Defend Trade Secrets Act turns one year old
Former US President Barack Obama signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) into law one year ago today, implementing trade secrets federal protection.
Bringing trade secrets into line with other forms of IP, the act allows owners to secure federal relief for the misappropriation of their knowledge, as opposed to going through individual state courts.
In April 2016, the bill was passed by 410 votes to 2 by the US House of Representatives, after being passed by the Senate by 87 votes to 0.
Michelle Lee, director of the US Patent and Trademark Office, had welcomed the act, hailing it as a “new day for innovators”.
In August last year, a judge threw out one of the first lawsuits brought under the act, finding that the standards for filing the claim hadn’t been met.
Virginia-based engineering contractor MC Dean had accused the City of Miami Beach of improperly passing on confidential information about staff to an electricians’ union.
Kevin O’Shea and Michael Hopkins, of Ice Miller, provided their opinions on the DTSA in a co-published feature for WIPR in October last year.
“Despite being just a few months old, the act has already been used to address some unique issues, and it’s likely that courts will soon begin setting out the metes and bounds of the legislation,” they said.
Looking back over the year, Robert Milligan, co-chair of Seyfarth Shaw’s trade secrets, computer fraud and non-competes practice, said that more and more plaintiffs are electing to pursue claims under the DTSA.
“It’s also worth noting that, although the DTSA has some of the same provisions as the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, which has been adopted by almost all states, there are some unique provisions in the DTSA—such as its seizure and whistleblower immunity provisions—which allow the courts to interpret for the first time,” said Milligan.
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Defend Trade Secrets Act turns one year old
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