Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Act, 2000: Registration, Protection And IP Strategy In India

Introduction: Why Semiconductor Layout-Design Protection Matters

India’s semiconductor ecosystem is expanding across chip design, fabrication, packaging, testing and related technology services. As semiconductor companies build increasingly valuable portfolios of chip designs, manufacturing processes and proprietary know-how, semiconductor intellectual property protection in India is becoming an important component of technology and commercial strategy.

The Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Act, 2000 (“SICLD Act”) establishes a sui generis intellectual property regime for protecting semiconductor integrated circuit layout-designs. The regime protects a specific category of technological expression: the physical arrangement of transistors and other circuitry elements, including connecting lead wires, as expressed in a semiconductor integrated circuit.