WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION 
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DU COMMERCE 
ORGANIZACION MUNDIAL DEL COMERCIO 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights IP/N/I/CZE/L/l 
6 May 1996 
(96-1741) 
Original: Englishl 
anglaisl 
ingles 
MAIN DEDICATED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWS AND REGULATIONS 
NOTIFIED UNDER ARTICLE 63.2 OF THE AGREEMENT 
Czech Republic 
The present document reproducesl the Act on the Protection of Topographies of Semiconductor 
Products, No. 529 of 3 December 1991, as notified by the Czech Republic under Article 63.2 of the 
Agreement (see document IP/N/1/CZE/l). 
Conseil des aspects des droits de propriete 
intellectuelle qui touchent au commerce 
PRINCIPALES LOIS ET REGLEMENTATIONS CONSACREES A LA 
PROPRIETE INTELLECTUELLE NOTIFIEES AU TITRE 
DE L'ARTICLE 63:2 DE L'ACCORD 
Republique tcheque 
Le present document contient le texte1 de la Loi n° 529 du 3 decembre 1991 sur la protection 
des topographies de semi-conducteurs, notifiee par la Republique tcheque au titre de l'article 63:2 de 
l' Accord (voir le document IP/N/1/CZE/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 pARRAFO 2 DEL ARTICULO 63 DEL ACUERDO 
Republica Checa 
En el presente documento se reproducel la Ley de Proteccion de las Topografias de productos 
semiconductores microelectronicos, N° 529, de 3 de diciembre de 1991, notificada por la Republica 
Checa en virtud de 10 dispuesto en el parrafo 2 del articulo 63 del Acuerdo (vease el 
documento IP/N/1/CZE/1). 
IEnglish only/anglais seulement/ingles solamente. IP/NIlICZE/LI 1 
Page 2 
LAW 
on the Protec~ion of Topographies of Se~iconduc~~r ?roduc~s 
(No. 529 of December 3, 1991) 
T~e Federal Assembly of the Czech and Slovak Federal Re?ublic has passed 
t~e following Law: 
Subjec~ of Protection 
§ 1 
(1) Protection under t~is Law shall apply to topographies of semiconduc~or 
products (hereinafter referred to as "topographies 11) t~a t a:::-e the result. 
of creator-s intellectual effort and are not commonplace in the semi­
conductor industry. Protection under ~~is Law shall also apply to parts 
of topography that are independently usable and to representations used 
in manufact~re of topographies. 
(2) A topography consisting of commonplace elements shall be protected 
insofar as the combination of these elements mee~t~e requi=ements 
of section (1). 
(3) Protection ~~der section (1) shall not apply to tec~olcgy used for 
producing the topography or for ~anufact~ring the semiconductor ?roduc~ 
or to any in£o~a~ion stored in ~~e prcduct. 
§ 2 
(1) For ~~e purposes of this Law a topography shall mean a series of fixed 
or coded in any ~~~er, interrelated representations that represent 
a three-d~ensional pe~anent arrangement of layers the product is made 
of, where each representation refers to a model of one layer of a semi-
ccnduc~or product or of a par~ thereof, or of a su==ace of a semiconductor 
products of its ?art in individual manufacturing stages. 
(2) For t~e purposes of this Law a semiconductor product shall mean a final 
or inte~ediate for.ill of a microelec~ronic product intended to fulfil an 
electroic function, consisting of a basic body containing a layer of 
a semiconductive ma~erial provided ~i~~ at least one prearranged layer 
of conductive, insulating, or semiconductive ma~er~al. Right to Protection 
S 3 IP/NIl/CZE/LI 1 
Page 3 
(2) The right to protection of ~he topography shall apply in favour of 
creator or in :avour ot t~e respec~ive successor in title. 
(2) If t~e topography has been created in t~e course of e~ploymen~ or 
a sL~ilar relationship, the right .to protection shall apply in favour 
of t~e employer or of ~~e person by whom the topography has =een commis­
sioned, unless provided ot~e~Hise by contract. 
S 4 
The right to protection of t~e topography is transferrable. 
§ 5 
The right to protec~ion of ~~e topography shall expire after 15 years from 
t~e cate of its creation, if t~e topography has not been co~~ercially ex­
ploited other than confidentially, or has not been filed with ~~e Federal 
Of:fice for Inventions (hereinafter "the Office"). 
S 6 
(1) Any Czechoslov~< national and any person with habitual residence or 
heac~~a=~ers on t~e territory of ~~e Czech and Slovak FederalRe~ublic 
may obtain ~~e right to ~opography protection. 
(2) ?ersons who do not have t~eir habitual residence or headquarters on ~~e 
ter:::itory of ~~e Czech a.."1d Slovak Federal. ,Republic way obtai:l t.!:e 
right of topograp~~_' protection only under condition of reci?rocity. 
S 7 
(l) Any person who wishes to apply for ~~e right of topography protection 
(hereinaf~er "~he applic::L"ltlf) shall file an application in writing in 
respect of topography for which protection is souhgt (herei~after 
Ift~e application") wit~ ~:"e Office. A separate application shall be 
filed for each topography. 
(2) T~e application shall contain: 
(a) a reques~ for regis~=a~ion in t~e Regis~er of Topographies (herein-
after "~~e Register"), containing the title of t!1e topopraphy; IP/NI 1 ICZE/LI 1 
Page 4 
(b) material icentifying the topography, or the semiconduc~or produc~ 
proper which contains the topography; 
(c) t!1e date of t:!'le day of f;!"S1: commercial exploitation, ot!"ler than 
confidential, of the topography, provided such day is earlier 
~,an the date on which the application has been filed; 
(d) documents establishing the entitlement to topography protection 
~~der § 4 and data giving evidence of topography protection under 
§ 6. 
(3) The applicat is entitled to ~ark some of t~e required material identi­
fying the topography or its parts as trace or industrial secret; 
in such case the file shall contain a separate copy of these documents, 
wherein the corresponding parts marked as trade or business secret have 
been made illegible. The :naterial may not be marked as trade or :ir.Cust:ria.l. 
secret in its entirety. 
(4) The Of=ice shall have power to establish detailed requirements for the 
application. 
§ 8 
Registration 
(1) If the application complies wi~~ t~e =equirements of § 7, ~,e Office 
shall register ~~e application-into tte ~egister. The Office shall 
issue, to t~e applicant whose topography has been registered into L~e 
Register (hereinafter "t:.,.'e topography c'N!1erll), a registration cer~ifi-
cate and shall publish the regist=ation of the topography in ~~e Official 
Bulletin of ~~e Federal Office for Inventions (hereinafter "the Bulletin") . 
(2) Where the application does not comply with the requirements of § 7, 
the Of=ice shall invite the applicant to remedy the defects within 
a prescribed t~e IL~t. If the applicant does not r~edy the defec~ 
within the prescribEdt~e l~it, t~e Office shall te~inate the procedure. 
The applicant shall be notified of this by the Office akeady when the 
t~e l~it for remedying the defect has been set. If the defect concer~s 
~,e requirements of § 7, section (2) sub a) through c), ~~e date ot 
receipt of the recti!ied application shall be deemed the date of t~e 
application. If the application has been filed contrary to tbe provi­
sions of § 6 and § 9, section (1) sub a), ~~e Office shall refuse t~e 
registration. IP/N/1/CZE/L/l 
Page 5 
t3) When the topography has been registered into the aegister, the Of!ice 
shall make the material stated in § 7 section (2) available to third 
parties for direct inspeciton. Copying or reproducing these materials 
or their parts by third person is not pe~ited. 
S 9 
Commencement and ~uration of Protection 
(1) Topography protection shall co~~ence: 
(a) on the date of t~e first commercial exploitation, other than con=i-
dential, of the topography, if ~~e later has been duly filed with 
the Office within two years of such exploitation, or 
(b) on the date of filing of regular application with the Office pur­
suant to the provisions of § 7, provided the topography has not 
been previously commercially exploited (S 11), or if it has been 
exploited only confidentially. 
(2) Duration of protection of a topography shall expire after ten years 
from the end of the calendar year of its creation. 
(3) Failure of ~~e tice limit stated in section (1) sub a) may not be 
excused. 
§ 10 
(1) Without ~~e consent (licence) of the topography owner any person shall 
be prohibited: 
a) from reproducing the topography or its independently usable parts, 
and from ma~ing representations of the topography for ~~e purpose 
of manufacturing, 
b) from producing the semiconductor product which contai~s the pro-
tected topography, 
c) from exploiting commercially the topography or the se~conductor 
produc~ containing the protected topography or its i~de~e~dently 
usable~· part:, or the representation of the topography which se~.Tes 
for its manufacture. 
(2) The effects of protection can only be asser~ed to t~i=d parties until 
after the topography has been registered into the ~egister. IP/NIl/CZE/LI1 
Page 6 
§ 11 
(1) The effect of topography protection shall not ex~er.d to: 
a) activities carried out for ncn-co~"ercial purposes, 
b) reproduc~ion of t~e topography for t~e purposes of analysis, 
researc~, development or teachi~g, 
c) commercial exploitation of a topography which has been created 
as a result of analysis, research or development uncer b) above, 
if the new topography satisfies the requirements under § 1, sec~ion 
(1) , 
d) subsequent commercial exploitation of the topography or of a semi­
conductor product containing the protected topography, provided 
~~e topography or the product have beeen distributed by the topo­
graphy owner or with his explicit consent. 
(2) The effect of protection shall not extend to a person who acquires 
bona fide a semiconductor product containing the protected topography 
and distributed without the consent of the topography owner. From the 
date that person acquires ~~e ~!owledge ~~at the product contains the 
protected topography, the owner of topography shall be entitled to 
claim reasonable compensation for conti~ued comwercial exploitation 
of ~~e product; ~~e extent of that exploitation is decisive for de~er­
mining ~~e level of t~e compensation. 
S 12 
Compulsorj Licence 
(1) Where no licence agreement is reached concer~ing a protec~ed topography, 
the Office· may grant a compulsorj licence, provided an ~por~ant public 
interest is ~ jeopardy. 
(2) The grant of a compulsorj licence shall no~ affec~ ~~e right of the 
topography owner to obtain compensation in =espec~ of the value of 
the licence. 
§ 13 
Cancellation of Topography 
Registration 
(1) The Office shall cancel ~~e topography fro~ ~~e ~egister following 
a request by any person: IP/NI1/CZE/LI 1 
Page 7 
a) i= t~e registered topography does not qualify for protection ur.ce~ 
t~e ?rovisions of § 1, 
b) if the application has not been filed withi~ the ti~e li~it stated 
i~ § 9 section (1) sub a), or the right to protec~ion has expired 
under § 5, 
c) if t~e applicat or the topography owner is ~ot entitled to protec-
ti.cn u.."1de~ § 6, 
d) if the material required according to the provisions of § 7 sec~ion 
(2) sub) is at variance with the semiconduc~or ?roduc~ attached to 
the application. 
2) Cancellation of a topography from the ~egister has the same ef:ect as 
if the topography had never been registered. 
§ 14 
(1) A .. request for cancellation of the topography from the Register shall 
be filed in writi~g with ~~e Office in duplicate. 
(2) The request for cancellation of a topography shall contain material 
evidence and shall state the grounds in which it is based. 
(3) The Office shall invite the topcgraphy owne~ to file cbser~aticns 
concerning the request for cancellation of the topography wi~~i~ 
a t~e limit prescribed by the Office. The topography owner shall 
file obse~ations in writing and in duplicate. 
(4) If the topography owner does not file cbser~aticns wi~,in the pres-
cribed time limit, the Office shall c~,cel ~,e topography from the 
Register. 
(5) If the topography owner files obser~ations concerning the request =o~ 
cancellation of the topography within the prescribed t~e l~uit, the 
Of:ice shall dispatch his obserlations to the person who requested 
~~e cancellation and shall establish date for oral proceedings. 
(6) Non-at~endance of par~icipants in the oral proceedings concerni~g t~e 
reques~ed cancellation of t~e topography f=cm ~~e Register shall ~ct 
prevent the Of=ice from reachi~g a decision in t~e mat~e~. IP/N/lICZE/L/l 
Page 8 
(7) Should t~e Office incur some cost in connec~ion wi~~ the ?roceedi~gs 
concerning the request for cancellation of the topography, t~e Office 
shall be entitled to a reL~ursement of~,is cost by t~e losing parti-
cipant. 
(8) The office shall grant the winning participant the right to =eL~urse­
ment of any cost incurred in connection with the assertion of defence-
or rights, provided the winning participant files a claL~ to this 
effec~ prior to the moment the ~eritorial decision ~as been reac~ed 
in the matter. 
§ lS 
Depr~vation of the Protection and Transfer 
(1) Upon request the Office shall deprive the protection extended to a 
topography if ~,e Office established on the basis of a Court ruling 
~~at the topography owner has not been entitled to the right of pro-
tection under § 3. 
(2) The request under section (1) above may be filed only by a person who, 
according to the Court ruling, is entitled to protection of t~e topo­
graphy, or his successor in title. 
(3) Upon request, filed wi t!1in one month aftar the Cour~ ='.lling has ~eccr.1e 
legally valid by the person who is entitled to protection of the to­
pography and who may assert the right to protection under § 6, t~e 
Office shall register that person as ~~e topography owner. A request 
for a transfer of topography ownership shall be sustained by a Ccur~ 
rolling. 
(4) If no request for a change of the topography ownership under sec~ion 
(3) above is filed, the Office shall cancel the topography from the 
Register ex o£f~cio_ 
§ 16 
The Register and Data on Topographies ?ublished i~ t~e 3ulletin 
(1) The Office shall keep the Register 0= Topographies and en~er in~o the 
Register decisive data on application and on regis~ered topographies. IP/N/lICZE/LIl 
Page 9 
(2) The followi~g items shall be registered into the Registe~ for each 
topcg:::aphy: 
a) number 0= registration (cerfificate); 
b} da~e of ~egistration; 
c) date of publication of registration of t~e topography in t~e Bulletin; 
d) title of the topography; 
e) the filing date of the application, the identification re:erence or 
the firs.:c~mmercial exploitation of t~e topography, whichever is 
the earlier; 
f) ~~e applicant (narne or comp~~y), residence (heac~uar~ers) ar.d repre­
sentative where appropriate,· 
g) the topography owner (name or company), heacquar~ers (residence) and 
representative where appropriate; 
h) assi~ent of topography; 
·i) licence; 
j) cancellation of. topog:::aphy; 
k) deprivation of ~~e protection or transfer of ownership; 
1) expiration of protection. 
(3) The Office shall publish in the 3ulletin all mat~ers relevant to ~~e 
registered topographies and addit':'onal data decisive for t~e ?rotec~ion 
of ~~e topographies, as well as o==ic':'al stat~ents and decisions of 
fundamental na~~re. 
G:. 1-'3 _I 
Archivation of Documents 
(1) The Office shall keep the documents ~~at enable identification of topo­
graphies under § 7 sec~ion (2) s~ ~) for 6 years af~er expi=~tion of 
~'1e protection. 
(2) If a filed application does not result in a ~egistration of the topo-
graphy into the Register, the Of=':'ce shall keep the doc~ents stated 
in S 7 section (2) sub b) for 1 year a=~er the date on whic~ the final 
decision on the application has been ~ade. IP/NI 1/CZE/LI 1 
Page 10 
(3) After t~e tL~e limi~ stated in sections (1) and (2) above have elapsed, 
the Of::'ce shall invite the person registered as t~e topography owner 
to take aver t~e documents; if·that person does not comply, t~e Of:ice 
shall destroy t~e documents. 
§ 18 
Common and :inal Provisions 
(1) The general statutory ~~les on adminis~rative procedure shall apply to pro­
cedure before the Of:ice, subjec~ to the exceptions laid down by t~is Law 
and excluding the provisions on suspension of procedure, declarations of 
honor, time limi~ for decisions and measures in t~e event of failure to 
1 act. 
(2) The··provisions.of me Patent Laol'12 ·concer:1ing the rights of co-o\o.'Tler(s) 
of a topography, registration of licence agreements on exploitation 
of a topography, transfer of topographies, representation of ~perscns 
in negotiations wi~~ and before the Office, te~ination of proceedings, 
registration of topographies kept secret according to special regulations, 
legal ra~edies and rights infringe~ent shall apply motati3 mntandjs. 
(3) The Office shall collect special fees for separate operations~ 
§ 19 
Protecticn under this Law applies only to topographies created after entry 
into force of ~~is Law. 
S 20 
This Law shall enter into force on January 1, 1992. 
1) SS 29, 39, 49 and SO, Law on Adwinistration Procedure No. 71/1967 ColI. 
2) Law on Inventions, Industrial Designs and Rationalization ?roposals, 
No. 527/1990 ColI., S§ 15 to 16, 64, 68, 70 to 71 and 75. 
3) Law on Administrative Fees (No. 105/1951 of t~e Collection) in t~e 
wording of ~~e Dec=ee of ~~e Presidium of the National Asse~ly 
(No.138/1960 of ~~e Collection). 
Dec=ee of the Federal Ministry of Finance, ~~e Minist~l of ?~,ar.ce, 
P=ices and Wages of ~~e Czech Republic and of the Minis~~! o~ FL,ance, 
Prices and Wages of ~~e Slovak Republic (No. SiO/1990 of ~~e Collec~ion) . 