The Defend Trade Secrets Act – What Employers Need To Know Right Now -

Trade secrets are a critical component of the intellectual property of a company, either standing alone or as a complement to a company’s patent portfolio. Historically, despite the fact that other forms of intellectual property, such as patents, copyrights, or trademarks, were protected by federal law, state law provided the primary protection for trade secrets. This is no longer the case.

In Congressional reports discussing the need for federal protection of trade secrets, “the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property estimated that annual losses to the American economy caused by trade secret theft are over $300 billion, comparable to the current annual level of U.S. exports to Asia.” In an attempt to help U.S. companies protect these critical assets, on May 11, 2016, President Obama signed into the law the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA).