[Notes on the Preamble, contd.]
IPIC/DC/3 page 8
17.
The promotion of the acquisition of foreign technology resides in the fact that if the creator of the technology can be reasonably sure that the creation will not be "stolen" but would, on the contrary, be protected, by law and treaty, he is more ready to part with his creation by allowing its copying or other use against payment and will generally be content with remuneration that is less than it would be if the risks of "stealing" were higher.
18.
One may ask, at this point, whether, if the creator's rights are not recognized at all, foreign technology could not be acquired free of charge, a situation that would mean that the copier or other user would have to pay nothing and the copiers' or other users' countries would not have to allow the outflow of money from the country. The reply--not to speak of the considerations of equity mentioned above--is that experience shows that transfer of technology is faster and more secure if the copying, incorporation, manufacture, etc., are done with the cooperation of the creator than if they are done without such cooperation. Copying, etc., without such cooperation requires an effort to understand what the object to be copied really is and experiment with methods to copy it. Such an effort requires money whose amount may well exceed the amount that would be payable for an authorization. But such an effort also takes time and frequently means that, by the time the unauthorized copy is marketable, the product is obsolete.
19.
Ad second paragraph: The aims of the Treaty are set out in the second paragraph of the Preamble.
20.
The first aim is to serve equity. This corresponds to the reason mentioned in paragraph 14, above.
21. The second aim is to serve technological and economic progress, which corresponds to the reason mentioned in paragraph 16, above, and which would be promoted by the provision of an incentive for creation.
22.
The third aim is to promote the international exchange of technological achievements, which would occur, in particular, through the acquisition of foreign technology, the other economic reason for assuring international protection, as mentioned in paragraph 17, above.
23. The fourth aim is the establishment, on the international level, of a system of protection that would seek to serve the public interest through a proper balance between all the private interests involved. As in other areas of intellectual property, when properly considered, the public interest is not antithetic to the private interests involved, but is rather promoted through a proper balance of those private interests. This is apparent, in the first place, from the reasons for assuring protection, which encompass not only a just reward for the creator, but also the function of providing an incentive for creation, which in turn may be expected to encourage an adequate level of investment of human, financial and technological resources in order to produce new technological solutions and original products for the benefit of the consuming public, the advancement of technological progress and the dissemination of that progress through the acquisition of foreign technology.
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