Protection of IC Layout-Designs and Industrial Designs

Protection granted only to industrial designs that are new or ornamental.
Excludes designs primarily dictated by technical or functional needs or those contrary to public order, health, or morals.
Layout-designs must be original, reflecting the creator's intellectual effort and not common in the industry.
Combinations of common elements can be protected if the combination as a whole is original.

Applications must include a request for registration, applicant identification, type of article involved, graphic representations (drawings/photos) disclosing the design, and creator information or origin of rights if different.
Specimens of articles may accompany the application.
Payment of prescribed fees is mandatory.

Filing date is assigned upon receipt of an application with sufficient identifying information and representations.
Applications not meeting requirements must be corrected within a prescribed time or will be considered withdrawn.
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) examines compliance with definitions and substantive protection conditions.

Upon meeting conditions, IPO orders registration and issues a certificate including creator’s name and address.
Registration is published according to Regulations.
Changes in proprietor or representative must be recorded by IPO upon proof and fee payment.
The register and files are open for public inspection.

Industrial designs protected for five years from application date.
Possible two renewals of five years each upon timely payment of fees.
Renewal fees must be paid within 12 months before expiry; a six-month grace period with surcharge is allowed.
Layout-designs have a 10-year protection term without renewal, starting from first commercial exploitation or filing date.
Commercial exploitation must be within two years before application for registration.

Certain patent provisions apply mutatis mutandis to industrial designs and layout-designs, including novelty, prior art, priority rights, refusal, remedies, rights, infringement, and assignment.
Protection is denied if essential elements are obtained without consent from another creator.

Rights include reproducing the registered design wholly or partially (if original) and commercial distribution.
Exceptions where rights do not apply include:
- Private use or research/evaluation purposes.
- Acts on independently created identical designs.
- Use of products already put on market with consent.
- Innocent acquisition without knowledge of infringement, subject to royalty payment after notice.

Grounds for cancellation include non-registerable subject matter, lack of novelty, or extension beyond original application.
Cancellation can be partial based on affected features.
Layout-design registrations can be cancelled if protectability, entitlement, or timely application conditions are not met.
Cancellations are retroactive and published.

The Intellectual Property Office may issue detailed regulations and administrative instructions.
The Act applies to layout-designs commercially exploited worldwide from January 1998 onward.

Conflicting laws are repealed or amended.
Invalid provisions do not affect the remainder of the Act.
The Act takes effect 15 days after publication in two newspapers of general circulation.