Abstract :
The SCPA (Semiconductor Chip Protection Act) is an intellectual property law that Congress passed in 1984 to protect the US semiconductor industry from so-called chip piracy - the copying of IC layouts by what amounted to photoor xerographic duplication - which was then widespread. The SCPA combines aspects of copyright law and patent law; in some ways it differs from both of them. The Senate originally passed the SCPA as a part of an amendment to the US Copyright Law. In addition to the compromise preserving reverse engineering while prohibiting outright copying, the SCPA contains a compromise over the kind of subject matter that it protects: ideas, concepts, and principles cannot be protected from adoption by others. Similar to ideas and principles, layout features that function dictates cannot be monopolized under the SCPA
Keywords :
copyright; legislation; microprocessor chips; patents; semiconductor device manufacture; SCPA; Semiconductor Chip Protection Act; chip piracy; copyright law; intellectual property law; patent law; reverse engineering; semiconductor industry; Application specific integrated circuits; Electronics industry; Integrated circuit layout; Logic circuits; Logic devices; Programmable logic arrays; Programmable logic devices; Protection; Reverse engineering; Surfaces; ASICs; Altera; Clear Logic; Semiconductor Chip Protection Act; antitrust violation; bitstream; chip piracy; law; monopoly; reverse engineering;
