以企業與資料觀點論數位經濟之營業秘密保護

Abstract

數位經濟蓬勃發展，數位工具使用、研發越常見於企業營運策略，其中著重於數據治理、AI技術為工具兩大趨勢，如資料庫、社交媒體帳戶、AI演算法等常見之數位經濟商業模式技術、應用，故本文欲探討就企業與資料觀點，為何、如何以營業秘密保護此些客體。 首先係學說文獻部分，回顧國際、學術間關於營業秘密學說與定性之討論，並嘗試以企業管理領域的企業異質性、產品生命週期，針對企業、資料二者進行營業秘密案件中三要件認定之寬嚴標準，併以目前營業秘密學說較新穎的放棄營業秘密概念，討論在經濟價值之要件上可能需更具體認定。而為了解技術所在國之最初爭議，故選擇以美國法作為法實踐討論。 接續因本文核心為數位經濟，故就其發展脈絡、基礎與特徵介紹。現國際趨勢係討論數據治理與AI標準，以及進入數據治理階段後，市場優勢開始轉向以商業模式創新增強企業之競爭優勢、異質化，而非單一產品創新。則呈現以此二面向為選定營業秘密討論案件客體之原因，並聚焦其商業模式特性，作為討論案件標準背景。 在數據治理部分，企業常以資料庫、社交媒體帳戶作為營運、行銷、產品服務分析之重要工具，故以此二為營業秘密案件討論客體，並分析其他競合可能、日本法與歐盟法的其他措施。 在AI領域部分，因正面臨AI 監管之國際趨勢，針對AI演算法將賦予透明度義務，選擇聚焦對應的AI應用本身之AI演算法、非其輸出成果，以案件列舉過往要件情形，並探討可能的隱憂與本文觀點。 最後為我國法院營業秘密判決之實證，認為認定有無營業秘密與要件標準抽象或有文獻回顧中討論的問題，因此未來如面臨數位經濟相關案件，綜合全球AI產業方為初步商用階段、國家策略考量、思考支持創新的潛在利益、前述企業與資料觀點等原因，盼法院能更細緻化處理營業秘密保護之認定。

The digital economy is flourishing, and the use and development of digital tools are becoming more common in corporate operational strategies. Two major trends focus on data governance and AI technology as tools, such as databases, social media accounts, and AI algorithms, which are commonly seen technologies and applications in the digital economy business model. This paper aims to explore why and how to protect these subjects as trade secrets from the perspectives of enterprises and data. Firstly, in the literature review, we examine the international and academic discussions on the doctrines and definitions of trade secrets. We attempt to apply concepts from the field of business management, such as firm heterogeneity and product life cycles, to establish the criteria for determining the three elements of trade secret cases concerning enterprises and data. Additionally, we discuss the relatively novel concept of abandoning trade secrets within the trade secret doctrine and how it may require more concrete identification in terms of economic value. And to understand the initial disputes in the country where the technology is located, we choose to discuss U.S. law as a practical legal reference. Following this, we introduce the development context, foundations, and characteristics of the digital economy, as this is the core of our paper. The current international trend is to discuss data governance and AI standards. After entering the stage of data governance, market advantages are shifting towards enhancing corporate competitiveness and heterogeneity through innovative business models rather than single product innovation. This explains the reason for selecting these two aspects as the subjects of discussion in trade secret cases and focuses on the characteristics of their business models as the background for case discussions. In the data governance section, enterprises often use databases and social media accounts as important tools for operations, marketing, and product service analysis. Therefore, these two are chosen as the subjects for trade secret case discussions, and other competitive measures and regulations in Japanese and EU law are also analyzed. In the AI field, due to the international trend of AI regulation, where AI algorithms are required to be transparent, we choose to focus on the AI algorithms corresponding to AI applications themselves, rather than their output results. We illustrate past elements of trade secret cases and discuss possible concerns and perspectives. Finally, based on empirical studies of trade secret judgments by courts in our country, we observe that there may be issues with the abstraction of criteria or problems discussed in the literature when determining the existence of trade secrets. Therefore, facing future cases related to the digital economy, considering the preliminary commercial stage of the global AI industry, national strategic considerations, the potential benefits of innovative thinking, and the aforementioned perspectives on enterprises and data, we hope that courts can handle the identification of trade secret protection more meticulously.