There are more than eighty international agreements and many additional programmes dealing with technology transfer. Moreover, several international conventions require that aid programs, both to address acute emergencies and to assist in the longer-term building of viable infrastructures, be undertaken in specific and concrete ways. However, problems inevitably arise when good intentions are put to the test, particularly in connection with rights to the ownership of intellectual property assets. Some even claim that it is only when IPRs are respected that sustainable support can be expected. To examine the existing status of international law in this important area – and to offer recommendations for potential improvements and solutions – the Faculty of Law of Lund University hosted a conference in Vietnam in October 2010 on the subject of sustainable technology transfer from developed countries to developing countries. Focusing on the legal problems which sustainable technology transfer may give rise to and how they may be addressed – and with emphasis on health, environment, energy, and climate change – this book summarizes the most important findings of that conference. Twelve penetrating essays by fourteen distinguished European, American, and Asian legal scholars address the questions of what is required to satisfy existing international obligations and to what extent developing countries may use flexibilities in international conventions to advance their own development. The essays are concerned with such issues and topics as the following: the major institutions and players in the formulation and enforcement of rules affecting technology transfer; the real-world value of legislative enactments in the area; a factual account of actual technology transfers; to what extent competition rules offer developing countries a way to escape the more severe consequences of undertakings they have accepted; the impact of compulsory licensing; the potential effect of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement of 2010 (ACTA); and specific conditions pertaining to conservation of biodiversity, climate change and energy. Included are thorough analyses of the obligations and flexibilities expressed in numerous international conventions – including the TRIPS Agreement, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change – as well as how these obligations and flexibilities function in practice.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 301-322) and index.
Formatted Contents Note
The Editors. List of Contributors. List of Abbreviations. Institutional Definitions and Abbreviations. Preface. Chapter 1 Framing the Issues Hans Henrik Lidgard, Jeffery Atik & Tu Thanh Nguyen Chapter 2 TRIPS Article 66.2: Between Hard Law and Soft Law? Thu-Lang Tran-Wasescha & Xavier Groussot Chapter 3 Assessing Reporting Obligations under TRIPS Article 66.2 43 Hans Henrik Lidgard Chapter 4 Technology Transfer and Competition Law: Options for Developing Countries Tu Thanh Nguyen Chapter 5 Intellectual Property Rights, Technology Transfer and Development: The Case of Compulsory Licensing Keith E. Maskus Chapter 6 ACTA and the Destabilization of TRIPS Jeffery Atik Chapter 7 Breaking Down Barriers to Technology Transfer: Reforming WTO Standard-Setting Rules and Establishing an Advisory Facility in Standard-Setting for Developing and Least Developed Countries Christopher Gibson Chapter 8 Technology Transfer and Climate Change Hari M. Osofsky Chapter 9 Technology Transfer and Benefit Sharing under the Biodiversity Convention Peter Gottschalk Chapter 10 Sustainable Technology Transfer, Climate Control, and Renewable Power in Vietnam Steven Ferrey Chapter 11 Vietnam: A Case Study for Sustainable Technology Transfer Tran Viet Dung, Le Thi Nam Giang & Nguyen Nhu Quynh Chapter 12 From Reality to Law: Sustainable Technology Transfer – An Outlook Christoffer Wong, Hans Henrik Lidgard, Jeffery Atik & Tu Thanh Nguyen Bibliography. Index.