ACT ON THE TOPOLOGY OF THE INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
 
Prom. SG. 81/14 Sep 1999 , amend. SG. 30/11 Apr 2006 , amend. SG. 98/13 Dec 2019 , amend. and 
suppl. SG. 92/27 Oct 2020
 
Chapter one.  
GENERAL PROVISIONS  
Subject 
Art. 1. This Act shall provide the conditions and the order for registration of the topology of the int
egrated circuits called hereinafter topology, the rights ensuing from its registration and the protection of thes
e rights.
 
Application sphere  
Art. 2. (1) This Act shall be applied with regard to the Bulgarian individuals and corporate bodies a
s well as with regard to foreign individuals and corporate bodies from states participating in international agr
eements to which the Republic of Bulgaria is a party.
(2) With respect to foreign individuals and corporate bodies from other states this Act shall be appli
ed under the conditions of mutuality that is to be assessed by the Patent department.
 
Subject of protection  
Art. 3. (1) Subject of protection shall be the original topology which is result of the own intellectual 
efforts of its author and is not known among the authors of topologies and the products of integrated circuits 
at the tame its creating.
(2) To protection shall subject also the topology representing a combination of known elements and 
connections between them if only if complies with the conditions of para 1.
(3) The legal protection of the topology under this Act shall not cover the technologies for producti
on of integrated circuit where the topology is applied as well as the information preserved in it.
 
Representation  
Art. 4. (Amend. - SG 92/20) (1) Any person who has the right to act before the Patent Office under 
this law may do so in person, through a lawyer or through an industrial property representative.
(2) Person under para. 1, who does not reside in the Republic of Bulgaria or in another Member Sta
te of the European Union, in a state party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, or in the Swiss 
Confederation, acts before the Patent Office through a lawyer or an industrial property representative.
(3) The requirements of Chapter Eight "b" of the Act on Patents and Registration of Utility Models 
shall apply to the representatives of industrial property, including their companies or partnerships, performin
g activity of representation under this Act.
 
Източник: Правно-информационни системи "Сиела" 12.07.2022 г.Rules for submission of documents and correspondence  
Art. 4a. (New - SG 92/18) (1) All documents in the proceedings before the Patent Office shall be su
bmitted in Bulgarian or with a translation into Bulgarian.
(2) Correspondence in connection with proceedings before the Patent Office shall be kept at an addr
ess in the Republic of Bulgaria, at an electronic address or through the portal for electronic services of the P
atent Office, if this is possible. In case of change of the indicated address, the party to the proceedings shall 
notify the Patent Office within 7 days from the occurrence of the change.
(3) When the party to the proceedings before the Patent Office has not indicated an address in the R
epublic of Bulgaria, a notification shall be sent to the same, which shall provide it with at least 7 days from i
ts receipt for indication of an address. Where no address is indicated, the rules for notification under the Ad
ministrative Procedure Code  shall apply, unless otherwise provided in this Act.
(4) When the party, which has initiated proceedings before the Patent Office, does not eliminate the 
irregularities within the term under para. 3, the proceedings shall be terminated.
(5) Verification of compliance with the requirements under para. 2 in the proceedings on applicatio
ns for issuance of a certificate for new varieties of plants or breeds of animals shall be carried out by the ord
er of Art. 27.
Fees 
Art. 5. The Patent department shall collect fees for: declaring, registration; publication of the registr
ation, entering of transfer and other changes in the legal status and publications about them, entering of licen
se contract and publication of the entering, entering of termination of a license and publication about this, ac
cess of third persons to the file, changes of the name and the address of the owner, extension of terms, infor
mation and excerpts of the State register of topologies, correction of technical mistakes admitted by the appli
cant, issuing of copies, in extent determined in a tariff approved by the Council of Ministers.
 
File 
Art. 6. (amend. - SG 98/19) (1) (Amend. - SG 92/20) The Patent Office maintains a paper or electro
nic file for each topology, which includes all the registration documentation and subsequent entries.
(2) The right of access to the file of the topology have the applicant, the holder, the industrial prope
rty representative, legal adviser from the administration of the applicant or holder, as well as a lawyer author
ized in writing by the applicant or holder. Access to the file is also available to a person who is expressly aut
horized by a notarized power of attorney from the applicant or holder.
(3) After the publication under Art. 29 each person is entitled to information about the data, contain
ed in the topology file, which is subject to entry.
(4) Third parties, in respect of whom circumstances admissible by law have been entered, have the 
right of access only to the documentation on the basis of which the entry was made.
(5) The patent office does not grant third parties access to the material identifying the topology or t
o parts of it defined by its proprietor as a trade secret, except by order of a court, where such persons are part
ies to a court proceedings for the deletion of registration or infringement of the exclusive right.
(6) The right of access to a file includes the right of persons authorized under this Act to familiarize 
themselves with and to obtain copies of all material and documents stored in the relevant file, with the excep
tion of those under para. 5 and of the internal documents within the meaning of § 1, item 1  of the additional 
provisions of the Trademarks and Geographical Indications Act.
(7) The procedure for granting access to files and for obtaining references or extracts from register 
shall be determined by an instruction of the President of the Patent Office.
Източник: Правно-информационни системи "Сиела" 12.07.2022 г. 
State register of the topologies  
Art. 7. The State register of the topologies shall contain data about all the registered topologies and 
the subsequent changes referring to them.
 
Access to the State register of the topologies  
Art. 8. The State register of the topologies shall be public. Anyone shall be able to require informati
on or excerpt of the contents of the register.
 
Publication in the Official bulletin of the Patent department  
Art. 9. The Patent department shall publish in its official bulletin all registered topologies and subse
quent changes in the registration.
 
Chapter two.  
LEGAL PROTECTION  
Acquiring of right over a topology  
Art. 10. (1) Right over a topology shall be acquired through its registration at the Patent department 
assumed from the corresponding date of Art. 14, para 1 .
(2) The right over a design shall be exclusive.
 
Right to declaring  
Art. 11. (1) The right to declaration shall belong to the person created the topology When the right t
o declaring belongs to several persons it shall be exercised by them jointly. The refusal of one or several per
sons to participate in the declaring shall not be impediment for the others. The refusal shall be implemented i
n writing.
(2) When the topology is official according to Art. 12, para 1  the right to declaring shall belong to 
the employer or the orderer.
(3) The right to declaring of para 2 shall pass to the person created the topology if in three months t
erm after the written notification about the created topology the employer, respectively the orderer does not 
submit an application unless other has been agreed between them.
(4) The right to declaring shall be possible to belong jointly to the employer, respectively the ordere
r and the person created the topology if this has been agreed.
(5) The right to declaring shall belong to the legal successors of the persons of para 1 - 4.
(6) It shall be considered that the applicant has the right to declaring until it is established otherwise 
by a court order.
 
Official topology  
Art. 12. (1) The topology shall be official when it has been created in implementation of obligations 
Източник: Правно-информационни системи "Сиела" 12.07.2022 г.in employment legal relation or as order unless among the parties other has been agreed in writing.
(2) The person who has created official topology shall have the right to additional remuneration.
(3) The remuneration of para 2 shall be possible to be determined as part of the incomes received fr
om the use of the topology as one time sum or in another way.
(4) When the remuneration determined as one time sum occurs obviously improportional to the inc
omes received from the use of the topology the person created official topology shall have right to require in
crease of the remuneration. If agreement is not reached between the parties the dispute shall be resolved by t
he court as it is fair.
 
Right to registration  
Art. 13. The right to registration shall belong to the person who has right to declaring according to 
Art. 11.
 
Term of effect of the protection  
Art. 14. (1) 8. The protection over the topology shall be in effect from:
1. the date of the first commercial use of the topology implemented by the applicant wherever in th
e world if in two years term after this date he has submitted regular application at the Patent department, or
2. the date of submitting application at the Patent department according to Art. 25, para 2  if the top
ology has not been already commercially used or if it has been used only secretly.
(2) The protection shall be terminated ten years after the end of the calendar year when has started t
he effect of it according to para 1.
 
Contents of the right over a topology  
Art. 15. (1) The right over a topology shall include the right of its owner to use it, to dispose with it 
and to prohibit to third parties to use it in commercial activity without his consent.
(2) Use in commercial activity is reproduction, sale, exchange, letting, import or export or other wa
y of commercial distribution as well as proposal for such distribution of the topology or an Art. in which it h
as been included.
(3) The exclusive right shall have effect with regard to third good faith persons from the date of pub
lishing the registration of the topology in the Official bulletin of the Patent department
 
Joint ownership of right over a topology  
Art. 16. (1) The right over the topology shall be possible to be ownership of two or more persons.
(2) Any co-owner shall be able to use the topology without the consent of the other and without acc
ounting for this before them unless other has been agreed among them in writing.
 
Restrictions of the rights over a topology  
Art. 17. The right of the owner shall not cover:
1. the reproduction entirely or partially of the registered topology including it in integrated circuit o
r in another way except these parts of it that are not original according to Art. 3 when it is implemented for 
personal needs, assessment, analysis, investigation or training;
Източник: Правно-информационни системи "Сиела" 12.07.2022 г.2. the use with commercial objective of a topology created by a third person as a result of assessme
nt of analysis of item 1 when the newly created topology is original in the sense of Art. 3;
3. the activities of Art. 15, para 2  implemented or ordered by a person who does not know or does 
not have grounds to suppose that a registered topology has been illegally realised in the used integrated circu
it or in a product where such integrated circuit is contained; when the person learns about this he shall be abl
e to continue the use of the integrated circuit within the existing inventory of commodity or the commodity 
ordered before knowing the illegally realisation, at request by the owner of the right over the topology havin
g to pay fair remuneration that would have paid at free contracted license.
 
Depletion of the right over a topology  
Art. 18. The owner of the right over a topology cannot prohibit the use in commercial activity of int
egrated circuits or product containing integrated circuit where is realised registered topology and which are r
eleased on the market of the Republic of Bulgaria by him or with his consent.
 
Transfer of rights  
Art. 19. (1) All the rights under this Act as far as other has not been provided in it shall be possible 
to be transferred.
(2) At joint ownership of a topology the right shall be transferred with the written consent of all the 
co-owners unless other has been agreed among them.
(3) The transfer shall be entered in the State register of topologies at request by one of the parties to 
which shall be attached the document for transfer.
(4) The transfer shall have effect with regard to third parties from the date of publishing in the Offic
ial bulletin of the Patent department.
 
License contract  
Art. 20. (1) The owner of the right over a topology shall be able to permit its use with a license cont
ract.
(2) A permission for the use of a topology which is joint ownership be given with the consent of all 
the co-owners.
(3) The license can be exclusive or not exclusive. When other has not been agreed the license shall 
be considered not exclusive.
(4) The grantor of exclusive license shall not have right to concede licenses with the same subject t
o other persons. He shall have right to use the topology himself only if this is explicitly agreed.
(5) The license contract shall be entered in the State register of the topologies at request by the licen
sed to which an excerpt of the license contract shall be attached. A certificate shall be issued to the licensed 
person.
(6) The license contract shall have effect with regard to third parties from the entering in the State r
egister of the topologies.
 
Termination of the legal protection of topology  
Art. 21. (1) The legal protection of a topology shall be terminated with:
1. the elapse of the term of effect according to Art. 14, para 2 ;
2. the refusal of the owner of the right;
Източник: Правно-информационни системи "Сиела" 12.07.2022 г.3. the termination of the corporate body - owner of the right over the topology without legal success
ion.
(2) The termination of para 1, item 3 shall be implemented at request by the interested person.
 
Refusal of right over a design  
Art. 22. (1) The owner of the right over a topology shall be able to refuse his right over it with a wri
tten declaration to the Patent department.
(2) The refusal of one or several of the co-owners shall not lead to termination of the legal protectio
n for the other co-owners.
(3) The refusal shall have effect from its entering in the State register of topologies.
(4) When there is an entered license the refusal of right shall be entered only after the owner presen
ts a proof that he has notified the licensed person about his intention to refuse his right over a topology.
 
Deleting of the registration  
Art. 23. (1) The registration shall be deleted at request by any person when:
1. the topology does not meet the requirements of Art. 3;
2. the application for registration has not been submitted within the term of Art. 14, para 1, item 1 ;
3. the material required according to Art. 25, para 2, item 3  does not comply with the topology of t
he
(2) The registration of the topology shall be deleted also when by a claim order has been establishe
d that the entered owner is not one of the persons pointed out in Art. 11, and in one month term after the cou
rt decision enters into force no application has been received for entering the actual owner.
 
Legal consequences of the deleting  
Art. 24. (1) The deleting of the registration of the topology shall have effect from the corresponding 
date of Art. 14.
(2) The deleting of the registration of the topology shall not affect:
1. the decisions about claims for breach that have entered into force as far as they have been imple
mented before the deleting;
2. the license contracts as far as they have been fulfilled before the deleting unless other has been a
greed.
 
Chapter three.  
PROCEDURES FOR THE REGISTRATION  
Submitting an application  
Art. 25. (1) The application for registration of a topology shall be submitted to the Patent departme
nt.
(2) The application shall be considered regularly submitted and shall receive date of submission wh
en at the Patent department have been received at least:
1. application for registration;
2. name and the address of the applicant;
Източник: Правно-информационни системи "Сиела" 12.07.2022 г.3. material permitting identification of the topology for which registration is required;
4. declaration about the date of the first commercial use and sample of the integrated circuit where t
he declared topology is realised if the commercial use has been implemented before submitting the applicati
on.
 
Contents of the application  
Art. 26. (1) The application shall apart from the data of Art. 25, para 2  contain also:
1. the name of the state which citizen is the applicant where he is resident or implements real comm
ercial or production activity;
2. (amend. - SG 92/20) the name and the address of the representative of industrial property or the l
awyer, if authorized, and the power of attorney;
3. document for paid fees;
(2) The applicant shall be able to determine the material according to art. 25, para 2  or parts of it a
s commercial secret.
(3) The documents and the data shall be presented in Bulgarian language. When they are presented 
in another language the date of submitting shall be preserved if in 3-months term after this date they are pres
ented in Bulgarian language.
 
Formal expertise  
Art. 27. For each application an expertise shall be implemented when shall be checked whether the 
requirements of Art. 26 have been met. When shortcomings are found to the applicant shall be given 3 mont
hs term for removing them.
 
Termination of the procedure  
Art. 28. (1) When the applicant does not remove the shortcomings within the term of Art. 27 or the 
application has been submitted after the term of Art. 14, para 1, item 1 , the Patent department shall take de
cision for termination of the procedure.
(2) (amend. - SG 30/06, in force from 01.03.2007 for the replacement of the words “Sofia regional 
court” by “Administrative court – city of Sofia”) The decision of para 1 shall be possible to be appealed agai
nst by the order of the Administrative Procedure Code  before the Administrative court – city of Sofia.
 
Registration of the topology  
Art. 29 When the application meets the requirements of Art. 25 and 26 the topology shall be entere
d in te State register of topologies, to the owner shall be issued a certificate for registration and the registrati
on shall be published in the Official bulletin of the Patent department.
 
Changes of the name and the address of the owner  
Art. 30. (1) The owner of the right over a topology shall be obliged to notify the Patent department 
about each change in the name or the address.
(2) The change shall be entered in the State register of the topologies at request by the owner.
(3) All the documents about which the owner has to be notified shall be sent to the address entered l
Източник: Правно-информационни системи "Сиела" 12.07.2022 г.ast in the State register of the topologies.
 
Extension and restoration of terms  
Art. 31. (1) The term of Art. 27 shall be possible to be extended with three months but not more tha
n two times at request by the applicant before the expiry of the conceded term.
(2) Terms missed due to special and unpredicted circumstances shall be possible to be restored at re
quest by the applicant or the owner. The application shall be submitted in 3 months after the reason for missi
ng the term is not valid any more but not later than one year after the elapse of the missed term. The decision 
for restoration of the term shall be taken by the chairman of the Patent department.
 
Chapter four.  
CIVIL LEGAL PROTECTION  
Breach of the right over a topology  
Art. 32. Any use in commercial activity in the sense of Art. 15, para 2  of registered topology witho
ut the consent of the owner of the right over a design shall constitute breach of the exclusive right.
 
Right to claim  
Art. 33. (1) The owner of the right over a topology shall have right to claim.
(2) The licensed person with exclusive license shall be able to present a claim if the owner himself 
does not exercise this right in one month term after receiving announcement about the breach by the licensed 
person.
(3) The licensed person with not exclusive license shall be able to present a claim only wit the cons
ent of the owner unless other is provided in the contract.
 
Claims for breaches  
Art. 34. (1) The claims for breaches of the rights under this Act shall be possible to be:
1. claim for establishing the fact of the breach;
2. claim for termination of the breach;
3. claim for indemnification of damages.
(2) Simultaneously with the claim of para 1 shall be possible to be required also:
1. reprocessing or destroying of the subject of the breach;
2. publishing of the decision of the court in two daily newspapers for the account of the violator.
 
Claims for deleting of the registration  
Art. 35. (1) A claim for deleting the registration on the grounds of Art. 23, para 1  shall be able to p
resent any interested person during the whole term of the protection of the topology.
(2) On the basis of a court decision entered into force the Patent department shall delete the registra
tion and publish it in the Official bulletin of the Patent department.
 
Източник: Правно-информационни системи "Сиела" 12.07.2022 г.Claims for right to application  
Art. 36. Claim for right to application under Art. 11 shall be able to present any interested person i
n two years term after the publication of the registration in the Official bulletin of the Patent department.
 
Claims for official design  
Art. 37. (1) Any interested person shall be able to present a claim for establishing whether the topol
ogy is official or not in the sense of Art. 12, para 1 .
(2) The claim f para 1 shall be presented at latest in one year after the registration is known.
(3) At disputes of Art. 12, para 4  the party not agreeing with the determined remuneration shall be 
able to present a claim about its extent.
 
Jurisdiction  
Art. 38. (amend. - SG 30/06, in force from 12.07.2006) The claims under this Act shall be within th
e competence of the Administrative court – city of Sofia.
 
Additional provisions  
 
§ 1. In the sense of this Act:
1. "Integrated circuit" is a product in finished or intermediate form designated to implement functio
ns for generating, transfer, receiving, processing and/or preservation of information in which the elements an
d some or all connections are made inseparable in and/or over a common plate.
2. "Topology of integrated circuit" is three-dimensional location of the elements and of the connecti
ons between them in the integrated circuit, presented in arbitrary way of such location prepared for integrate
d circuit designated for production.
3. (amend. - SG 98/19, amend. - SG 92/20) "Representative of industrial property" is a representati
ve in the sense of Art. 84 of the Act on Patents and Registration of Utility Models.
 
Transitional and concluding provisions  
 
§ 2. The legal protection of topology that has been commercially used before submitting the applica
tion shall be in effect from the Act entering in force under the condition that application is submitted after th
is.
 
§ 3. In art. 587, para 1 of the Commerce Act (prom. SG 48/91; amend. and suppl. SG 25/92, SG 61, 
103/93, SG 63/94, SG 63/95, SG 42, 59, 83, 86, 104/96, SG 58, 100, 124/97, SG 52, 70/98, SG 33, 42, 64/9
9) after the word "mark" shall be added "topology of integrated circuit".
 
§ 4. In art. 19, para 2, item 2 of the Accountancy Act (prom. SG 4/91; amend. and suppl. SG 26/92, 
SG 55/93, SG 21, 33, 59/96, SG 52/97, SG 21/98, SG 57/99) after the word "patents" shall be added "topolo
gy of integrated circuits".
 
Източник: Правно-информационни системи "Сиела" 12.07.2022 г.§ 5. In § 1, item 8 of the Corporate Income Taxation Act (prom. ...; amend. ...) after the word "pate
nt" shall be added "topology of integrated circuits".
 
§ 6. The chairman of the Patent department shall issue instructions for the implementation of this A
ct.
 
§ 7. The Council of Ministers shall approve tariff for the fees of art. 5.
 
§ 8. The implementation of the Act shall be assigned to the chairman of the Patent department.
 
§ 9. The Act shall enter into force three months after the promulgation in State Gazette.
-------------------------
The Act was passed by the 38th National Assembly on September 2, 1999 and was affixed with the 
official seal of the National Assembly.
 
Transitional and concluding provisions  
TO THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE CODE  
(PROM. – SG 30/06, IN FORCE FROM 12.07.2006)
 
§ 142. The code shall enter into force three months after its promulgation in State Gazette, with the 
exception of:
1. division three, § 2, item 1 and § 2, item 2 – with regards to the repeal of chapter third, section II "
Appeal by court order", § 9, item 1 and 2, § 15 and § 44, item 1 and 2, § 51, item 1, § 53, item 1, § 61, item 
1, § 66, item 3, § 76, items 1 – 3, § 78, § 79, § 83, item 1, § 84, item 1 and 2, § 89, items 1 - 4§ 101, item 1, 
§ 102, item 1, § 107, § 117, items 1 and 2, § 125, § 128, items 1 and 2, § 132, item 2 and § 136, item 1, as w
ell as § 34, § 35, item 2, § 43, item 2, § 62, item 1, § 66, items 2 and 4, § 97, item 2 and § 125, item 1 – with 
regard to the replacement of the word "the regional" with the "administrative" and the replacement of the wo
rd "the Sofia City Court" with "the Administrative court - Sofia", which shall enter into force from the 1st of 
May 2007;
2. paragraph 120, which shall enter into force from the 1st of January 2007;
3. paragraph 3, which shall enter into forcefrom the day of the promulgation of the code in State Ga
zette.
 
Източник: Правно-информационни системи "Сиела" 12.07.2022 г.