數位經濟的公平隱憂──創新因素、創新要素與事業結合之審查

Abstract

近年許多企業，紛紛積極透過併購新創、以強化自身創新的實力，進一步鞏固市場上的優勢。從公平法角度而言，事業結合一者提高市場集中度、帶來限制競爭之隱憂，二者亦可能因結合提高事業效率、促進整體經濟利益。兩者如何權衡，向來是競爭法的難題。然而隨著數位經濟的發展，市場上大者恆大，原來以科技創新領先市場的巨擘企業，極易以自身資源併購新創，讓已高度集中的市場無法更加多元發展。寥寥幾家超大型企業，成為數位市場的守門員，對市場創新可能有的不利隱憂，也因之加劇。有鑑於此，本文嘗試於數位經濟時代，探究下列問題：如何於事業結合案的審查中，就創新影響做出競爭法的評價。本文將創新影響分為創新因素與創新要素。創新因素是指以促進創新為目標，討論事業結合審查是否把促進創新作為一衡量因素；而創新要素則指創新過程中須投入的人力、或數據資料等資源要素，因而討論審查事業結合案中，如何審視結合對創新要素集中造成的影響。本文首先探討這類創新事業結合案件中，可能衍生的限制競爭議題。繼而透過分析文獻，整理分析創新因素與創新要素於競爭法中的運用及發展，最後反思我國公平法於創新事業結合審查值得關注之重點。

In the past decade, many technology giants who gained their market power by leading innovations, have been further strengthening their own innovation power by acquiring innovation start-ups. From the perspective of antitrust laws, mergers may be a two sided sword, on the one hand, they may stifle competitions because of the market concentration, on the other hand, they may be beneficial to the economy because of increasing the market efficiency. It is always a difficult task to balance the pros and cons of mergers. Nonetheless, in the age of digital economy, very few tech giants become the gatekeepers of digital markets. While they further add their revenues by acquiring more innovation-based start-ups easily with their powers and resources, the more and more concentrated market has sounded the alarm of antitrust laws. In light of the innovation impact, this article attempts to make a renewed antitrust review on merger cases especially taking the innovation factor and innovation elements into con-sideration. The innovation factor weighs the innovation efficiency after the merger whilst the innovation elements imply the resources input to make innovations happen, such as the data that powers the digital economy business models. The purpose of this article is to review the evaluation of the innovation factor and innovation elements on merger cases through the antitrust lenses. The author will begin with the review of traditional antitrust assumptions and analyze how the innovation factor weighed in cases. Subsequently, the author will explore the antitrust perspective on innovation elements, with a particular focus on data, and give a brief introduction on the international trend on formulating a new regulatory approach about innovation elements in digital economy. At the end of this article, the author will reflect on the current antitrust practice in the Taiwan context.