Chapter II: Semiconductor products

Topographies of semiconductor products shall be filed with the National Institute of Industrial Property or sent to it by post or by any means of teletransmission under the conditions defined by decision of its Director General. Their filing date is that of receipt at the Institute’s headquarters. The Director General of the National Institute of Industrial Property may require filing in electronic form where this is likely to facilitate the…

A deposit may relate to only one topography. It comprises: 1° A declaration of deposit containing sufficient information to identify the applicant, the topography and the date and place of its first exploitation or, failing that, the date on which it was first fixed or coded ; 2° A graphic representation of the topography, inserted in a fold, in which those parts have been masked which the applicant intends not…

The benefit of the filing date is acquired by the applicant on the date of submission of the documents provided for in the preceding article. This benefit shall accrue to him even if the documents are irregular in form, provided that their regularisation does not result in any change in the representation of the topography filed. In the event of non-conformity of the filing or material irregularity, the applicant shall…

A decision on the filing of a semiconductor product topography shall be taken within six months of the filing. This period is interrupted by the notification provided for in Article R. 622-3, until the filing is regularised.

Failing an express decision within the time limit mentioned in Article R. 622-3-1, the filing is deemed to have been rejected.

Any person may consult the filing files at the headquarters of the National Institute of Industrial Property. No copy of the file may be made without the authorisation of the holder.

The deposit is unenforceable against third parties if the wording of the declaration supplemented by the publicly accessible representation does not enable the protected topography to be identified.

The articles R. 411-19 to R. 411-26, R. 612-1 (2nd paragraph), R. 612-2, R. 612-38, R. 613-45, R. 613-53 to R. 613-59, R. 615-1 to R. 615-4, and R. 618-1 to R. 618-3 are applicable to the conditions under which filings are received, rights attached thereto are transferred or amended, notifications from the Institut national de la propriété industrielle are issued and litigation is settled. For the application of Articles…

Within two months prior to the expiry of the term of protection, the owner of the deposit may request either the return of the items or their preservation for a further renewable period of ten years. The request for preservation is only admissible if it is accompanied by payment of the prescribed fee. Failing a request for return or preservation, the items in the deposit may be destroyed.

The finding of reciprocity provided for the application of Article L. 622-2 is granted by joint order of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Industrial Property.