Translation of "plaquette de circuits intégrés " (French → English) :

Machines and apparatus of a kind used solely or principally for the manufacture of semiconductor boules or wafers, semiconductor devices, electronic integrated circuits or flat panel displays; machines and apparatus specified in note 9(C) to this chapter; parts and accessories

The case concerns the construction of a new plant for the production of silicon wafers on the basis of the new 300mm technology. Silicon wafers are inputs used for the manufacture of, e.g., flash memories, microprocessors or telecom ICs.

8(h) Lead in solder to attach heat spreaders to the heat sink in power semiconductor assemblies with a chip size of at least 1 cm of projection area and a nominal current density of at least 1 A/mm of silicon chip area

The group of companies controlled by Mr Thomas O. Hicks is active in different sectors in the European Economic Area (EEA), namely automotive information and related software; children leisure and outdoor products; wire products; printed circuit boards for automotive devices; horticultural seeds; and canned food.

WTO members must provide for the protection of layout designs ofintegrated circuits in accordance with the Washington Treaty on Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated Circuits.

The Community is largely competent in this subject matter by virtue of the Council Directive of 1986 on the legal protection of topographies of semiconductor products (1) although Member States remain competent in some aspects/ (1) Council Directive 87/54/EEC of 16 December 1986 (O.J. L 24, 27.01.1987, p. 36 The Treaty has proved to be controversial because of its outright rejection by the United States and Japan, the two most important world producers of integrated circuits, on the grounds that it does not set high enough minimum standards of protection. However, certain other industrialised countries, while not denouncing the Treaty in ...[+++] such forthright terms, have also argued within the TRIPs negotiations for higher standards of protection than are provided in the Treaty. In April, the Community submitted within the GATT negotiations a comprehensive new proposal for an agreement on TRIPs which would include an obligation to respect the substantive provisions of the Washington Treaty, subject to additional provisions in three key areas which would result overall in a standard of protection equivalent to that so far adopted in the laws of the Community, the United States, Japan and other countries. * * * * * * * * * * * Joint statement by Messrs BANGEMANN and ANDRIESSEN on the subject of possible adherence by the Community and Member States to the Washington Treaty _____________ 1) In May of last year a Diplomatic Conference was held in Washington DC under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) with the aim of concluding a multilateral Treaty on the protection of intellectual property in respect of integrated circuits.