US law on chip layouts
Mask work protection in the US: the ten-year term for chip layouts
Chapter 9 of the US copyright title protects mask works, the layouts of semiconductor chip products, for a term of its own. A seller of design files needs to know which rights are still running.
Ask about my PCB archive Most of the PCB vendors we read say the designs stay yours, but 7 keep a right over aggregated data. Tell us which tools your projects sit in and we will write back about them.
Ten years, then it ends
Section 904 of Title 17 says protection for a mask work ends ten years after the date it begins.
Source: 17 U.S.C. 904
Patents and export records
A US patent runs 20 years from the filing date of the application. Records kept under the Export Administration Regulations must be retained for five years, and so must records under ITAR, which matters when the files are controlled technology.
Source: How long each right in a PCB design lasts, GB and US