Text consolidated by Valsts valodas centrs (State
Language Centre) with amending laws of:
15 February 2007 [shall
come into force on 1 March 2007];
3 July 2014 [shall come into force on 1 January
2015];
11 December 2014 [shall come into force on 1 January
2015];
19 November 2015 [shall come into force on 1 January
2016].
If a whole or part of a section has been amended, the
date of the amending law appears in square brackets at
the end of the section. If a whole section, paragraph or
clause has been deleted, the date of the deletion appears
in square brackets beside the deleted section, paragraph
or clause.
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The Saeima 1 has adopted and
the President has proclaimed the following law:
Law on the Protection of
Topographies of Semiconductor Products
Chapter I
General Provisions
Section 1. Terms Used in the Law
The following terms are used in the Law:
1) semiconductor product - any final or intermediate
product for the performance of electronic functions or electronic
and other functions that consists of the base material containing
a layer of semiconductor material and of another layer or several
other layers consisting of a conductor, an insulator, or a
semiconductor and arranged according to a pre-determined
three-dimensional structure;
2) topography - a set of consecutive images either open
or encrypted in any form which reflects the three-dimensional
structure of layers comprising the semiconductor product and in
which each image shows the surface structure of the semiconductor
product or part of the surface structure thereof at various
stages of production;
3) commercial use of a topography - sale, lease, or any
other commercial distribution or marketing, and also offer for
the respective purposes;
4) owner of a topography - a creator of a topography of
a semiconductor product or a successor thereof, or any other
natural or legal person who has the exclusive right to the
topography.
[19 November 2015]
Section 2. Protected
Topographies
(1) A topography shall be protected in the Republic of Latvia
if it corresponds to the provisions of this Law and has been
registered with the Patent Office of the Republic of Latvia
(hereinafter - the Patent Office).
(2) A topography shall be protected if it is a result of the
intellectual work of a relevant creator of the topography and is
not generally known in the production of semiconductor products.
The topography shall be considered a result of the intellectual
work of the creator thereof, unless the contrary is proved.
(3) A topography which includes elements that are generally
known in the production of semiconductor products shall be
protected if the conjunction of generally known elements
corresponds overall to the provisions of Paragraph two of this
Section.
(4) Legal protection of a topography shall not refer to the
principles, processes, systems, and techniques that are directly
or indirectly related to the creation and production of the
topography, and also to the coded information used in the
topography.
(5) Additional regulation of legal relationships for the
procedures of the Patent Office in respect of granting a
topography, operation of the Industrial Property Board of Appeal,
representation of persons in the Patent Office, and activity of
professional patent attorneys shall be determined by the Law on
Industrial Property Institutions and Procedures.
[19 November 2015]
Section 3. Holders of Exclusive
Rights
(1) The exclusive right to a topography shall be held by a
creator thereof but where a topography has been created by
several persons together - by all creators thereof.
(2) If a topography has been created while performing an
employment contract which provides for the creation of
topographies, the exclusive right to the topography may be held
by an employer if so stipulated in a collective agreement or an
individual contract of employment.
(3) If a topography has been created while performing a
work-performance contract, the exclusive right to the topography
may be held by a commissioning party if so stipulated in the
contract.
(4) If in accordance with the provisions of Paragraphs two and
three of this Section a creator of topography does not have the
exclusive right thereto, the creator has the right to request
that he or she is referred to as the creator of the topography in
all documents and publications related to registration of the
topography.
(5) If the exclusive right to a topography is not held by any
of the persons referred to in Paragraph one, two, or three of
this Section, it may be held by a person who has been the first
to commence commercial use of the topography if no other person
has used it in Latvia or abroad.
(6) The exclusive right to a topography may be held by
successors of the persons referred to in Paragraphs one, two,
three, and five of this Section.
(7) If the exclusive right to a topography is held by several
persons, mutual relationship thereof shall be determined by a
contract entered into between owners of the topography. If such
contract has not been entered into, the provisions of the Civil
Law which refer to the joint property of movable property shall
be applied.
Chapter II
Registration of a Topography
Section 4. Filing of an Application
for the Registration of a Topography
(1) An application for the registration of a topography
(hereinafter - the application) may be filed with the Patent
Office by any natural or legal person referred to in Section 3 of
this Law (hereinafter - the applicant) if:
1) its permanent place of residence is Latvia or it owns an
enterprise situated in the territory of Latvia;
2) its permanent place of residence or its company is located
in a country with which Latvia has entered into a bilateral or
multilateral contract for the protection of a topography of
semiconductor products;
3) its permanent place of residence or its company is located
in a country the natural or legal persons of which are granted
the national regime in the Republic of Latvia on the basis of a
mutual agreement and the laws of which provide natural and legal
persons of the Republic of Latvia with the protection of a
topography of semiconductor products which, in essence,
corresponds to the provisions of this Law.
(2) The applicant is entitled to request registration of a
topography until it is proved that the applicant does not have
the right to do it.
(3) The application may be filed prior to the first commercial
use of a topography or within two years from the day when the
first commercial use of the topography has been commenced in
Latvia or any other country. If the application has not been
filed within two years from the day of the first commercial use
of the topography, it shall be considered that the exclusive
rights to the topography referred to in Section 3 of this Law
have not become valid over this period of time and they cannot be
obtained.
(4) If a topography has not been used commercially, the
applicant has the right to file with the Patent Office an
application within 15 years counting from the year which follows
the year when the topography was created.
Section 5. Application
(1) The application shall include the following:
1) a submission regarding registration of the topography;
2) a short description of the topography;
3) materials which clearly and explicitly identify the
topography and elements thereof and are valid for
reproduction:
a) drawings or photographies showing configuration of layers
of the semiconductor product;
b) drawings or photographies of the masks or parts thereof
which are used in the production of semiconductor products;
c) drawings or photographies of individual layers of the
semiconductor product;
4) documents confirming the date of the first commercial use
of the topography (if the use of the topography has been
commenced prior to filing the application). If a person other
than the applicant has commenced the first commercial use of the
topography, the applicant shall indicate the legal relationship
between the applicant and this person in respect of the
topography;
5) [19 November 2015];
6) a power of attorney if the application is filed through an
authorised person.
(2) In order to ensure better identification of the
topography, the applicant may additionally submit the
following:
1) one or more samples of the topography. The applicant shall
pay a fee for the submission and storage of the samples of the
topography;
2) magnetic tapes, computer print-outs, microfilms or any
other means (sources) for storing data (information) on which the
topography is stored in encrypted form;
3) a document confirming payment of the application fee.
(3) The applicant shall file the application and the short
description of the topography in the Latvian language. Other
documents and materials referred to in Paragraphs one and two of
this Section may also be submitted in the English, French,
Russian, or German language. If the document confirming the date
of the first commercial use of the topography abroad is in
another language, the applicant shall concurrently with the
original document also submit a certified translation thereof in
one of the respective languages.
(4) In the event of a dispute, the applicant (owner of a
topography) shall, at the request of the Industrial Property
Board of Appeal or court, submit a translation of the document
referred to in Paragraph one or two of this Section in the
Latvian language.
(5) In submitting the documents and materials referred to in
Paragraph one, Clause 3 and Paragraph two of this Section, the
applicant may indicate in a written request the component which
contains a trade secret related to the production of the
topography that the Patent Office, the Industrial Property Board
of Appeal, or court may not disclose. Persons concerned who are
parties to a dispute regarding validity of the exclusive rights
or infringement of such rights may have exceptional access to the
respective documents and materials, at the request of the
Industrial Property Board of Appeal or court.
(6) [19 November 2015]
[19 November 2015]
Section 6. Date of Filing the
Application
(1) The date when the Patent Office has received the documents
and materials referred to in Section 5, Paragraph one, Clauses 1,
2, and 3 of this Law shall be considered the date of filing the
application (hereinafter - the filing date).
(2) If the requirements laid down in Paragraph one of this
Section have not been complied with, the Patent Office shall
notify the applicant regarding this by setting a time period for
the elimination of the identified deficiencies. In this case, the
date when the Patent Office has received all documents and
materials referred to in Paragraph one of this Section shall be
considered the filing date. If the applicant has failed to comply
with the requirements of the Patent Office within the specified
time period, the application shall be considered not filed, and
the applicant shall be notified regarding this in writing.
(3) The Patent Office shall, at the request of the applicant,
send to the applicant a certified copy of its application
indicating the filing date and the number of the application
within 30 days from the filing date.
(4) Application documents and materials that do not affect
determination of the filing date may be submitted by the
applicant concurrently with the documents and materials referred
to in Paragraph one of this Section but not later than within
three months from the filing date. The application fee shall be
paid within a month from the date of filing the application. If
the respective documents and materials have not been submitted or
the application fee has not been paid within the specified time
period, the application shall be considered not filed.
[19 November 2015]
Section 7. Examination of the
Application
(1) The Patent Office shall, within three months from the
filing date, verify whether the filed application corresponds to
the provisions of Section 4, Paragraphs one, three, and four,
Section 5, Paragraphs one and three of this Law, and also to the
formal requirements of the Patent Office for the presentation of
application documents and materials.
(2) If the application corresponds to the specified
requirements, the Patent Office shall take a decision to register
the topography with the State Register of Topographies of
Semiconductor Products and publish the relevant notification.
(3) If the application does not correspond to the specified
requirements or corresponds to them only partly, the Patent
Office shall notify the applicant of this fact by setting a
three-month period for the elimination of the identified
deficiencies.
(4) The Patent Office shall take the decision to reject the
application if the applicant has failed to eliminate the
deficiencies identified by the Patent Office within the specified
time period.
Section 8. Registration of a
Topography
(1) The Patent Office shall register a topography with the
Register of Topographies of Semiconductor Products and publish
information on the topography in its official publication, and
also issue to the applicant, following payment of the fee, a
topography registration certificate according to a specific model
as soon as possible after taking a positive decision.
(2) If the application is filed prior to the first commercial
use of the topography, the applicant has the right to request
that publication of information on the registration of the
topography is postponed until the first commercial use of the
topography but not later than one year from the day of
registration of the topography.
(3) After publication of information on the registration of
the topography, every person has the right to access application
documents and materials at the Patent Office.
(4) The provisions of Paragraph three of this Section shall
not be applicable to the components of application which the
applicant considers to be a trade secret and regarding
non-disclosure of which the applicant has already submitted a
written request to the Patent Office before in accordance with
Section 5, Paragraph five of this Law.
[19 November 2015]
Section 9. Notice of Appeal against
a Decision of the Patent Office
If the applicant or another addressee of a decision of the
Patent Office (owner, former owner, successor of property rights,
licensee of the topography) completely or partly disagrees with
the decision taken by the Patent Office, he or she is entitled to
submit a notice of appeal in accordance with the Law on
Industrial Property Institutions and Procedures.
[19 November 2015]
Section 10. Notice of Opposition to
the Registration of a Topography
(1) Persons concerned may submit to the Patent Office a notice
of opposition to the registration of a topography within six
months after publication of the topography. The submission,
progress, and examination of the notice of opposition shall take
place in accordance with the Law on Industrial Property
Institutions and Procedures.
(2) A notice of opposition to the registration of a topography
may be submitted on the basis of the provisions of Section 15,
Paragraph two of this Law.
[19 November 2015]
Chapter III
Rights Arising from the Registration of a Topography
Section 11. Content and Nature of
Exclusive Rights
(1) A person in whose name a topography has been registered
has the exclusive right to:
1) reproduce the topography fully or partly in any manner and
form;
2) use the topography in a semiconductor product in any manner
and form;
3) use the topography or a semiconductor product in which it
has been used in a commercial manner, and also produce, offer for
sale, distribute, import from abroad, and store them for the
respective purposes.
(2) It shall be prohibited for other persons to carry out any
of the activities referred to in Paragraph one of this Section
without the authorisation of the owner of a topography.
(3) The owner of a topography may fully or partly transfer his
or her rights to the topography to any other person.
(4) Any topography protected in accordance with the provisions
of this Law, and also the relevant exclusive rights shall, in
terms of the legal regime, be comparable to movable property, and
the provisions of the Patent Law regarding licences, licensing
agreements, and any other transactions related to the exclusive
rights, and also general provisions of the Civil Law regarding
movable property and property transactions shall be applied
thereto, unless otherwise provided in this Law.
(5) If a registered topography has not been used in Latvia or
is used to the extent which does not objectively satisfy the
national interests of Latvia, and the owner of a topography
refuses to grant a license to a person concerned, a court may, at
the request of this person, grant a permit (compulsory licence)
to him or her to use the registered topography. The compulsory
licence may be granted at any moment starting from the day of
registration of the topography in accordance with the relevant
provisions of the Patent Law.
(6) Any transaction related to a registered topography shall
be registered with the Patent Office. Otherwise the transaction
shall be declared invalid.
(7) A topography registered with the Patent Office shall be
pledged in accordance with the provisions of the Commercial
Pledge Law. A person concerned shall pay a fee for making a
commercial pledge entry in the Register of Topographies of
Semiconductor Products. The Patent Office shall record a
commercial pledge entry in the Register of Topographies of
Semiconductor Products on the basis of a notification of the
holder of the register of commercial pledges. Information on the
entry made shall be notified to the owner of a topography and
published in the official publication of the Patent Office.
[3 July 2014; 19 November 2015]
Section 12. Validity of Exclusive
Rights
(1) The exclusive right to a topography shall become valid on
the day when its first commercial use has been commenced in
Latvia or any other country or on the day of receipt of the
application, whichever is earlier.
(2) The exclusive right to a topography may not be acquired if
the relevant application has not been filed with the Patent
Office or the use of the topography has not been commenced within
15 years counting from the year which follows the year when the
topography was created.
(3) The exclusive right to a topography shall be valid for 10
years counting from the year which follows the year when the
application was filed or the use of the topography was commenced,
provided that the application has been filed within two years
from the start date of the first commercial use of the
topography, whichever is earlier.
Section 13. Restrictions on
Exclusive Rights
(1) It shall not be considered an infringement of the
exclusive right of the owner of a topography specified in Section
11, Paragraphs one and two of this Law if the topography or
topography used in a semiconductor product is used as
follows:
1) for private non-commercial purposes;
2) for a scientific experiment or research purposes;
3) for training purposes;
4) for an analysis or assessment of the topography or related
(used therein) principles, methods, systems, techniques.
(2) The provisions of Section 11, Paragraphs one and two of
this Law regarding the exclusive right of the owner of a
topography shall not apply also to any improved topography which
has been created by carrying out scientific research, analysis,
or evaluation of an already known topography which is owned by
another person. The newly created topography shall be registered
and protected if the characteristics thereof correspond overall
to the provisions of Section 2 of this Law.
(3) The owner of a topography may not prohibit other persons
from using commercially the topography owned by him or her or a
semiconductor product containing it in the products produced by
such persons if the owner of a topography or another person with
his or her consent has marketed the topography or the
semiconductor product containing it in the European Economic
Area.
(4) Commercial use of a topography or a semiconductor product
in which this topography has been used shall not be considered an
infringement of the exclusive rights if a person who uses it
independently and in good faith (hereinafter - the user) or a
successor of this person was not and could not be aware of the
existence of the exclusive rights. In this case, the use of the
topography or the relevant semiconductor product may be continued
also after the user has become or should have become aware of the
existence of the exclusive rights, provided, however, that
consent of the owner of a topography has been obtained (on the
basis of a licensing agreement) and he or she has received a fair
compensation. Disputes between the owner of a topography and the
user shall be resolved by a court.
[15 February 2007]
Section 14. Early Cancellation of
the Registration of a Topography
(1) The Patent Office shall cancel the registration of a
topography early at the request of the owner of a topography.
Registration shall be cancelled from the day indicated in a
submission.
(2) If the right to a topography is held by several persons or
has been transferred to third parties, registration may only be
cancelled with the consent of all owners of the topography.
Section 15. Invalidation of the
Registration of a Topography
(1) Any person concerned may lodge a statement of claim for
the invalidation of the registration of a topography with a city
of Vidzeme Suburb Court of Riga City during the entire validity
of the registration of topography in accordance with the
procedures for lodging a claim laid down in the law.
(2) The registration of a topography may be declared invalid
in the following cases:
1) the subject-matter (object) of the registration does not
correspond to the definition of a semiconductor product and a
topography referred to in Section 1 of this Law, and also to the
basic provisions for the protection of topographies specified in
Section 2;
2) the mandatory application documents and materials (Section
5, Paragraph one, Clauses 1 and 2 and Clause 3, Sub-clause "a")
wrongly identify wholly or in part the topography or reflects the
nature thereof so vaguely that it is impossible to unambiguously
identify the topography when compared with other application
documents and materials (Section 5, Paragraph two);
3) the topography has been registered in the name of a person
who did not have the right to request it (Section 3, Paragraphs
one, two, three, five, and six and Section 4, Paragraph one);
4) the topography has been registered in breach of the
provisions of Section 4, Paragraphs three and four of this Law
regarding time periods for filing the application;
5) the document which confirms the date of the first use of
the topography (Section 5, Paragraph one, Clause 4) is incorrect,
and incorrect indication of the date affects the applicant's
right to file the application for registration (Section 4,
Paragraphs three and four) or validity of the exclusive right
(Section 12).
[11 December 2014]
Chapter IV
Protection of the Rights of the Creator and Owner of a
Topography
Section 16. Reinstatement of
Rights
(1) Any person who corresponds to the provisions of Section 4,
Paragraph one of this Law and who has proof that he or she holds
the right to a topography may lodge a claim with a court asking
that the right to the application or registration of a topography
be transferred to him or her if the relevant application has been
filed by another person who did not have such right or if the
registration has already been performed on behalf of this
person.
(2) The right referred to in Paragraph one of this Section
shall be exercised not later than within two years from the day
of registration of the topography.
(3) The Patent Office shall, on the basis of a court
judgement, make the necessary amendments to the State Register of
Topographies of Semiconductor Products and other documents
related to the registration of the topography.
(4) The creator of a topography, if he or she is not the owner
of a topography, has the right to defend his or her rights before
a court in accordance with the same procedures as those laid down
in the provisions of the Patent Law regarding the protection of
the rights of an inventor.
[19 November 2015]
Section 17. Protection of Exclusive
Rights
(1) The owner of a topography and - with his or her consent -
also a holder of an exclusive license have the right to label the
topography, a semiconductor product or packaging thereof with a
designation which warns of the registration of the topography and
exclusive rights and which may include one or more of the
following elements:
1) the letter "T" surrounded by a circle;
2) the start date of first commercial use of the
topography;
3) the surname (name) or mark of the owner of a
topography.
(2) The warning mark shall be recognised as proof that the
topography has been registered or applied for registration or
that the owner of a topography intends to register it within the
time period specified in Section 4 of this Law.
(3) The warning mark may not be placed on products if the
application for the registration of the relevant topography has
not been filed within the time period specified in Section 4 of
this Law, and also if the application has been rejected.
Otherwise the provisions of the existing laws and other
regulations regarding unfair competition shall be applied.
(4) The owner of a topography or holder of an exclusive
license has the right to send to third parties, who eventually
use or intend to use the topography or semiconductor product in
which it is used, a notification regarding filing of the relevant
application or registration of the topography.
(5) The owner of a topography has the right to lodge a claim
with a court in respect of an infringement of the exclusive right
starting from the day of registration of the topography. The
holder of the exclusive license has the same right.
Chapter V
Liability for Infringements of Exclusive Rights
Section 18. Concept of an
Infringement of Exclusive Rights
(1) Any of the activities referred to in Section 11, Paragraph
two of this Law shall be recognised as an infringement of
exclusive rights if it has occurred during validity of
registration of the topography and has been committed without the
authorisation of the owner of a topography or other legal
grounds. An activity shall be recognised as an infringement if
the object thereof is a topography as a whole or an integral part
thereof.
(2) An activity carried out after the owner of a topography or
holder of an exclusive licence has informed the infringer
regarding filing of a relevant application or registration of the
topography shall be recognised as a deliberate infringement, and
also in cases where the object of the dispute bears a warning
mark (Section 17, Paragraphs one and four).
(3) Any person shall be considered an infringer and shall be
liable for an infringement of exclusive rights also if the
activities indicated in Section 11, Paragraph two of this Law
have been carried out through third parties.
Section 19. Liability for
Infringements of Exclusive Rights
(1) The activities referred to in Section 11, Paragraph one of
this Law which have been carried out by a person without the
authorisation of the owner of a topography or other legal grounds
after the day of registration of the topography or after the day
when this person has received a notification from the owner of a
topography or the licensee of the exclusive license regarding
filing of the topography application with the Patent Office shall
be recognised as deliberate infringements.
(2) A person who has carried out the activities referred to in
Section 11, Paragraph one of this Law during a period between the
day when the owner of a topography has commenced first commercial
use of a semiconductor product labelled with a warning mark and
the day of registration of the topography shall pay a fair
compensation to the owner of a topography and cease using the
topography or semiconductor product. In the event of a dispute,
the amount of the fair compensation shall be determined by a
court, taking into account the economic value of the use of the
topography.
(3) A person who has carried out the activities referred to in
Section 11, Paragraph one of this Law after the owner of a
topography has commenced first commercial use of an unlabelled
semiconductor product shall pay a fair compensation to the owner
of a topography. If the compensation has been paid and if the
respective person wishes so, the owner of a topography shall
grant him or her a licence which gives the right to continue
using the topography in his or her enterprise to the extent the
topography was used before the day of registration thereof. In
the event of a dispute, the amount of the fair compensation and
the conditions of the licence shall be determined by a court
taking account of the economic value of the use of the
topography.
[15 February 2007]
Chapter VI
Final Provisions
Section 20. Application of the
Provisions of Other Laws and International Agreements to Ensuring
the Protection of Topographies
(1) Provisions of this Law shall not affect exclusive rights
and legal relationship which derive therefrom that are based on
the provisions of the Patent Law or other laws in the field of
the protection of intellectual property in respect of
topographies and semiconductor products in which they are
used.
(2) For the purposes of this Law, the relevant provisions of
the Patent Law shall be applied by analogy:
1) regarding representation in the Patent Office;
2) [19 November 2015];
3) [19 November 2015];
4) regarding fees;
5) regarding interests of the national defence;
6) regarding use of an invention;
7) regarding a licence and licensing agreement;
8) regarding a compulsory licence;
9) regarding compensation for losses due to the prohibition of
publication;
10) regarding resolution of disputes before a court.
(3) [19 November 2015]
[15 February 2007; 19 November 2015]
Transitional Provisions
1. Topographies shall be registered in Latvia provided that
the first commercial use thereof has been commenced not earlier
than two years before the day of coming into force of this
Law.
2. [19 November 2015]
Informative Reference to European
Union Directive
[15 February 2007]
This Law contains legal norms arising from Directive
2004/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29
April 2004 on the enforcement of intellectual property
rights.
The Law shall come into force on the 30th day
following its proclamation.
The Law has been adopted by the Saeima on 12 March
1998.
President G. Ulmanis
Rīga, 31 March 1998
1 The Parliament of the Republic of
Latvia
Translation © 2021 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language
Centre)