The registration of layout design which has been commercially exploited anywhere in India or a Convention country has been Prohibited. Explain this with the SICLD Act, 2000.

The Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design (SICLD) Act, 2000, aims to protect novel and innovative layout-designs of semiconductor integrated circuits. While it provides for registration, it also specifies certain prohibitions on registration, particularly concerning commercially exploited designs. Prohibition of Registration of Commercially Exploited Layout Designs: The SICLD Act, 2000, prohibits the registration of a layout-design which has been commercially exploited anywhere in India or a Convention country. This provision is crucial for maintaining the novelty and distinctiveness requirements for registration. Explanation with SICLD Act, 2000: The main objective of obtaining a design registration is to safeguard a novel or an innovative design. The Act ensures that the creator of a unique layout-design is not deprived of their bona fide reward by copycats. To achieve this, the Act sets out criteria for what constitutes an 'original' layout-design and what cannot be registered. Prohibited Layout Designs: Not Original: A layout-design which is not original is prohibited from registration. According to the SICLD Act, 2000, a layout-design is considered original if it is the result of its creator's intellectual efforts and is not commonly known to the creators of layout-designs and manufacturers of semiconductor integrated circuits at the time of its creation. A layout-design consisting of a combination of elements and interconnections that are commonly known among creators of layout-designs and manufacturers of semiconductor integrated circuits shall not be considered original. Commercially Exploited: The registration of a layout-design which has been commercially exploited anywhere in India or a Convention country is prohibited. This is to ensure that the design is new to the market and has not already been made public through commercial means. Not Inherently Distinctive: A layout-design which is not inherently distinctive or which is not inherently capable of being distinguishable from any other registered layout-design also cannot be registered. Exception to Commercial Exploitation: The Act, however, provides an important exception: a layout-design which has been commercially exploited for not more than two years from the date on which an application for its registration has been filed, either in India or a convention country, shall be considered as not having been commercially exploited. This grace period allows creators a limited time to file for registration even if they have already begun commercializing their design. Originality vs. Novelty: The SICLD Act does not require 'novelty' in the same strict sense as patents but requires 'distinctiveness' for registration. The need to show 'intellectual effort' might be difficult given the use of layout-design, and the fact that the principles of assembling the elements of a layout-design are fairly well established, though the effort involved in doing so might be substantial. Therefore, this originality requirement is stronger than the originality required under the Copyright Act, but weaker than the novelty requirement under the Patents Act. In summary, the SICLD Act, 2000, prohibits the registration of layout-designs that are not original, are not distinctive, or have been commercially exploited for more than two years prior to the application date, to ensure that protection is granted only to genuinely new and distinguishable creations in the semiconductor industry.