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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 901. Definitions
(a) As used in this chapter -
(1) a "semiconductor chip product" is the final or intermediate
form of any product -
(A) having two or more layers of metallic, insulating, or
semiconductor material, deposited or otherwise placed on, or
etched away or otherwise removed from, a piece of semiconductor
material in accordance with a predetermined pattern; and
(B) intended to perform electronic circuitry functions;
(2) a "mask work" is a series of related images, however fixed
or encoded -
(A) having or representing the predetermined,
three-dimensional pattern of metallic, insulating, or
semiconductor material present or removed from the layers of a
semiconductor chip product; and
(B) in which series the relation of the images to one another
is that each image has the pattern of the surface of one form
of the semiconductor chip product;
(3) a mask work is "fixed" in a semiconductor chip product when
its embodiment in the product is sufficiently permanent or stable
to permit the mask work to be perceived or reproduced from the
product for a period of more than transitory duration;
(4) to "distribute" means to sell, or to lease, bail, or
otherwise transfer, or to offer to sell, lease, bail, or
otherwise transfer;
(5) to "commercially exploit" a mask work is to distribute to
the public for commercial purposes a semiconductor chip product
embodying the mask work; except that such term includes an offer
to sell or transfer a semiconductor chip product only when the
offer is in writing and occurs after the mask work is fixed in
the semiconductor chip product;
(6) the "owner" of a mask work is the person who created the
mask work, the legal representative of that person if that person
is deceased or under a legal incapacity, or a party to whom all
the rights under this chapter of such person or representative
are transferred in accordance with section 903(b); except that,
in the case of a work made within the scope of a person's
employment, the owner is the employer for whom the person created
the mask work or a party to whom all the rights under this
chapter of the employer are transferred in accordance with
section 903(b);
(7) an "innocent purchaser" is a person who purchases a
semiconductor chip product in good faith and without having
notice of protection with respect to the semiconductor chip
product;
(8) having "notice of protection" means having actual knowledge
that, or reasonable grounds to believe that, a mask work is
protected under this chapter; and
(9) an "infringing semiconductor chip product" is a
semiconductor chip product which is made, imported, or
distributed in violation of the exclusive rights of the owner of
a mask work under this chapter.
(b) For purposes of this chapter, the distribution or importation
of a product incorporating a semiconductor chip product as a part
thereof is a distribution or importation of that semiconductor chip
product.
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