Law and development of technology : the Iranian case.

Abstract

This thesis is essentially a study of how intellectual property, transfer of technology and competition rules can be interfaced properly in Iran to facilitate the flow of technology into the country. The law governing the transfer and development of technology is a relatively new and non-traditional discipline. The thesis is intended to make a significant contribution to the limited number of publications available on the subject especially in examining within one volume the principles of three branches of law of great significance to economic development. The focus of this thesis is Iran. Iran is a country with a rich culture and a history that goes back to thousands of years. She has abundant natural resources including oil and a large domestic market and enjoys a strategic position in international trade and politics. Seven decades have passed since Iran attempted to acquire foreign technology to industrialise important sectors of her economy but the country continues to be dependent heavily on foreign technology and her economy remains an oil driven one. Part of the problem is the absence of a strong legal and institutional framework within which secure investments both local and foreign can take place on an enduring basis. The thesis shows that the international community has failed to provide an international legal framework responsive to the special needs of developing countries which are, therefore, constrained to rely on their own domestic institutions to tap into the technology available across the world. Given that international Conventions - such as the Paris Convention and the GATUTRIPS Agreement provided developing countries with space within which they can fashion their national laws and institutions regarding the transfer and promotion of technology, how should Iran reconstruct its local laws to secure indigenous development of its industrial and technological infrastructure? The thesis proposes a package of legal reforms and institutional changes which are intended to encourage the flow of technology into the country by guaranteeing the protection of acquired rights and assuring mutual benefits to both technology suppliers and recipients. The thesis is divided into four sections: Section I provides a historical background to Iran's attempts to industrialise, Section 11 is an analysis of the interfacing between intellectual property laws, competition laws, transfer of technology laws and international law to uncover the legal problems relating to the transfer of technology to the developing countries, Section III examines the existing national legal framework within which the flow of technology takes place in Iran and Section IV devises an optimum legal and institutional regime to maximise the transfer of foreign technology and promotion and development of domestic innovative activities with particular reference to Iran. In this thesis, the proposed Development of Technology Law of Iran lays down rules for patent grants, transfer of technology agreements and protection of competition and, for the first time, will bring the three areas of law under the supervision of a single independent agency of the government whose central purpose will be to develop a technological base in the country and advance industrial progress