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Some aspects of technology transfer

Written by: Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim

Article Overview: The prime importance of the route of moving research into the commercial arena.

Some aspects of technology transfer

It is submitted that technology transfer is a process of transferring intellectual property employing the appropriate legal vehicle from one technology developer organization to another innovation-seeking organization to the effect of attaining scientific and technical progress in a specific industry open to the user. The user of the technology may be in a position to enhance the technology further into new products, processes, materials or services as would upgrade the user's industrial capabilities. The process would ultimately raise the standard of living in a nation, improve quality of life and hence boost up economic growth. Technology transfer is the bedrock of industrial countries economic success. A highly related matter is commercialization which is the mechanism employed to transform an invention into a valuable application in industry or introducing a new product to the market. Technology transfer embraces an array of official and unofficial cooperation between technology producers and technology users. It is not only confined to the transfer of knowledge and technical know-how but it also includes physical devices and equipment. The means employed to obtain technology transfer encompass licensing, information dissemination, technical meetings, joint research, cooperative agreements. Cooperative and research development agreements. The most utilized device to transfer technology is the license contract. A license is a contractual arrangement between the licensor and the licensee by virtue of which the licensor grants the licensee the right to use or develop the technology for a prescribed fee normally termed as a royalty. Licenses fall into three categories, exclusive, partially exclusive and non-excusive. Technology transfer may be defined as the route of moving research into the commercial arena. American universities earn approximately a billion dollars in royalties from science and technology which is thus far only a little bit of the royalties ascribed to gigantic patent licensors such as IBM and Qualcomm. Qualcomm Research and Development (R&D) expenses were $ 252 million in the second fiscal quarter of 2005. The U.S.A has over seven hundred Federal Laboratories which are annually funded at over $24 billions. The U.S.A government finances approximately fifty percent or thereabouts of all R&D in the U.S.A and employs one sixth of U.S.A scientists. The utilization of computers extended from Federal Laboratories to corporate America. The U.S.A government expenditure on R&D surpasses Japan, Germany, France and England collectively. A substantial portion of on-the-shelf government inventions are not yet licensed for commercial operations. On account of the above it is obvious that the process of technology transfer requires a great effort. Opportunities may be on the horizon for developing countries to raise capital if the process of transferring intellectual property proved to be effective.
The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) does not incorporate any binding provisions by virtue of which developed countries are legally obliged to provide financial assistance and promote technology transfer to developing and least developed countries. However, the TRIPS had been accepted by developing and least developed countries against the transfer of technology and the opening of agricultural markets. As a matter of fact, supported by empirical historical evidence, countries adopted stronger patent protection once they have developed strong technology. However, the ability of a country to choose a level of patent protection that corresponds to its level of technology had disappeared with the TRIPS. Again, technology transfer is a long term process, and in the meantime large sums of money will be transferred from developing to developed countries. It is in the interest of all industrialized countries to reinforce their dominant position in research, technological innovation and industrial protection by strengthening intellectual property rights and pressing for worldwide system. A stronger and enforceable global system of IPRs would provide principal countries in manufacturing and technology with unfettered authority to determine how innovative products where to be used and by whom. In this respect, it would be difficult to challenge the dominant position of the industrialized countries in research, technological innovation and industrial production. Technology is the main competitive factor. An intellectual property regime characterized by being too open as regards technological and scientific achievements would probably permit developing countries to imitate innovations worked in the industrial world. The competition shown by the NIC countries is considered by countries such as the U.S.A as an unintended transfer of wealth due to lack of strong intellectual property enforcement machinery which gave rise to proliferation of counterfeiting and piracy. It is submitted that a strong IP protection would promote domestic and economic growth by encouraging the inflow of foreign technology and eventually result in an increase of local innovation. However NIC countries continue to maintain weak IP protection due to the strong monopoly power of giant multinational companies. The approach followed by NIC countries does not appear to be a strategic option residing on a trade-off between innovation and imitation.
The slow tempo of the dissemination of knowledge due to the monopoly power grip underlies the said approach. The inference is well-nigh irresistible. In the end the industrialized countries would opt for trade rather than to diffuse their technology. Under the circumstances, imitation may be sought as a vehicle to increase dissemination of knowledge to the effect of furnishing the consumer with cheaper cost varieties.
A strong intellectual property regime would ultimately lead to a technological and scientific monopoly prone to maintain the status quo or even reverse the situation and hence pave the way for industrialized countries' products to dominate the global market. This is made easier by elimination of the obligation to exploit patents locally. Such a change would support multinational companies to recoup R& D expenditure. Under the TRIPS regime patents are an instrument for retaining and increasing industrial capabilities in developed countries while also controlling commercialization of protected goods and services in the rest of the world. If the new intellectual property regime would ultimately lead to market control, the justification for overseas investment may be substantially weakened. On the other hand, the motive to transfer technology or establish productive facilities in the developing world may substantially slacken or disappear. The TRIPS Agreement provides world protection which developed countries have been seeking. It narrows access to technology, and slows down the expected rapid diffusion of new technology to developing countries. The new notion carried in the TRIPS Agreement requires changes in many of the basic principles of the legal systems as developed by international conventions and national legislation. It includes the expansion of new areas such as biotechnology, integrated circuits, computer programs, the universlalization of standards of protection and the strengthening of enforcement mechanism.

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Article Tags: american universities, commercial arena, contractual arrangement, cooperative agreements, development agreements, growth technology, industrial capabilities, industrial countries, information dissemination, license contract, licensor grants, market technology, moving research, royalty licenses, s industrial, technical meetings, technical progress, technology developer, technology producers, technology users



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