European Union

United Arab Emirates

Layout-designs (Topographies) of Integrated Circuits

42. Please explain how your legislation provides for the derogation from Article 36 as specified in Article 37 of the TRIPS Agreement where a person has no knowledge or reasonable grounds to know when acquiring an integrated circuit or an article incorporating such an integrated circuit that it contains an unlawful topography.

The Copyrights and Neighboring rights does not provide for clear provisions to deal with such situations. However, the principles of the Code Civil, which is considered to be the cornerstone of the legal system in the UAE and constitutes a basic reference for the judicial system, could be used in such situations.