- 學位論文
競爭法規範智財掠奪性訴訟之研究
A Study on the Regulation of Predatory IP Litigation under Competition Law
摘要
摘要 近年來，科技界間的專利訴訟爭端不斷，有關科技業將專利權當作戰略武器使用之訊息更是時有所聞，尤其身為專利輸出大國的歐美國家企業，更是常對競爭對手提起侵權之訴訟。由於在美國進行專利訴訟所耗費之律師費用對於涉訟事業來說是一筆龐大的支出，因此，有些大企業為避免新的競爭者進入市場，常藉由提起專利侵權訴訟之方式作為增加對手成本之手段，藉此迫使競爭者退出市場抑或支付和解金而達成和解。甚至有事業編列法律巨額預算，目的只為透過訴訟將對手趕出市場。提起專利侵權訴訟，本應是當專利權人之專利權受到侵害時正當行使的權益，是屬於專利法賦予專利權人得以合法行使之權利。然而，有些事業提起專利訴訟之目的並非為保護本身或行使權利，而是為了打擊或牽制競爭對手，甚至是為了達到「以戰逼和」之目的。 針對有關專利訴訟之問題，我國的法院實務與學界學者多著重於專利法之立法目的作討論，因而得出之結論往往是以專利法鼓勵創新研發之政策考量，而使專利法優先適用，將專利權人提起侵權訴訟之行為視為基於專利法而正當行使權力之行為。然而，專利權人擁有專利權並不意味著其可任意使用權利而無須受到法律之約束。當提起專利訴訟之專利權人具有獨占力量，且基於損害對手之反競爭目的而提起掠奪性訴訟時，此時應有競爭法介入之空間。 有鑑於此，本文所提出之目的，係針對同樣的專利侵權訴訟問題，基於競爭法之角度而進行研究；對於具有市場力量的專利權人，純粹為損害競爭者目的而提出之侵權訴訟，以競爭法角度切入探討其可能對於市場造成之反競爭疑慮。
並列摘要
Abstract Recently, there has been a succession of patent lawsuits in the technology industry, where patent right has in many cases been used as a strategic weapon. For some corporations, especially those in the major patent-exporting countries such as the United States and certain European nations, it is even common practice to press charges of patent infringement against their competitors. As attorney fees in a patent infringement suit filed in the United States are a considerable expense to each party involved, some large US corporations tend to sue competitors for infringement as a way to increase the latter’s costs, thereby either deterring potential competitors or forcing the existing ones to withdraw from the market, if a settlement involving a payment cannot be reached. Some companies compile huge legal expense budgets only to drive opponents out of the market through litigation. While a patentee is entitled by the patent law to sue an infringing party, some companies do not do so to protect themselves or as a legitimate exercise of their legal power, but to weaken or hinder their competitors. Even worse, some “wage war to compel settlement”. In Taiwan, discussions on patent litigation are mostly centered on the purpose of legislation of the patent law, and this view is shared by legal practitioners and scholars alike. A typical conclusion is that the patent law, which is intended to encourage innovation, shall have supremacy in lawsuits involving patent infringement, and that a patentee’s filing an infringement suit is a legitimate exercise of power based on the patent law. However, the patent right does not empower its holder to use the right arbitrarily without limitation by law. If a patentee filing a patent suit has monopoly power and if the suit filed is a predatory one for anti-competitive purposes and for causing damage to a competitor, there should be room for the competition law to intervene. The objective of this study, therefore, is to view patent infringement litigation from the perspective of the competition law and to explore, from the same perspective, the potential anti-competitiveness of infringement lawsuits filed by patentees who have market power and whose only purpose is to cause damage to their competitors.