Layout Designs Act 1994

2 Interpretation

• (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

  commercially exploited has the meaning set out in section 3

  Copyright Tribunal means the Copyright Tribunal established under Part 10 of the Copyright Act 1994

  Crown—

  • (a) means Her Majesty the Queen in right of New Zealand; and

  • (b) includes a Minister of the Crown, a department, and an Office of Parliament; but

  • (c) does not include—

    • (i) a Crown entity; or

    • (ii) a State enterprise named in Schedule 1 of the State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986

  Crown entity has the same meaning as in section 2(1) of the Public Finance Act 1989

  department means any department or instrument of the Government, or any branch or division thereof; but does not include a body corporate or other legal entity that has the power to contract, Public Trust, or the Export Guarantee Office

  eligible country means an entity for the time being declared by an order under section 37(1) to be an eligible country for the purposes of this Act

  eligible layout design means an original layout design—

  • (a) the maker, or in relation to a jointly made layout design any 1 or more of the makers, of which was, at the time the layout design was made, an eligible person; or

  • (b) that was first commercially exploited in New Zealand or in an eligible country

  eligible person means—

  • (a) a New Zealand citizen or a person domiciled or resident in New Zealand:

  • (b) a body corporate incorporated in New Zealand:

  • (c) a citizen of an eligible country or a person who is domiciled or resident in an eligible country:

  • (d) a body corporate incorporated in an eligible country

  exclusive licence means a licence in writing, signed by or on behalf of the owner or prospective owner of layout design 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 set out in section 4

  future rights means layout design rights that will come into existence at a future time or on the happening of a future event

  integrated circuit means a circuit, in its final or an intermediate form, in which the elements, at least 1 of which is an active element, and some or all of the interconnections are integrally formed in or on a piece of material and that is intended to perform an electronic function

  layout design means the three-dimensional disposition, however expressed, of the elements, at least 1 of which is an active element, and of some or all of the interconnections, of an integrated circuit; and includes such a three-dimensional disposition prepared for an integrated circuit intended for manufacture

  layout design rights means the exclusive rights specified in section 13 in relation to an eligible layout design

  material form, in relation to a layout design, includes any form of storage or expression (whether visible or not) from which the layout design, or a substantial part of it, can be reproduced

  Minister means the Minister of the Crown who, under the authority of any warrant or with the authority of the Prime Minister, is for the time being responsible for the administration of this Act

  prospective owner means,—

  • (a) in relation to future layout design rights that are not the subject of an agreement of the kind referred to in section 38(1), the person who will be the owner of those rights when they come into existence; or

  • (b) in relation to future layout design rights that are the subject of such an agreement, the person in whom those rights will vest under that subsection when they come into existence

  protection period, in relation to an eligible layout design, means the period beginning on the day on which the layout design was made and ending,—

  • (a) if the layout design is first commercially exploited within 5 calendar years after the calendar year in which the layout design was made, at the end of the tenth calendar year after the calendar year in which the layout design was first commercially exploited; and

  • (b) in any other case, at the end of the period of 15 calendar years after the calendar year in which the layout design was made.

  (2) In the case of an entity that is an eligible country but is not a State, part of a State, or a territory for whose international relations a State is responsible,—

  • (a) the reference in paragraph (d) of the definition of the term eligible person in subsection (1) to a body corporate incorporated in an eligible country must be read as a reference to a body corporate incorporated under the rules of the entity:

  • (b) the reference in section 37(2)(b) to the law of an eligible country must be read as a reference to the rules of the entity.

  Compare: Circuit Layouts Act 1989 s 5 (Aust)

  Section 2(1) Copyright Tribunal: amended, on 1 January 1995, by section 236(1) of the Copyright Act 1994 (1994 No 143).

  Section 2(1) department: amended, on 1 March 2002, by section 170(1) of the Public Trust Act 2001 (2001 No 100).

  Section 2(1) eligible country: substituted, on 14 October 1999, by section 2(2) of the Layout Designs Amendment Act 1999 (1999 No 123).

  Section 2(1) Minister: inserted, on 14 October 1999, by section 2(2) of the Layout Designs Amendment Act 1999 (1999 No 123).

  Section 2(2): added, on 14 October 1999, by section 2(3) of the Layout Designs Amendment Act 1999 (1999 No 123).