Article 28.  Any natural person, legal person or other organization that is granted a non-voluntary license shall pay to the holder of the right of layout-design a reasonable remuneration, the amount of which shall be fixed by both parties in consultations; where the parties fail to reach an agreement, the intellectual property administration department of the State Council shall make an adjudication.

Article 29. Where the holder of the right of layout-design is not satisfied with the decision of the intellectual property administration department of the State Council granting a non-voluntary license to exploit the layout-design, or where the holder of the right of layout-design or, the natural person, legal person or other organization that is granted the non-voluntary license is not satisfied with the ruling made by the intellectual property administration department of the State Council regarding the remuneration payable for exploitation, it or he may, within three months from the date of receipt of notification, bring a law suit before the people's court.

Chapter V  Legal Liability

Article 30.  Except as otherwise prescribed in these Regulations, where any person commits any of the following acts without the authorization of the holder of the right of layout-design, he or it must stop the acts immediately and bear liability to compensate for the damage:
(1) reproducing a protected layout-design in its entirety or any part thereof that complies with the requirement of originality;
(2) importing, selling, or otherwise distributing for commercial purposes a protected layout-design, an integrated circuit incorporating such a layout-design, or an article incorporating such an integrated circuit.
The amount of compensation for the damage caused by an infringement of the exclusive right of layout-design shall be the profits which the infringer has earned through the infringement or the losses suffered by the person whose right was infringed, including the reasonable expenses paid by the infringed person for the purposes of stopping the infringement.

Article 31.  Where a dispute arises as a result of the exploitation of a layout-design without the authorization of the holder of the right of layout-design, that is, the infringement of the exclusive right of layout-design, it shall be settled through consultation by the parties concerned. Where the parties are not willing to consult with each other or where the consultation fails, the holder of the right of layout-design or any interested party may bring a law suit before the people's court, or request the intellectual property administration department of the State Council to handle the matter. When the intellectual property administration department of the State Council handling the matter considers that the infringement is established, it may order the infringer to stop the infringing act immediately, and confiscate or destroy the infringing products or articles. If the party concerned is not satisfied with the decision, he may, within 15 days from the date of receipt of the notification, bring a law suit before the people's court in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China. If, within the said time limit, the infringer does not institute legal proceedings and refuses to stop the infringing act, the intellectual property administration department of the State Council may apply to the people's court for compulsory enforcement. The intellectual property administration department of the State Council may, upon the request of the parties, mediate in the amount of compensation for the damage caused by the infringement of the exclusive right of layout-design. If the mediation fails, the parties may bring a law suit before the people's court in accordance with the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China.

Article 32. Where any holder of the right of layout-design or interested party has evidence to prove that another person is infringing or will soon infringe its or his exclusive right and that if such infringing act is not checked or prevented from occurring in time, it is likely to cause irreparable harm to its or his `legitimate rights, it or he may, before any legal proceedings are instituted, request the people's court to adopt measures for ordering the suspension of relevant acts and the preservation of property.

Article 33.  Where any person commercially exploits  an integrated circuit which is incorporated an unlawfully reproduced layout-design, or an article which is incorporated an integrated circuit with unlawfully reproduced layout-design, and if at the time of acquiring the said integrated circuit or article, that person did not know and had no reasonable ground to know that the said integrated circuit incorporated an unlawfully reproduced layout-design, or the said article incorporated an integrated circuit with unlawfully reproduced layout-design, the commercial exploitation of such integrated circuit or article by that person shall not be deemed as infringing the right of layout design.
After being notified that the integrated circuit or the article is incorporated with an unlawfully-reproduced layout-design, the person referred to in the preceding paragraph may, subject to payment of reasonable remuneration to the holder of the right of layout-design, continue to commercially exploit the stock on hand or ordered before the notification.

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)