The rapporteur for the JURI Opinion to the Chips Act welcomes the Commission’s proposal and its objective of bolstering Europe’s competitiveness and resilience by strengthening our technological leadership in the semiconductor sector. Creating a strong European semiconductor ecosystem is of the greatest importance to ensure Europe’s technological autonomy in the future and to maintain Europe’s status as a high-technology hub across its key industries, ranging from sectors such as automotive and industrial manufacturing to aeronautics and healthcare.
Taking into account the competences of the Legal Affairs Committee, the rapporteur proposes: Firstly, to strengthen the role of open-source intellectual property (IP) in the context of semiconductor technology to boost adoption and development of this fundamental technology across key industries. Secondly, the Opinion seeks to establish legal clarity on the treatment of confidential information and IP across the text, particularly when it comes to transfer and access in third countries.
1. Open-source development and licensing
The rapporteur for the JURI Opinion strongly believes that the development and free licensing of open-source IP can serve as the cornerstone for the creation of an innovative European semiconductor ecosystem.
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2. Treatment of IP
The Commission’s proposal contains a degree of legal uncertainty by not referencing clearly enough different categories of confidential information and IP, a particularly sensitive area for the IP-heavy semiconductor sector. The rapporteur therefore proposes a clearer distinction between these categories throughout the proposal.
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Conclusion
The rapporteur’s main objective is to foster the spread of open-source licensing and IP in the semiconductor sector as a potential catalyst for European technological autonomy and to ensure fair access to this fundamental technology for all market actors - from independent developers and SMEs to multinational corporations.
Amendments to regulations:
(...) (19b) ‘open source’ means intellectual property, such as source code or design documents, that is licensed, made available and distributed free of charge under terms that permit universal access, modification and free redistribution of this intellectual property. (...)
