, amended, issue 25 of 1992, issues 61 and 103 of 1993, issue 63 of 1994, issue 63 of1995, issues 42, 59, 83, 86 and 104 of 1996, issues 58, 100 and 124 of 1997, issues 52 and 70of 1998, issues 33, 42 and 64 of 1999) the words “topography of an integrated circuit” areadded after the word “mark”.§ 4. In Art. 19, para 2, item 2 of the Book keep ing Law (published, State Gazette, issue 4 of
1991, amended, issue 26 of 1992, issue 55 of 1993, issues 21, 33 and 59 of 1996, issue 52 ofIP/N/1/BGR/L/1
Page 10
1997, issue 21 of 1998, issue 57 of 1999) the words “t opographies of the integrated circuits”
are added after the word “patents”.§ 5. In § 1, item 8 of the Law on the Corporat e Income Taxation (published, State Gazette,
issue 115 of 1997, corrected, issue 19 of 1998, amended, issues 21 and 153 of 1998, issues
12, 50 and 51 of 1999) the words “topographies of the integrated circuits” are added after the
word “patent”.§ 6. The President of the Patent Office shall issue Implementing Regulations on this law.
§ 7. The Council of Ministers sha ll approve a Tariff for fees according to Art. 5 above.
§ 8. The execution of the present law is assigned to the President of the Patent Office.
§ 9. This law shall enter into force three months after its publication in State Gazette.
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