– Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits Act 2000, in force since August 15, 2000.

Protected layout design: an original layout design is protected and it is regarded as original (a) if it is the result of its creator’s own intellectual effort and is not common place amongst creators of layout designs and manufacturers of integrated circuits at the time of its creation; or (b) in relation to a layout design that consists of a combination of elements and inter connections that are commonplace, the combination taken as a whole is the result of its creator’s own intellectual effort and is not commonplace amongst creators of layout designs and manufacturers of integrated circuits at the time of its creation.

Applicant: a natural person who is a national of or is domiciled or ordinarily resident in Malaysia or a qualifying country (a designated country or a country or territory that is a member of the World Trade Organization) or who has a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment for the creation of layout designs or for the production of integrated circuits in Malaysia or a qualifying country. A corporation incorporated in Malaysia or a qualifying country and who meets similar requirements would also qualify, likewise the government and government of a qualifying country.

Rights holder of layout design: the rights holder in the case where the layout design is created in the course of the creator’s employment or in pursuance of a commission is the employer and person who commissioned the layout design respectively. In other circumstances, the rights holder is the creator of the layout design.

Nature of rights: the rights holder shall have the following rights, namely (a) the right to reproduce and to authorize the reproduction of all or a substantial part of the layout design whether by incorporation into an integrated circuit or otherwise; and (b) the right to commercially exploit and authorize the commercial exploitation of the layout design, an integrated circuit in which the layout design is incorporated or an article that contains an integrated circuit in which the protected layout design is incorporated.

Duration: ten years from the date the layout design was first commercially exploited in Malaysia or elsewhere or fifteen years after the date of creation of the layout design.

Infringement: doing or causing another to do any of the above-mentioned acts.

Non-infringements: it shall not be an infringement if (a) the reproduction is of any part that is not original; (b) the reproduction is not for purposes and not for the purpose of commercial exploitation; (c) the reproduction is done for purposes of evaluation, analysis, research and teaching and/or use of such results for the creation of another original layout design; (d) exploitation of an another corresponding layout design that is independently created; and (e) exploitation of a layout design the rights attaching to which have exhausted i.e. after the copy, integrated circuit or article has been commercially exploited whether in Malaysia or elsewhere with the rights holder’s consent.

Time limitation: infringement action must be brought within six years from the date of the infringement.

Innocent infringement: innocent infringement is a defence if the person at the time of acquiring the copy, integrated circuit or article did not know and could not reasonably be expected to have known that the copy was unauthorized, that the integrated circuit was unauthorized or that the article contained an unauthorized integrated circuit.

Presumption of protection: in an infringement action, unless the defence puts the matter in issue, it is presumed that the layout design is a protected layout design and the plaintiff is the right holder of the protected layout design.

Assignments – licenses: a right to a protected layout design is transmissible including by assignment, by testamentary instrument or devolution by operation of law. It may also be the subject of a license and such license may relate to future rights in a protected layout design.

Public non-commercial use: the government may or it may authorize any public non-commercial use. Such use would include acts done for the defence or internal security of the country or in the public interest.

Compulsory license: the High Court may grant a compulsory license on any of the following grounds, namely (a) there is no production or production for sales of the layout design, any integrated circuit incorporating the protected layout design, or any article containing such an integrated circuit in Malaysia without legitimate reason; or (b) the sale thereof is at unreasonably high prices or does not meet the public’s demand without legitimate reasons.