• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.64
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• pp.39-64
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• 2014

The object of International License Contract is technology. Technology is means to produce visible goods, which are human's intellectual creations such as Intellectual Property Right - patent, design, trademark- and Know-how. Unlike visible goods which decrease as being used, these technologies are possible to be produced expansively and develop additionally. Therefore, the way to make a contract of goods is a sales contract which transfers ownership while technology follows license contract which gives approval of use for a certain period. International license contract means that licensor has right to possess, allows licensee to use licensed technology for a fixed period and takes royalty. So there are various matters such as selection of the duration of a contract, confirmation of technology range, competition limitation, technique guidance and support, calculation of royalty, withholding tax between parties. This study examines licensor's grant of license and competition limitation. Intellectual property rights fundamentally give exclusive rights to the creator so the licensor use or dispose of his or her intellectual property rights at will. Technology transfer is possible through license contract because of this right. But licensor must exercise his or her intellectual property rights within a reasonable limit. It means, when licensor makes an unreasonable demand abusing his or her position, it is regarded as competition limitation clause and the deal itself may become null. Therefore, restraint on competition needs to be examined in detail as it influences on contract validity. Each country has their own competition laws for establishing a fair market order and inspection guide and guideline for judging whether there is any unfair act related to intellectual property rights. Judgment on intellectual property rights is subject the technology-introduced country's domestic laws and thus, contracting parties each need to precede opposite nation's domestic laws system.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.321-351
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• 2004

According to increase of Franchise Agreements, troubles related to those agreements and trading acts occur frequently. As Franchise system had come from Western countries, franchise agreement troubles tend to international disputes. In fact, those parties entered into a franchise agreement prefer arbitration to lawsuit as a dispute resolution system because arbitration is easy to risk-management for cost and time. The essential conditions for Franchise agreements are as follows ; for Franchise to grant Intellectual Properties to Franchisee, to give an impression of the same company between Franchise and Franchisee, to control and support Franchisee, for Franchisee to be an independent merchant, and to pay Franchiser license fee. Because Franchise Agreement is also based on liberty of contract, Franchise and Franchisee could enter into any kind of agreement. However, Franchiser can make an unfair agreement abusing a position of advantage. This paper check those unfair terms and conditions in Franchise agreement. Once they enter into an agreement, they should fulfil their contract. In case of trouble on performing the contract, both of them have to discuss to solve that trouble faithfully. But, they enter into either lawsuit or arbitration in accordance with agreement when they can't reach a decision in general. Specially, which is the most popular dispute resolution hands in case of Intellectual Property License agreement. General international Franchise Agreements have arbitration terms, but there is other case such as separate Arbitration Agreement if the want, which is separate from Franchise License agreement, so even though Franchise License agreement is invalidated, Arbitration agreement continues to exist, This paper reviews Franchise system and the terms of arbitration in Franchise agreement.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.225-238
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• 2021

This study analyzed the recent precedents of the Korean Supreme Court's Royalty and License fee on this issue and presented implications for future taxation of Royalty and License fee and digital content imports related to reproduction rights. If the price related to imported goods and the price not related to them are combined, it is necessary to revise the statutes to supplement the allocation method of royalty and license fee. In addition, if there is an agreement or a back contract for intellectual property rights through the headquarters or branch office other than the trading party, a method of inducing the importer to voluntarily report it when reporting imports should be considered. Whether Royalty and License fee is taxed or not must be determined after examining the various contract details and circumstances of the transaction.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.73
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• pp.1-20
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• 2017

There are many safeguards and measures available regulating the protection of a trademark and its registered holder, however, the protection of a licensee in a trademark license agreement is also important for protection of a intellectual property. Therefore, there are several measures in place for the protection of licensees' interests in Chinese trademark law. Article 43(3) of the Chinese Trademark Law rules a licensor who licenses others to use his registered trademark shall submit the trademark licensing to the trademark office for file, and the trademark office shall announce the trademark licensing to public. Without filing, the trademark licensing shall not be used against a bona fide third party. It means a licensee can not use an unrecorded license with the relevant trademark authority against third parties - essentially, this means that a licensee should insist on having their trademark license agreements recorded against the relevant trademark authority, so that a licensee's interests are protected as against the assignees, licensees and other types of third parties. Otherwise a third party in good faith can use the registered trademark legally against a licensee even though a trademark license agreement between a licensor and licensee is still valid.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.145-167
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• 2007

Digital goods are defined as intangible and non-physical goods, composed of a combination of digital signals, electronically represented as 0 and 1. They are also called as digital products, electronic transmissions, information goods, digital contents, computer information, etc. Digital goods are now traded both domestically and internationally as well as on-line and off-line. Korean government revised the Basic Law on Foreign Trade to include digital goods and services as the scope of foreign trade in 2001. Trade volume of digital goods are increasing in Korea. The supply chains of digital goods from producing the components to selling globally to consumers are different from conventional physical goods. Mostly, digital goods are traded on the license basis rather than ownership contract. End User License Agreements(EULAs), such as shrink-wrap, click- wrap, or browser-wrap licenses are very popular in online transactions. Unlike conventional physical goods. the breach of license contract is closely linked with the infringement of intellectual property rights. Digitalized intellectual property is easy to copy and transmit in the cyber space. In cases of legal disputes from the breach of license contract, commercial arbitration or on-line alternative dispute resolutions(ADRs) are regarded as better approach to solve them rather than court sues. For promoting more secure and reliable international trade of digital goods. arbitration clauses should be included in most of license contracts.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.59
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• pp.3-26
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• 2013

The purpose of this paper is to examine the several points at issue in international technology transfer contract from licensor's and licensee's perspectives, and to refer them when the licensor and the licensee draw up the contract. This author analyzed the critical points of the related provisions of ICC Model International Technology Transfer Contract(2009) by citing the explanations of the Introduction of the Model Contract. The provisions of the Model Contract are generally divided into two categolies; specific conditions and general conditions. This author selected four topics in the specific conditions; Contents of the Contract, Royalty, Modification and/or Improvements of Products, and Territory and Competition. Likewise this author selected three topics in the general conditions; Resolutions of Disputes, Applicable Law and Taxes. Both parties need to be mindful of the following points in the above topics, when they draw up the contract. First, both parties should make the definitions of special terminologies clear, which are included in the Contract. Second, before the parties sign the Contract, they should check any approvals to be necessary by the both countries' governments. Third, for the calculation of the royalty, they should clear the criteria, the scope, and the object. Fourth, as the local laws or regional laws regarding the territory limitation and taxation are mandatory, any provisions of the Contract should not be inconsistent with them. Therefore, both parties should check before-hand the local laws or rules related with the provisions of the Contract. Fifth, when the parties draw up the Contract, they should examine the Provisions of Dispute Resolution in consideration of the Governing Law. Thus both parties decide to make the technology transfer contract, the three aspects namely profitability, legal conflict with mandatory rules, and sustainability of the business resulting from the Contract should be examined in advance, and then proceed the business using the technology transfer.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.1-12
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• 2002

The purpose of this paper is to examine the scope of the application of Preliminary Draft Convention, which will be fixed as international uniform rules soon, in relation to the CISG. First, this Draft Convention will cover service contracts as well as sales contract of goods, but the license agreement will be excepted because it does not transfer the complete property. Second, this will cover the commercial contracts(sales or services) concluded by data message fully or partially. Third, this will be applied in international contract regardless of contracting states or non-contracting states. As it is very difficult to confirm the places of business of contracting parties in on-line contracts, the first criterion to confirm them is the indication by the party in each contract. This presumption may be supplemented, if they are not indicated in the contract, by the location of the equipment and technology supporting an information system used by a legal entity for the conclusion of a contract. It is essential to establish an international uniform rules as soon as possible in order to activate the international businesses with on-line basis. Thus this author hopes that this paper will contribute to the clear understanding to the scope of application of Preliminary Draft Convention for which the UNCITRAL is under working.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.61
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• pp.29-55
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• 2014

Subject matter of international trade are various. They contain not only tangible assets such as goods but also intangible assets including service, technology, and capital etc. Technology, a creation of the human intellect, is important as it is the main creative power to produce goods. It can be divided into Patent, Trademark, Know-how and so on. These Technologies are protected by the national and international laws on regulations for the Intellectual Property Rights(IPR), since technology development is needed a lot of time and effort, and the owner of the technology may have crucial benefits for creating and delivering better goods and services to users and customers. Therefore, any licensee who wants to use the technology which other person(licensor) owns, he(the licensee) and the original owner(the licensor) shall make Technology Transfer Contract. Differently from the International Sales Contract in which seller provides the proprietary rights of goods for buyer, in the case of International Transfer of Technology Contract, the licensor doesn't provide proprietary rights of technologies with the licensee, on the contrary the right of using is only allowed during the contract. The purpose of this paper is to examine the main issues in International Transfer of Technology Contract. This author focused on the main obligations of both parties, namely licensor's obligation to provide the technology and licensee's obligation to pay the royalty. As every country has different local mandatory laws about Intellectual Property Rights(IPR) and these mandatory rules and laws prevails over the contract, the related rules and laws should be examined carefully by both parties in advance. Especially the rules and laws about the competition limitation in the local country of licensee and the economic union(like the EU) should be checked before contracting. In addition, the contract has much more complicate and delicate aspects than other international business contracts, so both parties should review carefully before singing the contract.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.69
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• pp.673-698
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• 2016

This study tries to conduct a systematic analysis on whether adding up the royalties and license fees or not in measuring the taxable amount of tariff. We have confirmed that three main criteria to decide whether it is yes or not are non-inclusion, relatedness and condition of sale. We also have realized that whether satisfying a condition of sale or not depends on license agreement, sales contract, special relationship and so on. Furthermore, we have made case studies of bonded factory, film's domestic distribution, exempt royalty and license fee, price for exclusive use of relevant technology, retroactive application of price change and strict interpretation. Based on the case studies we have derived the following conclusions: First, the royalties and license fees only actually paid to the licensors may be added to taxable amount. Second, the royalties and license fees incurred after the imported goods are made into domestic goods may not be added up. Third, the royalties and license fees paid as a price for use may not be added up. Fourth, the analogical interpretation of relevant codes is not accepted.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.45-66
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• 2009

Licensing of information is the standard of the computer information business today. The huge bulk of vendors license their computer information products. The Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act(UCITA), therefore, does not originate licensing contracts. UCITA was developed to provide basic, recognizable default rules for the existing licensing activity that goes on and expands as commerce in computer information expands. UCITA's rules govern licensing of contracts for computer information from formation through performance, including remedies if there is a breach of contract. Included in UCITA are rules for warranties, both implied and express, and rules pertaining to risk of loss in a computer information transaction. Most of the rules in UCITA are the traditional and familiar rules of contract from the law of sales and from the common law, but adapted to the special nature of computer information licensing contracts. Freedom of contract is a dominating underlying policy for UCITA, exactly as that principle is the foundation for the law of commercial transactions, generally, and exactly as that law has served all commercial transactions in the United States and has contributed to the economic growth and health of the United States.