149. Commencement and duration of protection

on the date of the first commercial exploitation in or outside Sri Lanka of the layout design by, or with the consent of the right holder, provided an application for protection is filed by the right holder with the Director-General within the time specified in subsection (2) of section 150 ; or

on the filing date accorded to the application for the registration of the layout design filed by the right holder, if the layout design has not been previously exploited commercially in or out side Sri Lanka.