Circuit Layouts Act 1989
5Interpretation
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5 Interpretation
In this Act:
action means a proceeding of a civil nature between parties, and includes a counterclaim.
circuit layout means a representation, fixed in any material form, of the three‑dimensional location of the active and passive elements and interconnections making up an integrated circuit.
commercially exploited has the meaning given in section 8.
eligible foreign country means a foreign country declared by the regulations to be an eligible foreign country for the purposes of this Act.
eligible layout means an original circuit layout:
(a) the maker of which was, at the time the layout was made, an eligible person; or
(b) that was first commercially exploited in Australia or in an eligible foreign country.
eligible person means:
(a) an Australian citizen or a person resident in Australia;
(b) a body corporate incorporated by or under a law in force in a State or Territory;
(c) a citizen, national or resident of an eligible foreign country; or
(d) a body corporate incorporated by or under a law of an eligible foreign country.
EL rights means the exclusive rights specified in section 17 in relation to an eligible layout.
exclusive licence means a licence in writing, signed by or on behalf of the owner or prospective owner of EL rights, authorising the licensee, to the exclusion of all other persons, to do an act that, under this Act, the owner would, but for the licence, have the exclusive right to do.
exclusive right has the meaning given in section 9.
future EL rights means EL rights that will come into existence at a future time or on the happening of a future event.
integrated circuit means 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.
material form, in relation to a circuit layout, includes any form of storage (whether visible or not) from which the layout, or a substantial part of it, can be reproduced.