Senate Judiciary Committee clears bi-partisan trade secrets bill
Reforms to US trade secrets laws took a step forward yesterday after the Senate Judiciary Committee approved new legislation.
It means that the Defend Trade Secrets Act will head to the full Senate later this year.
Senators Orrin Hatch and Chris Coons, co-sponsors of the bill, welcomed the result.
“The committee’s overwhelming vote in support of the Defend Trade Secrets Act demonstrates the importance and timeliness of this legislation,” Hatch said.
The bill gained support of both Republican and Democrat members of Congress.
Key provisions in the legislation include providing federal relief to parties asserting and receiving trade secrets claims.
Currently, right owners can only obtain relief for the theft of their trade secrets on a state-by-state basis.
The legislation, in a move that some have labelled controversial, also allows courts to seize a party’s property in order to “prevent the propogation or dissemination of the trade secret that is subject of the action”.
