3. Registrar of Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design.—(1) The Central Government
may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint a person to be known as the Registrar of
Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design for the purposes of this Act.
(2) The Central Government may appoint such other officers with such designation as it thinks fit for
the purpose of discharging, under the superintendence and direction of the Registrar, such functions of the
Registrar under this Act as he may from time to time authorise them to discharge.
4. Power of Registrar to transfer pending matters.—Without prejudice to the generality of the
provisions of sub-section (2) of section 3, the Registrar may, by order in writing and for reasons to be
recorded therein, withdraw any matter pending before an officer appointed under the said sub-section (2)
and deal with such matter himself either de novo or from the stage it was so withdrawn or transferred the
7
same to another officer so appointed who may subject to the special direction in the order of transfer deal
with the matter either de novo or from the stage it was so transferred.
5. Registry.—(1) For the purposes of this Act, there shall be established a Registry which shall be
known as the Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Registry.
(2) The head office of the Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Registry shall be at such
place as the Central Government may specify and for the purposes of facilitating the registration of
layout-designs, there may be established, at such places as the Central Government may think fit, branch
offices of the Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Registry.
(3) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, define the territorial limits
within which an office of the Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Registry may exercise its
functions.
(4) There shall be seal of the Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Registry.
6. Register of Layout-Designs.—(1) For the purposes of this Act, a record called the Register of
Layout-Designs shall be kept at the head office of the Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design
Registry wherein shall be entered all registered layout-designs with the names, addresses and descriptions
of the proprietor and such other matters related to the registered layout-designs as may be prescribed.
(2) Subject to the superintendence and direction of the Central Government, the register shall be kept
under the control and management of the Registrar.
(3) There shall be kept at each Branch office of the Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design
Registry a copy of the register and other documents as the Central Government may, by notification in the
Official Gazette, direct.
7. Prohibition of registration of certain layout-designs.—(1) A layout-design—
(a) which is not original; or
(b) which has been commercially exploited anywhere in India or in a convention country; or
(c) which is not inherently distinctive; or
(d) which is not inherently capable of being distinguishable from any other registered layoutdesign,
shall not be registered as a layout-design:
Provided that a layout-design which has been commercially exploited for not more than two years
from the date on which an application for its registration has been filed either in India or in a convention
country shall be treated as not having been commercially exploited for the purposes of this sub-section.
(2) A layout-design shall be considered to be original if it is the result of its creator's own intellectual
efforts and is not commonly known to the creators of layout-designs and manufacturers of semiconductor
integrated circuits at the time of its creation:
Provided that a layout-design consisting of such combination of elements and interconnections that
are commonly known among creators of layout-designs and manufacturers of semiconductor integrated
circuits shall be considered as original if such combination taken as a whole is the result of its creator's
own intellectual efforts.
(3) Where an original layout-design has been created in execution of a commission or a contract of
employment, the right of registration to such layout-design under this Act shall belong, in the absence of
any contractual provision to the contrary, to the person who commissioned the work or to the employer.