1, license transaction
License trade is the most common and widely used trade method in international technology trade. Licensing trade is a licensing contract or agreement signed between a technology licensor and a technology recipient. Licensor allows Licensee to obtain the right to use the patent, trademark or proprietary technology owned by Licensor, and obtain the corresponding technology, while Licensee shall pay the technology use fee and other remuneration, and undertake the obligation to keep the technology secret.
According to the scope of authorization, it can be divided into exclusive license, general license, exclusive license, subordinate license and interchange license.
(1) exclusive license. It means that the licensee enjoys the exclusive right to use the industrial property rights and know-how provided by the licensor in a certain area.
(2) General license. It means that after signing the technology transfer license agreement, the licensor still has the right to use the industrial property right or proprietary technology, and also has the right to sign a license agreement with others on the same subject and give the same technology to others for use. In the general licensing contract, the licensee often requires a most favorable clause, which stipulates that if the licensor signs a licensing agreement with others on the same technology in the local area, the licensee shall enjoy the most favorable treatment.
(3) Exclusive license. After signing the license agreement, Licensor still reserves the right to use the technology in the designated area, but Licensor shall not license the technology to others.
(4) Subordinate license. Refers to the transaction mode in which the technology transferee transfers its acquired rights to a third party. Most of the enterprises that grant subordinate licenses are subsidiaries of multinational corporations or their overseas institutions. For some reasons, these multinational companies cannot directly grant licenses to third parties, so they transfer the technology to subsidiaries or overseas institutions, and then these subsidiaries sign subordinate licensing technology trade contracts with third parties.
(5) Interchange permit. Cross-licensing trade, also known as cross-licensing trade, means that both the technology licensor and the licensee provide their respective patents, trademarks and proprietary technology use rights to each other for use. Its essence is that the two sides exchange technology use rights on the basis of mutual benefit. Interchange licenses are generally adopted under certain conditions, such as cooperative production, cooperative design and joint research and development projects. In swap transactions, both parties are more cooperative than simple trading.
2. Technical services
Technical service, also known as technical assistance, is a widely used technology trade method in the world. Service providers provide paid services for the other party to solve a technical problem in production with their own technical knowledge, such as providing factory design, floor plan, equipment list and description, product or production process information, sales guide, etc.
Technical services include consulting services and engineering services. The main items of consulting services include market evaluation, product diagnosis, product design, investment analysis, raw material supply, suggested site selection and technology selection. Engineering services are mainly factory project design, equipment supply, engineering construction and production guidance.
3. International cooperative production
International cooperative production means that enterprises of the two countries cooperate to manufacture a certain product according to the signed cooperative production contract. This method is mostly used in machine manufacturing, especially when manufacturing some complicated machines. In order to gradually master the imported technology and produce products as soon as possible, the importer needs to establish a cooperative production relationship with the licensor for a period of time, and produce according to the unified technical standards and designs provided by the licensor, so that the importer can master the advanced technology in the process of cooperation. This cooperative mode of production is often combined with license trade. Sometimes, two partners can * * * study, * * * design and * * * determine the specifications and models of parts, and the two sides provide each other with technology to learn from each other's strong points. It has become a common practice in all countries to introduce foreign advanced technology through international cooperative production.
4. International project contracting
International project contracting is also a way of international technology trade. International project contracting is a systematic project in which a contractor with legal personality signs a contract with the employer according to certain conditions through international procedures such as bidding, tendering, negotiation, bid evaluation and bid selection, and the contractor provides technology, management and materials, organizes the implementation of the project, completes the project construction on time with good quality and quantity, and delivers it to the employer after passing the acceptance. Engineering contracting projects are mostly large-scale construction projects, which are generally accompanied by technology transfer.
During the construction, the contractor will use the latest technology and purchase advanced equipment from some countries. Some projects also involve technical training of operators, technical guidance in production and operation, and transfer of patents and know-how. At present, the technology transfer in the internationally popular turnkey project and BOT construction mode is very extensive, and many countries hope to improve their infrastructure conditions and promote the technological transformation of their enterprises through international project contracting.
Legal basis:
People's Republic of China (PRC) Foreign Trade Law
Article 52 The State shall, according to the needs of foreign trade development, establish and improve financial institutions serving foreign trade, and set up foreign trade development funds and risk funds.
Article 53 The state develops foreign trade through import and export credit, export credit insurance, export tax rebate and other ways to promote foreign trade.
Article 54 The State establishes a public information service system for foreign trade to provide information services for foreign trade operators and other members of the public.