In today’s business world, protecting trade secrets is of vital importance. A trade secret is anything which gives a company a competitive advantage and is kept confidential, including a design, formula, manufacturing process, financial data, or customer information. Unlike other forms of intellectual property (such as trademarks, copyrights, and patents), trade secrets are not currently protected by federal statute. Prosecution of civil trade secrets claims derives solely from state statutes and common law. Companies are vulnerable to trade secret theft from both internal (disgruntled or defecting employees) and external threats. Two bills are currently pending in Congress which, if passed, would create the first federal civil statutory claim for theft of trade secrets.