Technology transfer agreements and applications of Competition Law

In today's globalized world, technology is one of the distinctive factors for determining level of development and welfare of the society. Technology transfer defines transforming developed technology into a commercial product or process, passing knowledge and experience to another party. In this context, technology transfer agreements have the characteristics of license agreements. Technology transfer agreements play an important role in transfering knowledge in an understandable and explicit way. It is imperative to have technology transfer agreements for the economic growth of a country. The implementation of these agreements majorly depends on the decisions of the competition authority and higher judiciary. Technology transfer agreements deal with the intellectual property rights. These agreements can grant license with a prescribed license fees for certain period of time. First time the 'Technology transfer agreement' is defined in the Turkish legislation, 'Block Exemption Communiqué on the Technology Transfer Agreements, numbered 2008/2'. 'Technology transfer agreement' is defined as such agreements which are subject of license, industrial property rights (excluding trademarks), software and know-how together or separately in this Communiqué. The issues and concerns of patent license agreements, which is generally a subject matter of the technology transfer agreement amongst the industrial property rights, are discussed in the thesis. The thesis also examines the software license agreements and know-how agreements in detail. Intellectual and industrial property rights are absolute rights and that can be asserted against everybody. The agreements or actions which are related to the intellectual and industrial property rights should not violate legal principles of Competition Law by means of the monopolistic effect. The agreements or actions which are related to intellectual and industrial property rights have to control and well regulated through the principles of Competition Law. The Competition rules for license agreements are regulated in the Block Exemption Communiqué on the Technology Transfer Agreements and in the Guideline on the Application of Articles 4 and 5 of the 'Act on the Protection of Competition' numbered 4054, it is also in accordance with the relevant legal principles of the European Union. The thesis focused on the legal evaluation of technology transfer agreements in the context of law of Contracts. Along with this the anticompetitive effects, block and individual exemptions, conditions of technology transfer agreements are well studied within the framework of the relevant national legislations and the European Union's practices and settled principles of law.