12.8. Section 43 refusal to register: Integrated circuits

Section 43(1)(c) requires the Registrar to refuse to register a design in relation to a product that is an integrated circuit within the meaning of the Circuit Layouts Act 1989 (Cth), part of such a circuit, or a mask to make such an integrated circuit.

Below is an example of an integrated circuit.

Designs of integrated circuits within the meaning of the Circuit Layouts Act are protected under that Act and therefore are not considered to be registrable under the Designs Act.

The Circuits Layout Act defines an 'integrated circuit' as:

A circuit, whether in a final form or an intermediate form, the purpose, or one of the purposes, of which is to perform an electronic function, being a circuit in which the active and passive elements, and any of the interconnections, are integrally formed in or on a piece of material.

The integrated circuit is required to be an inseparable part of the piece of material it has been applied to. Additionally, the integrated circuit includes a plurality of components (active and/or passive elements and interconnections).

Protection under the Circuits Layout Act relates to the pattern of circuitry on the surface of the semiconductor contained in an Integrated Circuit (commonly referred to as a ‘chip’). The pattern on the chip, including parts of it, or masks used in the manufacture of the chip, are not registrable under the Designs Act.

What is registrable under the Designs Act is:

• The external housing that contains the chip, or a pin layout.

• Printed circuit boards. A printed circuit board does not have active and/or passive elements (components) and is therefore not an integrated circuit. When components are added to a printed circuit board those elements are formed elsewhere and are not 'formed in or on' the circuit board.