Know-how contract
Introduction
The nominal phrase know how (in English, know how, and in French, savoir faire, a form known internationally),[1][2][3] as part of procedural knowledge, refers to the practical knowledge that is obtained when a person or company becomes the object of an action.[4] This leads to building learned knowledge to solve specific problems, which can be difficult to transfer to other people since sometimes it is tacit knowledge that is complicated to verbalize or leave in writing.[5].
A widespread use of the term is found in the sale of franchises, since what is sold is "how it is done." Franchises are generally granted by companies with experience in a sector, almost always business, to people who know little about the subject, which represents a heritage of many years of maturity and a very valuable comparative advantage over the competition "Competition (economics)").[6].
Etymology
Know-how is defined by the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language as the "set of knowledge and techniques accumulated by a person or a company",[3] although a longer definition is also included in the Pan-Hispanic Dictionary of Doubts as the "set of accumulated knowledge and techniques, which allows the effective development of an activity in the artistic, scientific or business field".[2].
The noun phrase know how, or the Anglicism know-how, can be replaced by several equivalent terms: expertise, skills, abilities, gifts, high level of knowledge, high level of experience, experience, knowledge or words that, like know how, mean "knowing how to do something quickly and well done."
The expression know how to do is linked to the fact of acquiring experience or skills to carry out a certain task in a simple way. It does not have to do with the experience that a person acquires by the mere performance of their job, which is considered a generic experience, but with an experience specific to the person.[7].
Industrial know-how
When applied to an organization, it is said to be the experience that it has to develop its activities, whether productive, administrative, financial, commercial or control.[8] Know-how in a company, since the industrial era, has become a valuable intangible asset, which includes the most appropriate way of mixing components, the equipment used, the personnel who know how to perform the tasks, etc. In short, the know-how of a company is the "operational knowledge essential to running a company."[9].