1. Topography (layout-design) of integrated circuit shall mean the three-dimensional layout of all the elements constituting an integrated circuit and their interconnections fixed on a physical medium. Integrated circuit shall mean a microelectronic product in its final or intermediate form intended to perform the functions of an electronic circuit, the elements and interconnections of which are integrated in the interior and/or on the surface of the material acting as the basis for manufacturing the product.

2. The legal protection afforded by the present Code shall apply solely to an original topography of integrated circuit created as the result of the creative activity of an author and being unknown to the author and/or specialists in the area of development of topography of integrated circuit on the date of its creation. A topography of integrated circuit shall be deemed original unless proved otherwise.

Topographies of integrated circuit consisting of elements that are used by specialists in the area of development of topographies of integrated circuits on the date of its creation shall obtain legal protection if those elements are original as a whole.

3. The legal protection afforded by the present Code shall not extend to any concept, process, system, technique or encoded information, which may be embodied in the topography of integrated circuit.

Article 1449. Right to Layout-Design (Topography) of Integrated Circuit

1. The following intellectual rights shall belong to the author of a topography of integrated circuit meeting the requirements of obtaining of legal protection provided by the present code (topography):

1) the exclusive right;

2) the right of authorship.

2. In cases provided for by the present Code the author of the topography of integrated circuit shall also have other rights, including the right to remuneration for use of a employee’s topography.

Article 1450. Author of a Topography of Integrated Circuit

A natural person whose creativity has led to the creation of a topography of integrated circuit is deemed the author of a topography. The person indicated as the author in the application for official registration of a topography of integrated circuit shall be deemed the author of this layout unless proved otherwise.

Article 1451. Co-authors of a Topography of Integrated Circuit

1. Natural persons whose joint creativity has led to the creation of a topography of integrated circuit shall be deemed co-authors.

2. Each of the coauthors shall have the right to use the topography at his discretion unless an agreement between them has provided otherwise.

3. The provisions of Paragraph 3 of Article 1229 of the present Code shall be applied respectively to the inter relations of co-authors with regard to the sharing the income from use of a topography of integrated circuit and with the disposition of the exclusive right to the topography.

Co-authors shall jointly dispose the right to obtain a certificate on the official registration of topography of integrated circuit.

Article 1452. Official Registration of Topography of Integrated Circuit

1. The rightholder on his discretion may register the topography of integrated circuit with the federal executive authority for intellectual property during the term of the exclusive right to the topography (Article 1457).

A topography, which incorporates state secret, shall not be officially registered. A person who has filed an application for official registration of topography (the applicant) shall be liable for the disclosure of information on topography, which incorporates state secret in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

2. Were the topography was used before filing the application for official registration of a topography (application for registration) the application can be filed in term not exceeding two years following the date of the first use of the topography.

3. An application for registration shall relate to one topography and shall contain:

1) request for official registration of the topography, stating the person in whose name the official registration is requested and the author, unless he waived the right to name, their place of permanent and actual residence, and the date of the first use of the topography if it has taken place;

2) materials to be deposited identifying the topography, including an abstract;

3) either a document certifying the payment of the prescribed fee, or a document certifying the ground for exemption from the fee, or for reduction of its amount, or delay to payment.

4. The regulations on drafting the application for registration shall be determined by the federal executive authority responsible for normative and legal regulation in the intellectual property area.

5. On the ground of an application for registration, the federal executive authority for intellectual property shall verify the presence of the required documents and their conformity to the requirements of Paragraph 3 of the present Article. Where the result of the verification is favorable, the aforesaid federal authority shall enter the topography in the Register of Topographies of Integrated Circuits, issue a certificate on the official registration of the topography of integrated circuit to the applicant, and publish information on the registered topography in the official bulletin.

Upon request of the federal executive authority for intellectual property or on his own initiative the applicant shall have the right to supplement, clarify, and correct the materials of the application for registration before publication of the information in the official bulletin.

6. The procedure of the official registration of topographies of integrated circuits, the forms of certificates on official registration, the list of data to be indicated in the certificates, and also the list of data to be published by the federal executive authority for intellectual property in the official bulletin shall be set forth by the federal executive authority responsible for normative and legal regulation in the intellectual property area.

7. Contracts for alienation and pledge of the exclusive right to a registered topography, license contracts on obtaining the right to use a registered topography and the transfer of the exclusive right to such topography to other persons without conclusion of the contract shall be registered by the federal executive authority for intellectual property.

Information on change of the rightholder and on legal burden of the exclusive right shall be entered in the Register of Topographies of Integrated Circuits on the ground of a registered contract or other right-establishing document and shall be published in the aforesaid official bulletin.

8. Information entered in the Register of Topographies of Integrated Circuits shall be considered reliable, unless it is proved otherwise. The applicant shall be responsible for reliability of the information submitted for registration.

Article 1453. The Right of Authorship to a Topography of Integrated Circuit

The right of authorship, i.e. the right to be deemed the author of a topography, shall be inalienable and non-transferable including case of transfer to another person or passage to him of the exclusive right to a topography and in case of grant to another person of the right to its use. A waiver of this right shall be void.

Article 1454. The Exclusive Right to a Topography

1. The exclusive right to use a topography in accordance with Article 1229 of the present Code in any manner unrepugnant to a law (the exclusive right to the topography), in particular by the means specified in Paragraph 2 of the present Article, shall belong to the rightholder. The rightholder may dispose the exclusive right to the topography.

2. Actions aimed to earn a profit shall be considered as use of the topography, in particular:

1) reproduction of the topography as a whole or particularly by inclusion in an integrated circuit or otherwise, except reproduction of a part of not original topography;

2) import into the territory of the Russian Federation, sale, and other introduction into civil circulation of the topography or of an integrated circuit, including this topography, or of a product including such an integrated circuit.

3. A person who has independently created a topography identical to another topography shall have an independent exclusive right to this topography.

Article 1455. Indication of Legal Protection of Topographies of Integrated Circuit

In order to notify of the exclusive right to a topography of integrated circuit the rightholder shall have the right to use the sign of protection which shall be placed on the topography and on the products containing such a topography, and shall consist of a capital letter “T”, the date of the beginning of the term of the exclusive right to a topography, and information for identification of the rightholder.

Article 1456. Actions not Infringing the Exclusive Right to a Topography

The following actions shall not infringe the exclusive right to a topography:

1) activities specified in Paragraph 2 of Article 1454 of the present Code with respect to an integrated circuit including an illegally reproduced topography and with respect to any product including such an integrated circuit where the person executing such activities did not aware and did not have a reason being aware that an illegally reproduced topography was included into the integrated circuit. Upon receipt of the notification on the illegal reproduction of the topography, the aforesaid person may use the on-hand stock of products, including the integrated circuit with the illegally reproduced topography and products ordered up to this time. In this case the aforesaid person shall be committed to pay the remuneration for use of the topography to the rightholder proportional to the remuneration that could have been paid in similar circumstances for an analogous topography.

2) use of a topography for private purposes not pursuer a profit earning and also for the purposes of evaluation, analysis, research, or training;

3) distribution of integrated circuits with a topography which previously was legally introduced into civil circulation by the person having the exclusive right to the topography or by another person with the permission of the rightholder.

Article 1457. The Term of the Exclusive Right to a Topography

1. The exclusive right to a topography shall be valid during ten years.

2. The term of the exclusive right to a topography shall be calculated either from the date of the first use of the topography, which means the earliest proved by documents the date of the introduction into civil circulation of this topography in the Russian Federation or in any foreign state, of an integrated circuit with this topography or of a product including this integrated circuit, or from the date of registration of the topography by the federal executive authority for intellectual property depending on which of these events occurred earlier.

3. Where the identical original topography was independently created by another author, the exclusive rights to such topographies shall be terminated upon the expiration of ten years from the day of accrual of the exclusive right to the first of them.

4. Upon expiration of the term of the exclusive right, the topography shall fall into the public domain, i.e., it may be used freely by any person without any consent or permission and without payment of remuneration for use.

Article 1458. Contract for Alienation of the Exclusive Right to a Topography

Under a contract for alienation of the exclusive right to a topography, one party, the rightholder, transfers or is undertaking commitment to transfer the exclusive right to a topography in full scope to other party, the recipient of the exclusive right to the topography.

Article 1459. License Contract on Granting the Right to Use a Topography

Under a license contract one party, the author or other holder of the exclusive right to a topography (the licensor) grants or is undertaking commitment to grant to the other party (the licensee) the right to use this topography with the limitations determined by the contract.

Article 1460. Form and Official Registration of the Contract for Alienation of the Exclusive Right to a Topography and of a License Contract

1. The contract for alienation of the exclusive right to a topography and the license contract shall be done in written form.

2. If the topography is registered (Article 1452) the contract on alienation of the exclusive right to a topography and a license contract shall be officially registered with the federal executive authority for intellectual property.

Article 1461. Employee’s Topography

1. A topography, created by an employee in the line of his working duty or a specific task set by the employer, shall be deemed an employee’s topography.

2. The right of authorship to an employee’s topography, shall belong to the employee (to the author).

3. The exclusive right to an employee’s topography shall belong to the employer, unless otherwise provided by a contract between him and the employee.

4. If the exclusive right to a topography belongs to the employer or has been transferred by him to a third person, the employee shall have the right to receipt the remuneration from the employer. The amount of remuneration and the terms and procedure of its payment shall be determined by contract between the employer and employee and, in case of dispute, by the court.

5. A topography created by an employee using financial, technical or other material assets of the employer, but not in the line of his working duty or a specific task set by the employer shall not be considered as an employee’s topography. The exclusive right to such topography shall belong to the employee. In this case the employer shall have the right at his discretion to demand the grant of an free simple (nonexclusive) license for use for his own needs during the term of the exclusive right to the topography or to remuneration of the costs incurred by him with regard to the creation of this topography.

Article 1462. Topography Created During Fulfillment of the Work under the Contract

1. Where a topography is created during fulfillment of the work under a labor contract or a scientific-research contract, experimental-design or technological works, which do not contemplate its creation, the exclusive right to such topography shall belong to the contractor (the performer) unless otherwise provided by a contract between him and the customer.

In this case the customer shall have the right to use the topography created in this way for the purposes for which the corresponding contract was done on the conditions of a simple (nonexclusive) license during the term of the validity of the rights, without payment of supplementary remuneration for use unless otherwise provided by the contact. Upon transfer of the exclusive right to the topography by the contractor (performer) to another person, the customer shall retain the right to use the topography under the indicated conditions.

2. Where, in accordance with a contract between the contractor (performer) and the customer, the exclusive right to the topography has been transferred to the customer or to a third person indicated by him, the performer shall have the right to use the topography that has been created for his own needs under the terms of a free simple (nonexclusive) license during the term of the exclusive right to the topography, unless otherwise provided by the contract.

3. The author of a topography specified in Paragraph 1 of the present Article who does not have the exclusive right to such topography shall have the right to remuneration in accordance with Paragraph 4 of Article 1461 of the present Code.

Article 1463. Topography Created on Order

1. Where a topography is created under an contract, the subject of which was its creation (on order), the exclusive right to such topography shall belong to the customer unless a contract between the contractor (performer) and the customer provides otherwise.

2. Where, in accordance with a paragraph 1 of the present Article, the exclusive right to a topography shall belong to the customer or to a third person indicated by him, the performer shall have the right, to use this topography for his own needs under the conditions of a free simple (nonexclusive) license during the term of the exclusive right, unless otherwise provided by the contract.

3. Where, in accordance with a contract between the contractor (performer) and the customer, the exclusive right to a topography belongs to the performer, the customer shall have the right to use the topography for his own needs under the conditions of a free simple (nonexclusive license) during the term of the exclusive right.

4. The author of a topography created on order, who is not the rightholder shall be paid a remuneration in accordance with Paragraph 4 of Article 1459 of the present Code.

Article 1464. Topography Created under a State Contract

The provisions of Article 1298 of the present Code shall be applied respectively to a topography created under a State contract.