Examples of international technology trade methods

International technology trade mainly adopts licensing trade, technical service and consultation, franchising, cooperative production and sales of equipment with intellectual property rights and proprietary technology licenses. 1, licensing trade Licensing trade is sometimes called licensing trade. It refers to the technology trade behavior that the owner of intellectual property or proprietary technology, as licensor, signs a licensing contract with the licensee (importer), grants the technology he owns to the licensee, allows the licensee to use the technology according to the conditions agreed in the contract, manufactures or sells the contract products, and the licensee pays a certain amount of technology use fee. Licensing trade can be divided into patent licensing, trademark licensing, computer software licensing and proprietary technology licensing according to its subject matter. In the practice of international technology trade, licensing trade can include one of the above contents, such as simple patent licensing, or two or more of the above contents, making it a package license. Licensing trade is actually a kind of trade behavior in which the licensor transfers the right to use technology to the licensee in the form of authorization, and at the same time gives up a certain market. According to the degree of authorization, licensing trade can be divided into the following five forms; (1) exclusive license. It means that the licensee enjoys the exclusive right to use the transferred technology within the time limit and territory stipulated in the contract, that is, the licensor itself and any third party may not use the technology and sell the products under the technology. Therefore, the technology use fee of this license is the highest. (2) exclusive license, also known as exclusive license; It means that both the licensee and the licensor can use the technology and sell the products under the technology within the time limit and territory stipulated in the contract, but the licensor may not transfer the technology to a third party. Exclusive license only excludes the third aspect, not the licensor. (3) General license. It means that the licensor has the right to transfer the transferred technology to a third party within the time limit and territory stipulated in the contract, except that the licensee is allowed to use the transferred technology and the licensor still reserves the right to use the technology. General license is an authorization granted by licensor to licensee with the least authority, and its technology use fee is also the lowest. (4) Transferable license, also known as sub-license. It means that the licensee resells all or part of the licensed technology to a third party within the territory stipulated in the contract with the permission of the licensor. Usually only the exclusive license or the licensee of the exclusive license can obtain the authorization of this transferable license. (5) Interchange license, also known as cross license. It means that both parties to a transaction or parties to a transaction exchange their intellectual property rights or know-how with each other for the use of technology according to the conditions agreed by both parties. This license is mostly applicable between the original invention patentee and the derivative invention patentee. Licensing trade is the most widely used technology trade mode in international technology trade. 2. Franchising Franchising is a new type of commercial technology transfer that has developed rapidly in the past two or three decades. It refers to the technical trade behavior that an enterprise that has obtained successful experience transfers its trademark, trade name, service mark, patent, proprietary technology and management method or experience to another enterprise for use, and the latter enterprise (franchisee) pays a certain amount of franchise fee to the former enterprise (franchisee). The franchisees and suppliers operate the same industries, produce and sell the same products, provide the same services, use the same trade names and trademarks (or service marks), and even store facade decoration, appliances, workers' work clothes, production methods of products and ways of providing services are exactly the same. For example, McDonald's fast food restaurant in the United States has its grantees almost all over the world. The service they provide is the same as that in America, and the hamburgers they produce and sell taste exactly the same. Franchising is similar to licensing, but its franchisers and general licensors are more involved in each other's business activities, thus meeting the requirements of franchisers. Because the overall transfer, especially the transfer of trade names and trademarks (service trademarks) is related to his own reputation. There is only a buying and selling relationship between the franchisee and the franchisee. Each franchised enterprise is not dominated by one enterprise, and the franchisee's enterprise is not a branch or subsidiary of the franchisor's enterprise, nor is it a free association of independent enterprises. They are all independent and self-financing enterprises. Franchising does not guarantee that the franchisee's enterprise will be profitable, nor is it responsible for its profits and losses. Franchise contract is a long-term contract, which is applicable to both business and service industries as well as industry. Franchising is a very useful form for manufacturers from developed countries to enter developing countries. Because of the low risk, manufacturers in developing countries are also willing to accept it. 3. Technical services and consulting Technical services and consulting refer to the activities that independent experts or expert groups or consulting institutions provide high-knowledge services to clients on specific technical topics at the request of clients, and the clients pay a certain amount of technical service fees. The scope and content of technical service and consultation are quite extensive, including product development, achievement promotion, technical transformation, engineering construction, scientific and technological management, etc. From the engineering design and feasibility study of large-scale engineering projects to the improvement of a certain equipment and product quality control. Enterprises use "external brains" or external think tanks to help solve important technical problems in enterprise development, which can make up for the lack of their own technical strength, reduce mistakes and accelerate enterprise development. China No.2 Automobile Company commissioned a British engineering consulting company to improve the design of the engine combustion chamber, and achieved good technical and economic results within half a year after the contract came into effect. Technical services and consulting are different from licensing trade. (1) Licensing trade is based on technological achievements, and technical services and consultation are based on technical services. (two) the technology provided by the technology provider of licensed trade is a new and unique technology monopolized by it, which belongs to intellectual property rights or proprietary technology. In technical services and consulting, the technologies provided by service providers are mostly general technologies, that is, technologies other than intellectual property rights and proprietary technologies. In the practice of international technology trade, licensing trade, especially proprietary technology licensing, often includes technical services and consulting (such as equipment installation and debugging, personnel training). However, there are few technical services and consulting activities, and some service providers use their patents or proprietary technologies to complete service tasks. Licensing trade and technical consulting service are two basic ways of international technology trade, and other forms of technology trade are generally the application of these two ways in special circumstances or include them. 4. Cooperative production has many different understandings of cooperative production. From the perspective of international technology trade, cooperative production refers to an economic cooperation mode in which enterprises belonging to different countries provide relevant production technology by one party or different parties according to the contracts signed by them, jointly produce a certain contract product, and realize international technology transfer in the production process. One or all parties in the cooperative production have special technology to produce a certain contract product. In the process of cooperative production, international technology transfer may be realized through one-way licensing or two-way cross-licensing, which may be supplemented by certain technical service consultation. As an international technology trade mode, cooperative production is not an independent and basic technology trade mode. In fact, it is only licensing trade and technical service consultation for the purpose of cooperative production. The purpose of this technology trade is different from pure technology trade, and it serves the cooperative production of all parties. 5. Selling equipment containing intellectual property rights and know-how transfer sometimes includes transferring intellectual property rights or know-how when purchasing equipment, especially key equipment. This kind of equipment trading is also a way of technology trade. However, the simple sale of equipment, that is, the sale of equipment without intellectual property rights and proprietary technology licenses, belongs to ordinary commodity trade and does not belong to technology trade. The sale of equipment with intellectual property rights and proprietary technology transfer includes two aspects: first, hardware technology, that is, the equipment itself; The second is software technology, that is, technical knowledge contained in or related to equipment. These technical knowledge are divided into two parts: one part belongs to general technical knowledge, and the other part is patented technology and proprietary technology. The transaction price of such equipment includes not only the production cost and pre-earned profit of the equipment, but also the value of related patents or proprietary technologies. The sales contract of this kind of equipment includes the terms of patent and proprietary technology license, technical service and consultation. Technology transfer in this way accounts for a considerable proportion in technology trade between developed and developing countries. It is also often used in engineering contracting. In addition to the above five situations, the practice of licensing trade often appears in compensation trade. The equipment provided by one party contains patents or know-how, while the other party provides technical equipment to the other party in a comprehensive way of equipment export and technology licensing, and the other party compensates the price of its technology and equipment with products or other products produced by the equipment. The practice of license trade also often appears in joint ventures. Or the party that owns the patent or proprietary technology directly transfers its technology, and the technology is priced as a share; Or the party that obtains the patent or proprietary technology use right of others through license may, with the permission of the technology owner, transfer the technology to the joint venture through sub-license.