我國侵害營業秘密刑事責任之規範體系

Theft of Trade Secrets in Taiwan

葉雲卿(Yun-Ching Yeh)

《法令月刊》 63卷8期 (2012/08) Pp. 56-79

https://doi.org/10.6509/TLM.201208_63(8).0005

摘要

我國營業秘密法於民國85年制定，其立法目的在保障營業秘密，維護產業倫理與競爭秩序。然，查營業秘密法，僅對於侵害營業秘密之民事責任設有規定，至於侵害營業秘密人之刑事責任，欠缺直接針對營業秘密保護的刑事責任專門條文規範，多依刑法第317條洩漏工商秘密罪並依個案情節適用不同的刑法規範。相較於美國，其國會於1996年通過經濟間諜法（Economic Espionage Act），對於違反經濟間諜法竊取或挪用商業秘密以嘉惠於企業組織之個人，法律規定可處監禁達十年，對於法人之罰款則高達500萬美元，立法者顯然希望藉由重罰來遏止不法竊取商業秘密。在商業行為全球化的必然走向下，比較營業秘密法之研究除可提供我國修法參考，另可避免我國跨國企業經理人、員工在從事跨國商業交易行為時誤觸他國的法律，同時設立商業道德規範，以符合國際趨勢。

關鍵字

營業秘密 ； 洩漏工商秘密罪 ； 美國商業間諜法 ； 營業秘密法 ； 挪用商業秘密

並列摘要

Taiwan Trade Secrets Act is enacted in 1996. The main purposes of this Act are to protect trade secrets, and maintain market order and ethical rules in the industries. The 1996 Trade Secrets Act only provided civil penalties against misappropriation of trade secrets, but left blank in criminal penalties. Knowing that with the increasing number of incidents of trade secrets violations the need for understanding and perhaps enacting more stringent statutes is a must. Several criminal statutes relate to the theft of trade secrets. However, Section 317 of the criminal code is directly applicable to this issue. By contrast, the US Congress enacted the Economic Espionage Act (EEA) in 1996; it criminalized the misappropriation of trade secrets with the knowledge or intent that the theft will injure the owner. Penalties for violation of section 1832 of the EEA are more severe than those of the Taiwanese Criminal Code. Penalties include imprisonment, for up to 10 years for individuals and fines up to $5 million for organizations. A comparative analysis of the crime of theft of trade secrets may provide a frame work for further amendment of Taiwan Trade Secrets Act to Taiwan government and educate corporate managers and staff of multinational companies based in Taiwan. It will also guide practitioners and businessmen alike to navigate the treasurous waters of law and business when they engage in business with the US.

並列關鍵字

trade secrets ； theft of trade secrets ； Economic Espionage Act (EEA) ； Taiwan Trade Secrets Act ； misappropriation of trade secrets

參考文獻

林鈺雄(2000)。刑事訴訟法。學林。

林東茂(2002)。刑法綜覽。學林。

盧映潔(2010)。刑法分則新論。新學林。

Merges, Robert P,Menell, Peter Seth,Lemley, Mark A(2007).Intellectual Property in the New Technological Age.Aspen Publishers.

Effron, Robin J.(2003).Secrets and Spies: Extraterritorial Application of the Economic Espionage Act and TRIPS Agreement.N. Y. U. L. Rev..78,1475-1487.