RECENT TRENDS AND CURRENT ISSUES OF TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

i) Technology is increasingly globalized as: 

a) Trade in technology is growing tremendously as measured by increased technological collaboration agreements; 

b) The research and development activities of the firms are also getting globalized for a number of TNCs are increasingly establishing their R & D units in various countries specially the developed ones. 

ii) The diffusion of technology globally has caused a radical alteration of the world trading system. This has led to an important development. Technology which was considered a strategic factor in national development has now emerged as an equally vital and critical element for achieving control of international markets. In all countries, science and technology policy is thus now perceived as having effects that go beyond national boundaries and having consequences for international trade. 

iii) Technology is considered not only in the national context of industrialization or modernization of agriculture, but also improving the services sector as well. 

iv) Technology is considered as the prime factor in creating comparative advantage and acquiring competitiveness in international markets.

V) There has been a growing tendency for companies to seek increased governmental protection of intellectual property rights. 

vi) The protection of intellectual property rights is also considered by many a necessary condition for increased flow of foreign direct investment. Therefore, there has been pressure on various governments to build stricter intellectual property rights regimes .through unilateral action and multilateral agreements. 

vii) The decade of ‘sixties’ and 'seventies' had witnessed serious attempts on the part of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to increase technology transfer to developing countries, reduce the costs of technology transfer and acquire technology on less onerous terms. But there is a reversal of these efforts. It is feared that terms of transfer of technology are becoming stringent and costs are becoming higher. A few developing countries are increasing their R&D expenditure. 

viii) Protection of technology means for the developed countries protection of their market power and prevention of competition from entering the market. Hence they have pursued their objective of protection through various international agreements. 

Issues

1. One of the major issues with regard to technology transfer is the proprietorial rights of the owner of technology. They have been made more stringently enforceable by unilateral action of a single country, the United States, and multilateral agreements, e.g., trade related intellectual property rights which has interfered with the national development of technology. 

2. Linking of providing protection to the owner of technology to various other international economic transactions, violation of proprietorial regimes by any one country calls for retaliation/cross retaliation affecting adversely various segments of international transaction of a country.

3. If a country desires to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) it is forced to liberalize its technology policy resulting in increased vulnerability of a large number of developing countries. 

4. Protection of technology has been extended to not only the manufacturing sector but also agriculture and services sector. Patents of bio-technological inventions and micro-organisms as provided in trade related intellectual property rights of the Marrakesh Agreement (1994) have raised a large number of complex issues.