– Law of Ukraine on Protection of Rights to Semiconductor Products Layout Design of November 5, 1997, the title of the Law in the version of September 19, 2019, last amended on March 20, 2023.

Applicant: a physical person or legal entity. The author or his heir has the right to register the layout design. The right to register a layout design and all rights arising from this registration are vested in the employer of the author of the layout, if the layout was created in the course of performance of one's duties or under a special instruction of the employer, unless otherwise provided by the employment contract.

Foreigners and nationals not living in the country: must appoint a patent attorney in Ukraine. 

Definition: (a) a semiconductor product layout design (layout design) is a set of related images, fixed or encoded in some way, which constitute a three-dimensional configuration of the layers that make up a semiconductor product and in which each image contains a configuration or part of configuration of a semiconductor product at any stage of its production; (b) a semiconductor product is a final or intermediate form of any product consisting of a material base, which includes a layer of a semiconductor material, has one or more layers consisting of conductive, insulating or semiconductor material and arranged relative to each other in accordance with predefined three-dimensional model and are designed to perform the function of the electronic circuit, exclusively or in combination with other functions. The rights to ideas, methods, systems, technologies or encoded information that may be embodied in the layout shall not be protected.

Novelty: the layout design meets the registrability criteria, if it is original. A layout design is deemed to be original if it was not created by way of direct reproduction (copying) of another layout and was not known in the sphere of microelectronics before the date of filing an application to the NIPO (examining authority) or before the date of the first use of the layout design. The layout design for which the application was submitted to the NIPO later than within two years from the date of its first use, cannot be considered original.

Filing Office: Ukrainian National Office for Intellectual Property and Innovations (UANIPIO).

Electronic filing: an application can be filed in paper or electronic form.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident patent attorney):
1. Power of attorney (no legalization required);
2. Application form in the Ukrainian language (may be signed by a representative) should cover only one layout design;
3. Materials that identify the layout design in one copy, including samples of semiconductor products comprising this layout design, in the form in which it was put into circulation together with information about the date when the layout design was first used, and materials - the main technical characteristics of the sample of a semiconductor product. If the submitted materials identifying the layout contain information about any layer of the layout or part thereof, which, in the opinion of the applicant, is confidential, then this layer as a whole or its corresponding part can be removed and included in the materials identifying the layout, in coded form.

Notes: the application and the documents attached thereto, except for the abstract, are submitted in one copy. The abstract is submitted in two copies. The abstract should contain: the name of the layout of the semiconductor product; full name or title of the applicant; area of use, purpose or function of a layout; the type of technology used to make the layout. An average volume of the text of the abstract shall be from 50 to 150 words.

Submitting the application is subject to payment of a fee. The layout identification materials submitted by the applicant and samples of semiconductor products incorporating this layout shall be kept by the NIPO for six years after the expiration of the registration. At the end of this period, identification materials and samples of semiconductor products shall be returned to the right holder at his request, and in the absence of such a request, shall be destroyed.

Examination: only formal.

Opposition: the applicant may appeal the decision of the NIPO issued in respect of the application in court, as well as in the Chamber of Appeals within two months from the date of receipt of the decision, by filing an objection against the decision. The objection shall be considered within two months from the date of receipt of the objection (extended for not more than two months) and the document confirming payment of the fee. The decision of the Chamber of Appeals may be appealed by the applicant in court within two months from the date of receipt of the decision.

Registration: the NIPO enters the topography of integrated circuit in the State Register of Ukraine of semiconductor product layout designs, maintained in electronic form.

Publication: simultaneously with the state registration of the layout, the information on the registration of the layout is published in the official Bulletin.

The scope of the layout rights is determined by the set of related layout images on the physical medium.

Beginning of protection: the rights arising from the registration of the layout are valid from the date of the day following their state registration.

Duration: acquisition of the right to layout design is attested by a certificate. The certificate shall be valid for ten years, counting from the earliest of the following dates: the end of the calendar year in which the layout was first used on a commercial basis anywhere in the world; the end of the calendar year in which the duly executed application for registration was submitted.

Annuities: there are no annuities, only application fees.

Working: compulsory.

Obligation to use: registration of a layout design gives the owner of the registered layout design the right to use the layout design at its own discretion, provided that such use does not infringe the rights of other owners of the registered layout design. Registration gives the owner of the registered layout design an exclusive right (a) to prohibit other persons from using or importing the layout design for this purpose without his permission; (b) to transfer on the basis of the contract the right to layout design to any person who becomes the legal successor of the owner of the registered layout; (c) issue to any person a permit (license) for the use of a registered layout design on the basis of a license agreement. The use of layout design shall include: (a) reproduction of layout design; (b) manufacture of semiconductor products using this layout design; (c) manufacture of any products containing such semiconductor products; (d) importation of such semiconductor products and products comprising them into the customs territory of Ukraine; (e) offering for sale, including online, the sale and other introduction into civil circulation or storage for the said purposes of semiconductor products manufactured using the layout design and any products containing such semiconductor products.

Cancellation: possible, only in the court. The registration of the topography of integrated circuits may be nullified if: (1) the topography is not registrable; (2) before filing an application for registration of a topography of integrated circuit in a foreign state, the applicant has not filed an application at the NIPO and has not informed the NIPO of his intentions, unless otherwise is provided for by international agreements; (3) if an application was filed with the infringement of rights of third parties. Additionally, any person may request a complete examination of the registered topography of integrated circuits to determine whether it meets the requirements of registrability.

Infringement and penalties: enforcement of rights to layout design is carried out in court. Courts, in accordance with their competence, resolve, in particular, disputes concerning: authorship of a layout design; establishing the fact of using the layout design; establishing  the certificate holder; infringement of the rights of the certificate holder; concluding and performance of license agreements; compensations. At the request of the owner of the rights to the registered layout design, such infringement must be stopped, and the infringer is obliged to compensate the owner of the rights for the damages caused. The person that purchased a license may also demand the restoration of the infringed rights of the owner of the registered layout design with his consent.