TRANSFER OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS THROUGH A FRANCHISE AGREEMENT AND COMPETITION LAW

Abstract

The subject of this paper is the transfer of intellectual property rights through franchising contracts and the relationship with competition law. The franchising contract is still an unnamed commercial contract in most countries, except in the USA where it was regulated by law. Nowadays, it is increasingly being regulated by legal regulations in other countries of the world, so the proposal on its legal regulation was included in the preliminary draft of the Civil Code of the Republic of Serbia. International regulation is quite modest and there are still no convention solutions, but the basic sources are general business conditions, form contracts, model laws and legal guides, which are basically soft law. The paper starts from the definition of the franchising contract, the types of franchising contract, the specifics of the transfer of intellectual property rights and the explanation of what consequences the conclusion of this contract can have on competition law. The author does not analyze the rights and obligations of the contracting parties, but the aspect of this contract that relates to the transfer of intellectual property rights.