Integrated Circuits Regulations, 2001, Barbados

Citation.......................................................................... 1 Interpretation................................................................. 2 Language of Documents and Transactions.................... 3 Signatures by Partnerships, Companies and Associations .................................................................. 4 Representation by Attorney-at-Law .............................. 5 Application for Registration of Layout-Design............. 6 Withdrawal of Application............................................ 7 Marking Application ..................................................... 8 According and Notifying Filing Date............................ 9 Registration of Layout-Design ...................................... 10 Entries in Register......................................................... 11 Changes in Ownership .................................................. 12 Address for Service....................................................... 13 Inspection of Register ................................................... 14 Inspection of Licences................................................... 15 Corrections of Errors..................................................... 16 Hearing.......................................................................... 17 Extension of Time Limit ............................................... 18 Directions as to Furnishing of Documents .................... 19 Dispensation by the Director......................................... 20 Evidence........................................................................ 21 Publication .................................................................... 22 Administrative Directions ............................................. 23 Inquiries at the Office.................................................... 24 Annexed Schedule to Forms ......................................... 25 Fees ............................................................................... 26 Form 1 Form 2 Form 3 Fees

Statutory Instruments Supplement No. 2 Supplement to Official Gazette No. 3 dated 7th January, 2002

S.I. 2001 No. 131

The Minister in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 19B of the Integrated Circuits Act, makes the following Regulations:

Citation

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Integrated Circuits Regulations, 2001.

Interpretation

2. In these Regulations

“fee” means the fee specified in Schedule II;

Schedule II.

“form” means the form set out in Schedule I;

Schedule I.

“Official Gazette” includes such other publication as is approved by the Director for the purpose.

Language of Documents and Transactions

3. Applications shall be in the English language, and any document forming part of an application or submitted to the Director pursuant to the Act or these Regulations, and which is in a language other than English, shall be accompanied by an English translation verified by the translator that the translation is to the best of his knowledge complete and faithful.

Signatures by Partnerships, Companies and Associations

4.—(1) A document purporting to be signed for or on behalf of a partnership shall contain the names of all the partners in full and shall be signed

(a)

by all the parties or by any partner qualified to sign, stating that he signs on behalf of the partnership, or

(b)

by any other person who satisfies the Director that he is authorized to sign the document.

(2)

A document purporting to be signed for or on behalf of a body corporate shall be signed by a director or by the Secretary or other principal officer of the body corporate, or by any other person who satisfies the Director that he is authorized to sign the document.

(3)

A document purporting to be signed for or on behalf of a person or an association, may be signed by any person who satisfies the Director that he is duly authorized.

Representation by Attorney-at-Law

5.—(1) The appointment of an attorney-at-law shall be made by an authorization of agent which shall be signed by the applicant or, if there are more than one, by each applicant.

(2) The authorization of agent appointing an attorney-at-law shall be filed together with the application, and if the appointment is not so made or is not in accordance with section 15 of the Act and paragraph (1), any procedural steps taken by the agent, other than the filing of the application, shall be deemed not to have been taken.

Application for Registration of Layout-Design

Form 1.

6.—(1) The application for the registration of a layout-design shall be made in the Form 1 and shall be signed by the applicant or an authorized agent.

(2)

The application shall indicate the applicant’s name, address, nationality and residence.

(3)

Where the applicant is the creator, the request shall contain a statement to that effect, and, where he is not, it shall indicate each creator’s name and address and be accompanied by the statement justifying the applicant’s right to the registration of the layout-design.

(4)

The application shall contain a brief and precise designation of the layout-design, which shall consist of the title of the layout-design indicating the matter to which it relates, or indicating the field to which the article in which it is intended to be incorporated, or has been incorporated, relates.

(5)

Where the application was accompanied by a copy of the layout-design, the applicant shall file a drawing thereof within a period of one month.

(6) For the purposes of this regulation,

(a)

“name” means in the case of an individual that person’s family name and given names, and in the case of a legal entity, its full official designation;

(b)

“address” means the full address of an individual, or in the case of a legal entity, the address of its registered office;

(c)

“nationality” means in the case of an individual, the State of which that person is a national, and in the case of a legal entity, the State under whose laws it is constituted;

(d) “residence” means the State in which an individual is resident.

Withdrawal of Application

7.—(1) An application may be withdrawn by written declaration submitted to the Director and signed by each applicant or an authorized agent.

(2) The application fee shall not be refunded if the application is withdrawn.

Marking Application

8.—(1) Upon receipt, the Director shall mark, on each document making up the application, the actual date of receipt and the application number consisting of the letters BB, slant, the letters IC, slant, the numbers of the year in which the initial papers were received, slant, and a five-digit number allotted in the sequential order in which applications are received and where any corrections or other later filed documents are received on different dates, the Director shall also mark their actual date of receipt in the appropriate place of the request for registration of the layout-design.

(2) The application number allotted under paragraph (1) shall be quoted in all subsequent communications concerning the application.

According and Notifying Filing Date

9.—(1) The Director shall examine whether the application fulfils the requirements set out in section 9 of the Act and regulation 6, and where applicable regulations 3, 4 and 5.

(2)

Where the Director finds that the application did not at the time of receipt fulfil the requirements referred to in paragraph (1), he shall invite the applicant to file the required correction.

(3)

The invitation to file any correction

(a)

shall be in writing;

(b)

shall specify the corrections required; and

(c)

shall request that the corrections be filed within 2 months from the date of the invitation, together with the payment of the specified fee.

(4)

Where the Director accords a filing date, he shall so notify the applicant in writing and if the application is treated as if it had not been filed under section 9(7) or (10) of the Act, the Director shall notify the applicant in writing, stating the reasons.

(5)

Where an application has been accorded a filing date, the Director shall conduct an examination of the application for the purpose of determining whether the subject matter of the application is capable of protection having regard to section 2 and paragraphs (b) and (c) of section 3 of the Act.

(6)

Whereupon examination of the application, the Director is of the opinion that there is a deficiency in the application, he shall notify the applicant in writing of his objections, with all the relevant details, and invite the applicant to correct the application.

(7)

After considering a reply by an applicant under paragraph (6), the Director shall make a determination in the matter, and notify the applicant of his decision; and if the applicant does not appeal the determination under section 19A of the Act, within the time prescribed under that section, the applicant shall be deemed to have withdrawn the application.

(8)

Where, following the objection of the application by the Director, the applicant does not, within 60 days of the receipt of the Director’s notification, correct the application or send the Director a written reply to the notification, the applicant shall be deemed to have withdrawn his application.

(9)

Where an applicant fails to pay the prescribed fee, or where despite corrections submitted by the applicant, the Director is of the opinion that the deficiency has not been corrected, the Director shall reject the application and notify the applicant in writing stating the reasons.

(10)

Where the Director determines that the criteria for protection set out in section 2 and paragraphs (b) and (c) of section 3 of the Act are not established, the Director shall reject the application and notify the applicant in writing stating the reasons.

(11)

The refusal of an application shall not affect its filing date which shall remain valid.

(12)

The Director shall notify the applicant in writing of his decision to grant or to refuse the application, and in the case of a decision to grant the application, he shall request the applicant to pay the registration and publication fee within one month from the date of the notification.

Registration of Layout-Design

10.—(1) Subject to the payment of the registration and publication fee within the period specified in regulation 9(6), the Director shall

(a)

register the layout-design in accordance with section 10(2) of the Act and this regulation;

(b)

publish a reference to the registration in the Official Gazette; and

(c)

issue to the applicant a certificate of registration.

(2)

The Director shall allot to each layout-design he registers, a number in the sequential order of registration.

(3)

The registration of a layout-design shall include, in addition to the particulars specified in section 10(3) of the Act, a copy or drawing thereof, subject to section 9(2)(b)(ii) and (c)(ii) of the Act, and shall specify

(a)

the name and address of the registered owner;

(b)

the name and address of any agent;

(c)

the name and address of the creator, except where he has asked not to be named in the registration; and

(d)

the date of the first commercial exploitation, anywhere in the world, of the layout-design or an indication that such exploitation has not yet commenced.

(4)

The publication of the reference to the registration of a layout-design, under paragraph (1), shall contain the particulars specified in paragraph (3).

(5)

The certificate of registration of a layout-design shall be in the Form 2. Form 2.

Entries in Register

11.—(1) The Director shall cause to be entered in the Register in respect of every layout-design, in addition to the information indicated in regulation 10(3),

(a) the address for service;

(b)

the date on which the registration of the layout-design expired or was surrendered or cancelled;

(c)

any change in name or address, or any change in address for service or ownership in accordance with regulations 12 and 13;

(d)

the fact that a licence has been concluded and recorded pursuant to section 13 of the Act.

Changes in Ownership

Form 3.

12.—(1) The request referred to under section 12 of the Act for the recording of a change in ownership of a layout-design registered under the Act or of an application therefor, shall be made to the Director in the Form 3 and shall be subject to payment of the specified fee.

(2)

The publication of the change in ownership shall specify

(a)

the number of the application or registration concerned;

(b)

the filing date, the date, if any, of first commercial exploitation anywhere in the world and the date of registration;

(c)

the owner and the new owner; and

(d)

the nature of the change in ownership.

(3)

A licence submitted for recording under section 13 of the Act shall be accompanied by the specified fee.

Address for Service

13.—(1) There shall be furnished to the Director

(a)

by every applicant for the registration of a layout-design, an address for service in Barbados for the purpose of his application; and

(b)

by every person concerned in any proceedings to which these Regulations relate, including the applicant for, or the owner of a layout-design, an address for service in Barbados,

and the address so furnished, or where another address being an address in Barbados has been furnished in place thereof, that address shall be treated for the purposes of that application or those proceedings, as the address of that applicant or of that person as the case may be.

(2)

Where an agent has been appointed in accordance with section 15 of the Act and regulation 5, the address of the attorney-at-law shall, for all purposes connected with the Act and these Regulations, be treated as the address to which communications to the person who appointed the agent shall be transmitted.

Inspection of Register

14. Inspection of the Register shall be subject to payment of the specified fee and requests for certified copies of extracts from a register or for copies of documents shall be made to the Director in writing and shall be subject to payment of the specified fee.

Inspection of Licences

15. The file relating to a licence may be inspected and extracts may be obtained therefrom only with the written permission of the licensor and licensee.

Corrections of Errors

16.—(1) The Director may correct, an error of translation or transcription, a clerical error or a mistake in

(a)

any application or document filed with the Intellectual Property Office; or

(b)

any matter recorded pursuant to the Act or these Regulations.

(2)

Corrections of errors maybe made by the Director on his own initiative or upon receipt of a request in writing and are subject to such terms as he may consider appropriate.

(3)

Corrections made under this regulation shall be communicated in writing to all interested persons and, where the Director thinks fit, shall be published by the Director.

Hearing

17.—(1) The Director shall, before exercising adversely in respect of any person, any discretionary power given to him by the Act or these Regulations, notify that person in writing of the opportunity to be heard thereon, and shall indicate a time limit, of not less than one month for filing a request for a hearing.

(2)

The request for a hearing shall be in writing and shall be subject to payment of the specified fee.

(3)

Upon receipt of a request for hearing, the Director shall give the person applying, and any other interested person, at least one month’s notice in writing of the date and time of the hearing.

Extension of Time Limit

18. The time or periods prescribed by these Regulations for doing any act or taking any proceeding thereunder, may be extended by the Director if he thinks fit, upon such notice to the parties and upon such terms as he may direct; and such extensions may be granted although the time or period for doing such act or taking such proceeding has already expired.

Directions as to Furnishing of Documents

19. At any stage of any proceedings before the Director, he may direct that such documents, information or evidence as he may require, be furnished within such period of time as he may fix.

Dispensation by the Director

20. Where under these Regulations any person is required to do any act or thing, or any document or evidence is required to be produced or filed, and it is shown to the satisfaction of the Director that from any reasonable cause that person is unable to do that act or thing, or that that document or evidence cannot be produced or filed, the Director may, upon the production of such evidence and subject to such terms as he thinks fit, dispense with the doing of any such act or thing, or the production or filing of such document or evidence.

Evidence

21.—(1) Evidence under these Regulations maybe given by statutory declaration or affidavit.

(2) The Director may, if he thinks fit in any particular case, take oral evidence in lieu of or in addition to evidence referred to under paragraph (1), and shall allow any witness to be cross-examined on his affidavit or declaration.

Publication

22. Particulars of layout-designs of integrated circuits and other proceedings under the Act, and any other information required to be published under the Act or these Regulations, shall be published monthly in the Official Gazette unless the Director otherwise directs.

Administrative Directions

23. Where no provision is made in the Act or these Regulations in respect of any matter arising in the administration of the Act, the Director may give such directions in respect thereof as he considers necessary in the circumstances.

Inquiries at the Office

24. The Director may acknowledge inquiries made to the Office, but need not furnish the applicant or any other person with information which would require a search of the public records of the Office, or provide advice on matters concerning the interpretation of the Act or Regulations, or concerning other questions of law.

Annexed Schedule to Forms

25.—(1) Where any information required to be set out in a form furnished by the Director is too lengthy to be set out in the space provided, the person completing the form may, subject to paragraph (2), incorporate the information in the form by setting out in the space provided in the form, the following sentence: “The annexed Schedule is incorporated in this form”, and by annexing the information to the form as that Schedule.

(2) A separate Schedule is required in respect of each item that is incorporated in a form by reference pursuant to paragraph (1).

Fees

Schedule II.

26. The fees specified in Schedule II are payable in respect of the matters to which they relate.