By adopting the Law on Integrated Circuits Topography Serbia has harmonized its legislation with the international standards in this domain as accepted by the WTO and European Union...

As Serbia is working towards becoming member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), it is necessary to meet all the conditions laid by the TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement, adequate protection of integrated circuits topographies included, in accordance with Section 6 of TRIPS (Arts 35 – 38).

The aims to be attained by adoption and implementation of the Law are to promote development of domestic integrated circuits topographies by securing exclusive rights for their creators and enabling legal means for protecting those rights from infringement. At the same time, adequate protection which is harmonized with international regulations is a prerequisite for transferring and
using foreign integrated circuits in Serbia . Both aims have been set with the technological and economic progress of the country in view.

The Law regulates the procedure to obtain protection (administrative and court procedures), as well as the matter, conditions, parties, scope and contents of protection and limitations on protection of integrated circuits topography.
The definition of the basic notion that represents the matter of protection is given. Protection cannot be sought or given for a non-existing, assumed topography, but only for a topography that can be materialized in an integrated circuit. Therefore the integrated circuit is defined in such a way that it represents a topography that has been integrally shaped in and/or on a piece of material, that can function electronically and that defines the product. The product may be either a finished one or an n inter-product. The finished product is the one that fulfils its purpose in toto, i.e. it can function and has been prepared for marketing and sales.
The inter-product is also one ready for the market but in need of finishing (final connections in upper layers) in order to suit special purposes. The notion of integrated circuit itself should be taken in the widest sense, i.e. it encompasses all complex electronic components whose structure is characterized by certain topography.

It is evident that the definition does not mention the materials of which the integrated circuits are made, i.e. semi-conductor; that has been done on purpose in order not to limit the scope of protection unnecessarily, as with the present rate of technological development it is reasonable to expect that semi-conductors will soon be replaced by some other material.

In order to acquire protection, it is necessary for integrated circuit topography to have been commercially used or not to be older than 15 years if it has never been commercially used.

Comparative law has widely recognized the condition of commercial use. Commercial use is defined as any distribution of topography or the integrated circuit in which the topography is contained, either independently or within another product for commercial, not private, purposes.

Providing for the fact that topographies that have not been commercially used may be of importance for future technologies, the law offers the possibility of their protection under the condition that they be no older than fifteen years. A similar provision is found in most of the relevant laws all over the world.