Embracing Innovation - Maximizing Technology Transfer By Navigating TRIPS

Author: LawSphereX

Category: Technology, Cyber & Privacy

Published: 2026-08-23T19:38:20.787Z

Updated: 2026-08-30T07:09:08.498Z

EMBRACING INNOVATION: MAXIMIZING TECHNOLOGY

TRANSFER BY NAVIGATING TRIPS

Judith Melbha S, Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, Chennai

ABSTRACT

Technology transfer has emerged to be an important factor in the developing economy for big corporates, startups and in many different sectors. As many innovations are being created in the global economy on a day-to-day basis, it helps in shaping the technologies, which further leads to creation of more knowledge and development in economy. this rapid growth in technology helps the organisations to do business around the world. As innovations are growing every day all around the globe, there are more risks that those new inventions can be infringed by the potential infringers. The infringers have also advantage over this, until the act has been restricted by the actual inventors. Thus, IPR pays a vital role in protecting these inventions and helps in diffusing of technology, thereby helps the developing countries to invent more.

The flexibility in the TRIPS benefits the development of countries at various levels. Keywords: Intellectual Property, TRIPS, Technology Transfer, Developing countries, Innovations.

Introduction

Transfer of Technology or the Technology Transfer is nothing but, disseminating or transferring the technology from one person to another or from one organisation to another or from developed countries to the developing countries. It occurs in a lot of sectors such as the educational sectors, businesses, research institutes etc. This transfer of technology usually happens in different manner, such as in open or closed transactions or formal or informal. These are done to share skills, knowledge, technologies and so on. The main purpose of technology transfer is to make technologies easily accessible to the developing nations, so they can disseminate it and can make their own inventions and process. Technology transfer has become more crucial in various businesses and counties.

1 Through transfer of technologies, these businesses and developing countries can get access to various skills and knowledge which helps them to improve competitiveness. To regulate the transfer of technologies in different countries the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) plays a significant role. Though TRPS plays a significant role in transfer of technology, it has both positive as well as negative impacts. Developing countries rely upon the transfer of technologies to get the access of technologies from other countries. The government has implemented various measures regarding technology transfer, to improve the economic growth. 2 Evolution of TRIPS: As a part of Uruguay Round of World Trade Organization3, Trips came into effect in 1995.

The main objective of TRIPS is to grant minimum standard of protection to various intellectual property rights, such as the patents, Copyrights, Trademarks, Geographical Indications, and Industrial Designs. TRIPS grants equal level of protection to all countries. TRIPS has a lot more significance such as protecting the Intellectual Property Rights, promoting innovation, and even promoting transfer of technology. Developed and developing countries were facing an imbalance in promoting of technological advancements, that is why WTO addressed this issue. Developing countries did not have much access to technologies, on the other hand the 1 Corsini, L & Athreya. S, Technology Transfer, and the new international division of labour: A case study of the Indian Software Industry, World Development, 38(3), 338-349, (2010). 2 Gearhart. R & Sorensen.

O, Intellectual Property Rights and technology transfer, RP 44(8), 1455-1464.

3 World Trade Organisation, 2017,

https://www. wto. org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/t_agm0_e. htm (Last visited on July 3, 2024). developed countries were super advanced in technologies. Due to this the developing countries faced a lot of economic hinderance. As a part of this Transfer of technology was brought in. Technology Transfer: Technology transfer can be easily understood as the transferring of knowledge from one body to another. This can be achieved through various policies and mechanisms that includes, collaboration, joint licensing, selling of technologies and franchising. Enabling the businesses, governments, and individuals to promote technology and to increase economic growth is the main motive of Technology transfer. 4 A popular opinion as we all know that discoveries cannot be patented, it need to be made into a product which is tangible in nature to get it protected.

As the transfer of technology helps in starting stage of innovation to be turned into a whole new tangible product which could be used by a lot of people. To develop the knowledge the knowledge of technologies to improve the technology further, many companies and organisations have developed a partnership. Most developing countries rely upon the transfer of technologies to get more product knowledge. Technology transfer helps in the economic development of a nation, which is considered to be an prime advantage of Technology transfer. TRIPS and Technology Transfer: There is a lot of provisions under TRIPS5 that talk about transfer of technology, patent exhaustion rights, equal treat5jent of IP rights and licensing provisions. Regardless of Intellectual Property holder’s nationality, every country must have equal protection of IP rights under the TRIPS Agreement.

This is to make sure that the Intellectual Property Rights are not being exploited by the international Countries. In the eyes of most developing nations, TRIPS is a tool to get Transfer of Technology. Many countries such as India, Brazil and China have gone through massive growth in their economy after the implementation of TRIPS. They could achieve economic growth through the implementation of TRIPS, which helped them to get access top technology of foreign countries. 4 Lemoine. F & Moran. T. H, Innovation and catching up in China’s hydrogen fuel cell industry, 140, 166-177, (2019).

5 Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, 1995.

Mandatory Licensing Provisions: There are provisions under the TRIPS Agreement that compliance the grant of Compulsory licenses of products that are patented in certain situations. A compulsory licensing is nothing but the authorisation that is granted by the government to use the patented products without the consent of the patent owners by the third party. Provisions relating to compulsory licensing are very useful to the developing countries as that allows them to access knowledge to the technologies that they cannot afford. Compulsory license can be granted by a nation in certain circumstances when there arises a national emergency, or if the patent is not used to a possible extent by the patent holder. 6 Many medicines for the treatment of HIV/AIDS, cancer and medicines related to various deadly diseases were unaffordable due to the rise in the cost of patents.

That is when compulsory licensing is being utilised by the countries. Thereby, compulsory licenses have created a path from developed countries to developing countries, through technology transfer. Developed countries would invest a lot of capital for the research and development of new products, which is not possible for the developing countries. As they don’t have so much capital amount to invest on R&D, hence can’t create on their own. Developing countries can get access to the technologies of the developed countries, which leads to transfer of technology through Compulsory Licensing. Patent Right Exhaustion: Exhaustion of Patent Rights are being allowed by TRIPS. It states that once the patent product is sold in the market, the right of the patent owner is being exhausted As, he cannot exclude anyone from selling or importing the product once he sells that product.

The patent Rights exhaustion benefits the developing countries as it promotes competition and allows them to access the technology in an affordable cost. Due to the rise in price of the patent licensing the developing countries could not afford advanced patented products. Countries could import patented products at an affordable price, due to the implementation of Patent exhaustion and it leads to technology transfer. 7

6 United Nations Conference on trade and Development, 2013,

https://unctad.org/en/Docs/psiteiitd12d4_en.pdf (Last visited on July 3, 2024).

7 Narula. R, Technology Transfer and economic development, JIBS, 50(4), 609-619, (2019).

Fair Treatment of International IP Rights: The unfair treatment of Foreign intellectual Property Rights is prohibited by the TRIPS Agreement. TRIPS makes sure that foreign and domestic IP rights must be given equal attention. The unfair treatment of IP rights was an obstacle previously. Due to the lack of IP rights for the developing countries, the investors hesitated to invest on them. Thus, a framework was brough in by the TRIPS Agreement, which ensures that the foreign IP rights are protected and hence it helps in the foreign investment. 8 Impacts of TRIPS On Transfer of Technology: Transfer of technologies in developing countries with the adherence of TRIPS has positive impacts. As the provisions of TRIPS helps the developing countries to access technologies on the measure of compulsory licensing.

As this has helped to construct a bridge between the developed and developing countries and helps the developing countries to get access to affordable medicines, promote heath to the public and increase in economic growth. The existence of TRIPS has also allowed the exhaustion of foreign patent rights, which allows the developing countries to get access to technologies that have patent protection for an affordable price. Importing standard products at affordable price and promoting innovation and economic growth have become easy for the developing countries. This helps the developing countries to be less reliant on the developed countries for innovations and technologies.

TRIPS has also led to increase in investment in developing countries, by forbidding unfair treatment of foreign IP rights under the TRIPS Agreement, that assures the foreign investors that their right will be protected. This ensures economic development and job creation, which would further enhance the technology transfer. Many developing countries like India are benefited by increased investments from developed countries. Articles relating to Technology transfer under TRIPS: Technology transfer is mentioned under Article 7 and 8 of the TRIPS Agreement. The objective of the agreement is mentioned under Article 7 of the TRIPS Agreement. 9 It involves the

8 Brammers. H. J & Papageogiadis. N, Technology transfer through trade, JBS, 48(8), 944-974, (2017).

9 Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, Article 7, 1995.

promotion of technologies and the innovations. It also strikes a balance between the interest of the users, the IPR holders and the public at large. Technology transfer, dissemination of technologies as well as the technologies protected by the IPRs must be promoted by the members of the agreement according to Article 8 of the TRIPS Agreement. 10 By involving various measures such as technical assistance, conduct education for the promotion and access to technology, and through making the process easy for the public and private sector it can be achieved. The special provisions for the least developed countries are provided under Article 66 of the TREIPS Agreement. 11 It involves provisions relating to transfer of technologies and some special rights to those countries. Implementation of TRIPS Agreement has brought in additional flexibility to the least developed countries.

Such as provisions relating to intellectual property rights and extended period for implementing them. Prior TRIPS: Transfer of technologies from developed to developing countries were made easier prior to TRIPS. As there was no stringent law before that. By this transfer of technology didn’t do any good to the developing countries, as there was more exploitation by the foreign countries. There was no fair treatment before the implementation of TRIPS. As it led to high licensing fee, conditions that favour the developed countries and paved a way for many more exploitations and unfair trade practices. Post TRIPS: There were more stringent laws and regulations relating to transfer of technology after the implementation of TRIPS.

Post TRIPS, there happened to have more provisions relating to Technology transfer which provided incentives and investment to the developing countries by the developed countries. A framework to address the disputes arising between countries relating to intellectual property rights were created under the TRIPS Agreement. It ended up having both positive and negative impact on Transfer of technologies. As TRIPS grants minimum standard of protection to the IP owners, it made it more difficult for the

10 Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. Article 8, 1995.

11 Supra note 9, Article 66.

developing countries to get access to such innovations and technologies, especially in technology relating to pharmaceuticals and public health. The prior and post implementation of TRIPS has brought in mixed impacts, and its still out for discussion. Hurdles to Technology Transfer: Thers is a lot of barriers in technology even after the implementation of the TRIPS. There is a lot of possibilities where the developing countries depend on developed countries for the technological knowledge. The same process will be followed up in the future as well if the developing countries depend on transfer of technologies to the developed countries.

Due to this they would arise a situation where the developing countries will lose their ability and capacity to invent new technologies and further, they put themselves in an endangered situation if there is a change in mechanisms, policies, or regulations favourable to the developed countries in future. 12 Developing countries would stop doing their own advancement of technologies if they become too dependant on the developed countries for innovation. This results in a scenario where the developing countries wouldn’t be having the possibilities to improve their standard of living and thereby makes them weak in competing in global economy. 13 Another hurdle faced by the developing countries in terms of technology transfer is that the developed countries depend only on the monetary benefits.

The developed countries consider the transfer of technologies to be an asset, and if they share it other developing countries, there is a lot of chance where the developing countries would rise to be competitors in the future. Developing countries will be having minimal financial resources, so the transfer of technology seems bit costly for them. As the developed countries only give limited incentives for the transfer of technologies to the developing countries. They further have to make improvement in those technologies, which might not be affordable by the developing countries. Further, the developed countries will have a lot of restrictions to use their technological resources outside their nations. The developing countries will undergo various limitations by the developed

12 Lee. Y, W, K, The role of social workers in technology transfer, 64, 3-5, (2017).

13 Reed. T C, Newbould. GD, the effect of trade related intellectual property rights agreement, 41, 1-8, (2015). countries, as they maintain stringent rules over the use of their technology to make developments by the developing countries. 14 The next factor that turns out to be hurdle for the developed countries through technology transfer is that they don’t have proper infrastructure and organisation capacity. As the developing countries don’t have proper infrastructure, such as the Research and Development centres to develop their technologies. And the developing countries also don’t have more organisations to conduct programs relating to transfer of technologies. There are stringent mechanisms to protect the Intellectual Property Rights, which is another notable hurdle faced in technology transfer by the developing countries.

The developing countries could not match up with the minimum standard of protection given by the TRIPS Agreement. To protect new technologies and innovation patent is granted, which has stringent regulations and hence it stresses out the developing countries to meet those criteria. As the developed countries invest a lot in Research and Development and tries to gain it all back within the period of protection they are granted with. In terms of research and development patent plays a crucial role in providing incentives for investment and innovation. But there is a lot of possibilities where patents might limit the technology access to the developing countries. Complete specification must be disclosed by the inventor in terms to get patent protection.

So, for the developing countries to get access to that innovation, one must develop their own invention which is an alternative to the existing one or must get license from the patent holder. 15 The patented technology to get licensed will be costlier in the developing countries. This most often happens in terms of pharmaceuticals and drug making, which is related to public health. A lot of accusations have been put on by the patent holders on Generic pharmaceutical products, to maintain the drugs in high pries and to avoid Generic manufacturers raising to competitors to the original patent holder in future. 16 Suggestions: TRIPS have paved a way for the promotion of transfer of technology to the developing countries through various initiatives such as the provisions relating to compulsory licensing, 14 Holland.

D & Boldewijn, Intellectual property Rights and innovation in developing countries, JWB, 51(6), 852-862, (2016). 15 Madhavan. R, Intellectual Property Rights, impact on global technology transfer, JWB, 49(10, 45-53, (2014). 16 Lin. C, Sources of technological innovation for emerging corporations, JWB, 53(6), 880-890, (2018).

Patent exhaustion rights, fair treatment of IP rights in foreign countries. These initiatives have helped the developing countries a lot in getting accesses to affordable technologies and have promoted economic development. TRIPS also has a lot of negative impacts, despite the positive impacts. It includes the rice in cost of licensing fee, lack of human resources for IP administration, and there are a lot of chances where the developing countries may completely depend on the developed countries for technology. 17 To overcome these obstacles, the benefits of the TRIPS must be maximized by the developing countries, such as constructing mechanisms to effectively manage IP Rights. TRIPS adheres to provide with a lot of opportunity to the developing countries to get accessed to technologies. Though, adherence alone is not enough.

The opportunities granted by the TRIPS must be used by the developing countries to avoid relying on the developed countries always. Hence, the achievement of transfer of technology is not presented in TRIPS alone. The developing countries must also develop their ability to fulfil their needs and foster technology by adopting and adapting to the present technologies which would benefit the mass. 18 The quality of life of people around the globe are being promoted by the transfer of technology at large. Developing countries depending on the developed countries, lack of capacity and infrastructure, transfer of technology on commercial terms, Protection of IP rights are some of the obstacles faced in transfer of technologies.

To promote technology transfer and to increase economic development it is mandatory that the policy makers to address these obstacles faced by the developing countries. More balanced changes in TRIPS and development of new mechanisms and policies could be brought in for the developing countries. Conclusion: The use of technologies and innovations have become more difficult after the implementation of TRIPS Agreement. As TRIPS provide minimum standard of protection to the owners of Intellectual Property Rights, it makes it difficult for the developing countries to get access to those innovations. Moreover, TRIPS have made the developing countries to be more depended on the developed countries.

17 Bang. J & Lee. K, The role of hub firms in technology transfer, APJM, 35(4), 969-975, (2018).

18 Zhang. J & Li. D, Innovation, technology transfer and the role of government policy in developing countries, JBR, 69(11), (2016).

There is a lot of proof which states that the transfer of technology has brought in many achievements despite the negative comments. The patented drugs of pharmaceutical companies were able to regain the profit they spent on Research and development which would help them to investment more. More new life saving drugs were created for the healthy well-being of the people all around the world. TRIPS has also granted permission to recreate the patented drugs without the permission of the patent holder, which is not necessarily affordable by the third parties in case of emergency situations, that would lead in making affordable lifesaving drugs. As TRIPS allows the provisions relating to compulsory licensing. This gives advantage to the developing countries to get access to foreign technologies at an affordable price.

Through joint ventures and collaborations with policy makers TRIPS could involve more mechanisms relating to technology transfer. Many developing countries can create their own technologies and make themselves excel in it through the help of these partnerships. Many research and development centres were opened in the developing countries by the multinational companies, which could excel the domestic researchers and helps them in technology transfer. 19 There are also various challenges involved in TRIPS associated with technology transfer. TRIPS gives strongest protection to the intellectual property, which makes the businesses to pile up their stock instead of sharing their technologies to others. This may lead to a circumstance where individuals and businesses wouldn’t be able to get access to technologies and innovation that would help them in their growth.

Technology transfer under the TRIPS is still a matter of debate and it very complex and has multiple approach. 19 Zhu, Does the intellectual property right protection promote technology transfer, 140, 45-50, (2019).