The exclusive right of integrated circuit layout design is different from copyright, patent or trademark, but its protection system has the characteristics of partial copyright protection and partial industrial property rights, especially patent protection. This can be clearly seen from the following chart: the protection condition of copyright (200 1) layout-design (200 1) invention patent (2000) is originality; Non-recognized conventional novelty, creativity and practicality application registration system need not be registered, and automatic registration must be generated. There is no time limit for applying for protection, modification and protection of the integrity of works; Citizens' right to publish works and property rights is life plus 50 years after death. 10 year, from the date of application for registration or first commercial use, whichever comes first; After 15 years of creation, it is not protected by laws and regulations. 20 years, from the date of filing, what is infringement: unauthorized publication, reproduction, distribution, dissemination through information networks, etc. (Articles 46 and 47); Importing, selling or otherwise providing protected layout designs, integrated circuits and articles for commercial purposes without permission (Article 30) Patent implementation, that is, manufacturing, using, promising to sell, selling, importing, etc. For production and commercial purposes (Articles 57-59), reverse engineering is not allowed (Article 23 1 Item 2). If the principle of no-fault cannot prove that the copies issued or rented by it have a legal source, it shall bear legal responsibility. If it doesn't know, it is not responsible. If informed, you can continue to use it, but you don't realize that you have to pay a reasonable usage fee. However, four cases that can prove the legal source, such as restricting the right of fair use without liability for compensation, fair use without permission, and the principle of exhaustion without permission, are not regarded as infringement of patent rights. There is no compulsory license (article 25). There are (articles 48-50). As can be seen from the above figure, the exclusive right of layout-design is more industrial than copyright, which is not available in general copyright works. At the same time, its originality is not available in general patented products, allowing reverse engineering and having its own characteristics. Judging from the protection period, it is only 10 years, and it will not be protected after the creation is completed 15 years, which is in line with its rapid technological update. In particular, the regulations allow "parallel imports".
According to Article 24 of the Regulations, "Where a protected layout-design is put on the market by or with the permission of the right holder of the layout-design, others may reuse it in business without the permission of the right holder of the layout-design, and pay no remuneration to it." According to Article 2 of the Regulations, commercial exploitation refers to "the act of importing, selling or otherwise providing protected layout-designs for commercial purposes". Therefore, according to the regulations, as long as the layout-design is legally put on the market, the rights of the whole world are exhausted, and it can be imported and sold without re-licensing.