Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

28. 7.86 Official Journal of the European Communities ^ o C 1 8 9 ^

1. The Committee welcomes the Commissions pro
posalforalOirective concerning the ^iACBpacl^et family of
standards for direct satellite television broadcasting.

2. IntheCommittee^sviewgheAiACsystemswillmal^e
ama^or contribution to European cooperation and enable
the countries of Europe to become better acquainted with
each othePs culture and social andpohtical systems. In
addition, it is important for the economic development of
Europe that the manufacturing industry should be
stimulated by the new technical developments and that its
sales prospects should be considerably enhanced asaresult.

^. The ^dAC systems use new methods of electronic
signal transmission and are much cheaper to operate than
the systems employed previously. A greater volume of
information can be transmitted than by the traditional
methods.The ^dACsystems have been specially developed
for direct broadcasting by satellite ^lO^S^ and are well
suitedtoitslOl^S transmissioncharactenstics. The great
advantage of these systems lies in the improvement of the
picture quality and — thanks to the digital technique
applied — in the improvement ofthe sound.The luminance
and the colour signals are nolonger superimposed in the
picture.It will also be possible to usealarger screen in the
nottoo^distant future. In addition,the numberof sound
channels will be increased and stereo reception quality will
be assured. This means also that multiple sound channels
will be available for the transmission of television

programmes in different languages — something that will

ro^neat^russels,2^Apnll986.

be extremely important for European cooperation and the
better mutual understanding ofthe peoples ofEurope.This
is particularly significant for direct broadcasting by
satellite, where thereceptionareasdonotcomcide with
national frontiers.

^. In the Committee^sview,it is ofgreat importance for
European cooperation thataumform system should now
belaiddownfor satelhtereceptiontechnology, after we
have had to contend with two different systems d^AE and
S E C A ^ f o r conventional television transmission.

^. It is also an advantage that smaller and therefore
cheaper satellite aerials can be used. It will be possible to
progressively reduce thegap between the price of these
aerials and the price ofconventional television aerials. This
means that the potential audience for satellite programmes
willbe considerably increased. The^dember States with
high cable network densities must be able to benefit from
the advantages of this solution, too.

6. The Committee expects that viewers in the member
States will be able, withtime, to adapt to thecommon
technical specifications, they must, however, be offered
reasonable interim solutions in the transitional phase.

^. The Committee also expects that due account will be
tal^en of the expertise of broadcasters and the manufacture
ingindustry,m the committee to be set up under Articled
oftheEOirective.

_The Chairman_

_of the Economic and Social_ _Committee_

Gerd MUHR

Opinion on the legal protection of original topographies of semiconductor products

(86/C 189/04)

On 20 January 1986 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under
Article 100 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the legal protection of original
topographies of semiconductor products.

The Section for Industry, Commerce, Crafts and Services, which was responsible for preparing the
Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 2 April 1986 in the light of the draft
opinion by Mr Noordwal (rapporteur).

At its 236th plenary session of 23-24 April 1986 (meeting of 23 April 1986), the Committee
adopted unanimously the following opinion.

No C 189/6 Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 7. 86

The Committee fully supports the Commission's initiative
to introduce a Directive on the legal protection of original
topographies of semiconductor products. The Committee
agrees largely with the proposed contents of the Directive
but expects the Council and the Commission to take serious
note of the comments below.

1. General comments

1.1. The functions of semiconductors depend largely on
the topographies of such products, whose development
requires investments in human, technical and financial
terms. The Committee recognizes too the importance of the
semiconductor industry.

1.2. The imitation of such topography must be prevented. A small minority of Member States have legal
protection measures, while a large majority have no means
of protection in law. The implementation of legal
protection measures is therefore necessary.

1.3. The completion of the internal market requires this
to be done within a Community framework. The
Committee therefore underlines the need for as harmonized

an approach as possible in all the Member States. Once the
Directive is adopted, Member States will have to pass
implementing laws in this field; they should continue to
consult each other on the drafting of their legislation under
the aegis of the Commission, so as to avoid diverging
solutions.

1.4. The proposal restricts itself to certain basic
principles (who and what will be protected, exclusive rights
of protected persons, duration of exclusivity), leaving to
national legislation the more detailed provision, necessary
to implement these principles. The Committee agrees to
this approach.

1.5. The Commission proposal is also aimed at
obtaining protection of Community topographies in the
United States. The Committee can admit that differences

between United States and Community terminology and
implementation may subsist, provided however that
reciprocity between the United States and the European
Community is secured. Under the provisions of the United
States legislation, protection of Community semiconductor
products on the United States market will be jeopardized
unless the EEC decides to act soon. The Committee

therefore urges early adoption of the Directive by the
Council at any rate before June 1986. It also calls on the
Commission to undertake all the necessary steps to ensure
maximum prolongation of interim protection in the United
States. Member States should nonetheless complete the

necessary legislative steps to comply with the Directive as
soon as possible and at the latest by 1 October 1987.

2. Specific comments

2.1. _Article 1 (definitions)_

2.1.1. The Committee agrees with the definitions
proposed by the Commission. It is however to be remarked
that in the definition l.c 'commercial exploitation', the
terminology 'a semiconductor product manufactured _by_
_using_ the topography' seems not to cover all alternatives.
The Committee proposes to use the phrase 'a semiconductor product _being a reproduction_ of the topography'.

2.1.2. As regards 'topography', the Committee would
like to underline that this word is a more meaningful
description of the technical character of the object in
question than the United States term 'mask work' and the
English word 'circuit layout' used in references to the
Japanese legislation.

2.2. _Article 2 (protection of topographies)_

2.2.1. Because it is legally the most practicable approach, the Committee agrees with the Commission's
proposal that the only acceptable criterion should be the
'originality', and not the 'novelty'. This is the recommendaton made for the Treaty proposed by the World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The Committee agrees with the Commission's proposal to
avoid extending protection to products considered as being
'trivialities' by introducing the term 'commonplace' in
Article 2 (3).

2.2.2. The Committee wishes the Directive to make

more clear that not only the whole but also the original
parts of an original topography deserve protection.

2.3. _Article 3 (beneficiaries of the protection)_

2.3.1. Paragraphs 1 and 2

The Committee is of the opinion that paragraphs 1 and 2
should be seriously reconsidered by the Commission and
simplified. It proposes the following draft:

'Protection shall apply in favour of persons — and their
successors in title — who are the creators of the original
topographies of semiconductor products and who are
nationals of or residents in _a Member State.'_

'However, resident firms or companies (as defined in
Article 58 of the EEC Treaty) must have an effective and
continuous link with the economy of the Member State.'

28. 7. 86 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 189/7

2.3.2. Paragraph 3

The Committee approves the Commission's draft and
because an international treaty is not expected to be
established very soon, requests the Council on proposal
from the Commission to make protection available to third
country persons only in circumstances where such third
countries ensure reciprocity towards Community Member
States. The Committee nonetheless hopes that an international solution will be found, that will make 'national
treatment' feasible. This requires the Commission to
participate actively, in cooperation with the Member
States, in the WIPO talks.

2.4. _Article_ _4_ _(formalities)_

2.4.1. Paragraph 1

The Committee is in general against compulory registration or deposition. However, the Committee agrees that
there is no reason why, in particular for trade policy
reasons (e.g. _vis-a-vis_ the United States and Japan), it
should be easier to obtain protection (i.e. without any
formality) in the Member States than in other countries.
Therefore the Committee agrees that at least some Member
States opt for such formalities. It insists however that
compulsory registration and deposit be cheap and simple.
Rules governing registration and deposition should
therefore not be more than is needed for the ordinary
recognition of the protected topography. The Committee is
concerned in particular that the additional requirement
which Member States may insist on for deposition of
'material identifying, describing or exemplifying the
topography or any combination thereof should in no
circumstances lead to disclosure to the public of information considered by the depositor as confidential. Any

Done at Brussels, 23 April 1986.

obligation to provide a 'description' would, furthermore,
be totally impossible to respect in practice.

2.4.2. Paragraph 3

Divergences within the Community which, _inter alia_ could
flow from differences in formalities introduced in one or

another Member State should be prohibited. The Committee endorses the draft text and insists that in no

circumstances should barriers to trade be permitted to
result from additional cumbersome, onerous and timeconsuming administrative, technical or legal requirements.

2.5. _Articles_ _5.2 and 5.3_ _(So-called reverse engineering)_

The Committee agrees with the Commission's explanatory
memorandum (paragraph 28) and believes that a recital
could bring additional clarification to these paragraphs.
The Committee agrees with the rule that a result of an act of
reverse engineering, being an original topography in itself,
is protectable in itself.

2.6. _Article_ _6_ _(length_ _of_ _protection)_

The Committee regards the automatic protection starting
from the moment the topography is first fixed or encoded
as important and considers a 10-year protection period as
an adequate minimum.

2.7. _Article_ _8_ _(marking)_

The Committee agrees that a distinctive marking for a
semiconductor product could be provided for on an
optional basis by Member States. However it should not be
laid down that the only permitted mark is a 'T'. The
Committee prefers that room be left for manoeuvre
towards an international accepted marking symbol, which
preferably should be a 'T'.

_The Chairman_

_of_ _the_ _Economic_ _and_ _Social_ _Committee_

Gerd MUHR

Opinion on the proposal for a Council Directive amending, in view of the accession of the
Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic, Directive 77/93/EEC on protective measures

against the introduction into the Member States of harmful organisms of plants or plant

products

(86/C 189/05)

On 24 January 1986 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under
Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the abovementioned
proposal.