Protected layout-design
(1) A layout-design shall be eligible for protection under this Act if the layout-design is an original layout-design and the right holder of the layout-design was, at the time the layout-design was created, a qualifying person.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a layout-design shall be original if—
(a) it is the result of its creator’s own intellectual effort and is not commonplace among creators of layout-designs and manufacturers of integrated circuits at the time of its creation; or
(b) in relation to a layout-design that consists of a combination of elements and interconnections that are commonplace, the combination, taken as a whole, is the result of its creator’s own intellectual effort and is not commonplace among creators of layout designs and manufacturers of integrated circuits at the time of its creation.
(3) This Act protects all independently created layout-designs referred to in subsection (1) even if they are identical and, subject to section 8, regardless of when they were created.
(4) A layout-design shall be deemed not to have been created until it has been fixed in a material form or incorporated into an integrated circuit, whichever is earlier.
Persons that qualify for protection
The protection given to a layout-design under this Act shall be available to the following persons:
(a) a natural person who—
(i) is a national of, or is domiciled or ordinarily resident in, Malaysia or in a qualifying country; or
(ii) has a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment for the creation of layout-designs or for the production of integrated circuits in Malaysia or in a qualifying country;
(b) a legal entity that—
(i) is incorporated or formed in Malaysia or in a qualifying country; or
(ii) has a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment for the creation of layout-designs or for the production of integrated circuits in Malaysia or in a qualifying country;
(c) the Government; and
(d) the government of a qualifying country.
Right holder of layout-design
(1) Subject to any agreement to the contrary, the right holder of a layout design shall be determined as follows:
(a) if the layout-design is not created in pursuance of a commission or in the course of employment, the creator of the layout-design is the right holder;
(b) if the layout-design is created in pursuance of a commission, the person who commissioned the layout-design is the right holder; and
(c) if the layout-design is created by an employee in the course of his employment, the employer is the right holder.
(2) A person can be a right holder even if he shares the right in the layout-design with a person who is not a qualifying person.
(3) If the right in a layout-design is held by more than one person—
(a) a reference in this Act to the right holder is a reference to all the right holders; and
(b) any requirement for the consent of a right holder requires the consent of all the right holders.
(4) If a layout-design is owned by more than one person and such persons include a person who is not a right holder within the meaning of this Act, the protection specified in this Act shall only apply in relation to that part of the layout-design that is created by the right holder and all references in this Act to a protected layout-design shall be construed accordingly.
Duration of protection
(1) A layout-design shall be protected under this Act for a period of ten years from the date the layout-design is first commercially exploited in Malaysia or elsewhere.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the protection granted to a layout-design under this Act shall lapse fifteen years after the date the layout-design is created.
Source: Laws of Malaysia, Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia (lom.agc.gov.my). Not a copy of the Gazette printed by the Government Printer (Interpretation Acts 1948 and 1967, s 61).
