India readies laws to protect IC designs

"IP protection for IC design is a key factor throughout the world, and more so in India because we [also] do not have a strong IP protection policy in software," said Raja Subramaniam, India office manager for Synopsys India. "We hear of a lot of piracy in software and there are bodies trying to address this. As IC design is in its early years in India, it's important that we have a strong protection policy right in the beginning."

The number of Indian companies focusing on IC design is beginning to grow. One of the biggest is Bangalore-based Silicon Automation Systems Ltd. (SAS), where executives welcomed the introduction of the IP bill.

"It is very important," said Sunil Sherlekar, SAS' vice president of research and development. "Our company will soon be developing chip set products for the telecom market, and we would greatly benefit from this protection. We believe that in the near future, other Indian companies will also be getting into this kind of business and would benefit from the IP protection provided."

Sherlekar said he expected passage of the legislation to encourage more foreign investment in IC design in India. "We [in India] have all the talent required and this bill will take care of the protection of IP," Sherlekar said.

Subramaniam of Synopsys agreed. "Semiconductor consumption will dramatically improve, and this would force major semiconductor companies to set up their offices and address the needs of the domestic market. Also, this will [encourage] a lot more companies to base their Asia Pacific operations out of India," Subramaniam said.

Greater protection

But industry executives said the expected legislation could be stronger. "Protection at the layout level itself is not sufficient," TI's Rajam said. "Most of the IP in IC design is in the higher levels of design abstraction. So, we need to do more to cover that plane."

SAS head Sherlekar agreed. "We need to extend this bill or introduce new [legislation] to provide protection for any design ideas and for algorithms. Today, any design idea can be implemented either in hardware or software or both," he said. "And what needs protection is the design idea [itself], irrespective of the form it is implemented in."

Despite its shortcomings the IP legislation is still seen as a step forward because it seeks to enact protections where none exist. "The bill by itself may not enable more investment. But, this helps to build confidence," said TI's Rajam.