Use or right to use: interconnect charges not treated as royalty under treaty because no transfer of use of IP.
The core question was whether interconnect usage charges fall within royalty by virtue of conferring the use or right to use a process or equipment. The tribunal held that IUC did not amount to royalty because the telecommunications processes were standard industry practice, not proprietary or secret, and therefore did not grant a transferable right to exploit intellectual property; treaty interpretation under the DTAA controlled characterization.