I.C. Protection
3. Protection of Integrated Circuit Topographies
Integrated circuit topographies are protected in Canada by registration under the Integrated Circuit Topography Act. Registration of a topography gives the registered owner the exclusive right to prevent others from reproducing the topography or any substantial part thereof, manufacturing an integrated circuit product incorporating the topography or any substantial part thereof, and importing or commercially exploiting the topography or any substantial part thereof or an integrated circuit product that incorporates the topography or any substantial part thereof.
The exclusive right commences on the filing date of the application for registration, and terminates at the end of the tenth calendar year after the earlier of the calendar year in which the topography is first commercially exploited and the calendar year of the filing date of the application.
It is important to remember that topography protection is purely a creature of statute, such that there is no protection for a topography available at common law. Accordingly, if your topography has not been registered, you can make no legal claim to proprietary ownership of your topography, and you have no legal protection against imitation of your topography by others who learn of it through non-confidential sources. Thus, any person could reverse engineer your topography, and reproduce, sell, lease, offer or exhibit for sale or lease, or otherwise distribute for a commercial purpose, integrated circuit products embodying your topography without compensating you.