Abstract

This LL.M. thesis provides a comprehensive comparative analysis of national and international legal frameworks governing the regulation of international transfer of technology agreements, set against the backdrop of the stalled UNCTAD negotiations on a Draft International Code of Conduct on the Transfer of Technology. The work examines the role of national patent systems under the Paris Convention, analyzes proposed modifications — including preferential treatment for Developing Countries — and evaluates the adverse effects of monopolistic rights granted under patent laws. Key topics include antitrust regulation in the United States (Sherman Act per se violations and rule of reason), the European Communities (Articles 85 and 86 of the Rome Treaty), Germany (Articles 20 and 21 GWB), and Japan (Fair Trade Commission procedures); the extraterritorial application of competition law under the effects doctrine; and transfer of technology legislation in Developing Countries, including Decision 220 of the ANDEAN Community, Brazil's Normative Act No. 15, and India's administrative approval system. The thesis concludes that the divergent interests of Industrialized and Developing Countries — reflected in the "competition test" versus the "development test" — render adoption of the Code unlikely, and that regional or bilateral harmonization of antitrust principles remains the most realistic path forward.

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