Integrated Circuits Layout and Design

Introduction

• Semiconductor industry heavily dependent of patents, copyrights and trade secrets

• Yale survey and Carnegie-Mellon surveys reported R&D managers as saying:– “patents are least-effective mechanisms in appropriating

R&D investments”

• Industry driven by

– Rapid technological change– Shortening product life cycles

• Firms resorted to technology, lead time and manufacturing or design capabilities to compete

The electronic design market comprises – Systems houses – Chip and Board design houses– Design Automation (EDA) tools and solutions providers– Fabs for manufacturing

The Electronic Design Market

ConsumerElectronic system(~$1Trillion)Printed circuit board

Semiconductor(~$150B)

Silicon wafer($10B)

History of Microprocessor Chips

Introduced : 1971 (4004)

Frequency : 108 kHz

Bits : 4

Transistors : 2300

T Size : 10 m

Memory : 640 Bytes

Introduced : 1978 (8086)

Frequency : 10Mhz

Bits : 16

Transistors : 29000

T Size : 5

Memory : 1M

Introduced : 1997 (Pentium II)

Frequency : 300M

Bits : 64

Transistors : 7.5M

T Size : .35

Memory : 64 Gbytes

Mask Layout(s)

VideoController

Set Top BoxVideo Encoder

SonyPlaystation

Increasing Complexity

Chip protection

• Till 1984 the protection to semiconductors was covered by Copyright Acts

• Semiconductor Act of 1984 in US was the starting of mask works legislation

• Still administered by Copyright Office– Differentiated by extension to

• Three-dimensional images or patterns formed on or in the layers of metallic, insulating or semiconductor material and fixed in a semiconductor chip product

• Called the topography of the chip

Chip protection….

• It is not extended to any idea or concept associated with a mask work

• No protection is available to any – procedure, – process – system – method of operation – concept – principle OR– discovery associated with a mask work

• regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated or embodied in a mask work

Global Scenario

• Global IC Design-Layout protection laws– Australia

• Circuit Layouts Protection Act, 1989• Circuits Protection Act, 1990

– Russia• On The Legal Protection Of The Topologies Of

Integrated Circuits, 2002

– United States• The Semiconductor Chip Protection Act, 1984

– China• Regulation of Integrated Circuit Design Layout

Protection, 2001

Indian Regulations

• Governed by Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Act, 2000

– Passed in accordance with TRIPS

• Application for protection to be made at– Registry of Semiconductor IC Layout-Design – Within the territorial limits of the principal place of

business in India of the registered proprietor of the layout-design

– Certificate of registration will be issues by Registrar on Form OLD-2

– Under the aegis of Ministry of Electronics

Semiconductor IC LD Act 2000…

• Registration is compulsory for protection under this Act

• For layout to be registered it must be– Original– Which has not been commercially exploited for

more than 2 years prior to date of application– It must be inherently distinctive

• Duration of protection is TEN YEARS – from the date of application OR– from the date of first commercialization, whichever

is earlier

Semiconductor IC LD Act 2000…

• What constitutes infringement?– When the layout-design of ICs is incorporated

either in entirety or in part in a product • Is either sold in the market OR• Imported in India

Semiconductor IC LD Act 2000…

• Defenses available on infringement– Used for scientific evaluation, analysis, research

or teaching– Without actual knowledge of the layout-design

being registered – ignorance– Use with consent of registered owner – Use by a person who has by his own independent

intellect and effort created a layout-design, which is similar to the allegedly infringing design, prior to date of registration of the registered owner

Semiconductor IC LD Act 2000…

• Can a registered design be revoked? – Yes, in extra-ordinary cases– Showing to lack of originality

• Remedies available on infringement– Both Civil and Criminal remedies

• Infringement is an offence• Punishable by imprisonment of three years and fine up to

10 lakhs• On conviction infringing copies can be forfeited

• Can a registered owner initiate criminal proceedings for infringement in court?– Yes, under Sec 64 of the Act

Case Study Semiconductor Chip Protection Act,

1984• Altera vs. Clear Logic

– Argued and submitted April 12, 2005 in San Francisco, California

– Altera – Plaintiff– Clear Logic – Defendant

• Second case under SCPA 1984• First case tried under SCPA, 1984

– Brooktree Corporation v. AMD

• Altera and Clear Logic were competitors in semiconductor industry

Case Study …Semiconductor Chip Protection Act,

1984• Altera

– Manufactures Programmable Logic Devices(PLDs)– Chips that can be programmed to perform any function

using a MAX PLUS II software– MAX PLUS II is free proprietary software provided to

customers by Altera– This software helps program the chip with the desired

function– The chip is reprogrammable– Can be user programmed at site or factory– Programming can be a lengthy process

Case Study …Semiconductor Chip Protection Act,

1984• Clear Logic

– Manufactures Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs)

– These chips are compatible with Altera chips– Clear Logic chips are programmed during manufacture– They cannot be reprogrammed– Cheaper option depending upon the volumes– Initial investment large bur recurring costs are less– Companies start with PLD, but migrate to ASICs– However the risk of migration is huge– Initial gestation period is high

Case Study …Semiconductor Chip Protection Act,

1984• Reverse Engineering of chips is legal• Subject to being used for the purpose of

– Teaching, analyzing or evaluation of concepts or techniques embodied in the mask work or circuitry, logic flow or organization of components

– person who analyzes, has the intention of creating an original mask work which is made to be distributed

• Protects industry practices and encourages innovation

Case Study …Semiconductor Chip Protection Act,

1984• Second mask work

– Must not be substantially identical to the original– Should have evidence of substantial toil and

investment– Hence more than mere plagiarism– Second chip will not infringe on the original chip

even if they are substantially identical

• The second firm will have to provide substantial paper trail as evidence

Case Study …Semiconductor Chip Protection Act,

1984• Copyright issues

– Altera license mentioned use of software for “sole” use for programming of Altera hardware

– Clear Logic argued on copyright being used to prevent competition in the market

– Clear Logic used the bit stream generated from Altera software as customer input for their chip

Closing

• Not sure of the utility or relevance of this protection• Since 1984 till 2005 there was only two cases

decided in the US courts against the SCPA Act, 1984

• Was the need felt and not realized?• Will it be realized now as emerging market

economies catch up?• How will the courts handle the lack of technical

expertise in deciding these type of cases• There are a lot of open questions

References• The Patents Paradox Revisited: An Empirical Study of Patenting in the

US Semiconductor Industry, 1979-95, Bronwyn H. Hall and Rosemarie Ham Ziedonis, 2000

• The Need to Abolish Registration for Integrated Circuits Topographies under TRIPS, Carl A Kukkonen, III, IDEA: The Journal of Law and Technology, 1997

• Judicial Case Publication of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit – Altera Corporation v Clear Logic, Incorporated, San Fransisco, California, US

• Circuit Layouts Act, 1989, Attorney General’s Department, Australian Government website

• Circular on Federal Statutory Protection for Mask Works, United States Copyright Office

• Law on Protection of Topographies of Integrated Circuits, WIPO• The Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Act, 2000, The

Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II-section 3, Sub-Section (i), Published by Authority, Ministry of Information Technology Notification

Thank You