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Benjamin M. Watson
By Benjamin M. Watson & P. Ryan Beckett
In 2016, Congress enacted the Defend Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1831 et seq. The DTSA is based largely on the language of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, which, to date, has been adopted by 48 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Unlike the UTSA that provides no independent basis for federal jurisdiction beyond diversity jurisdiction, the DTSA opened federal courts to trade secret litigation under 28 U.S.C. § 1331.1 It also provides federal courts with wide-ranging authority to craft different and distinct remedies to address trade secret misappropriation. These remedies include injunctive relief as well as compensatory damages and other forms of monetary relief. The DTSA provides a myriad of options to victims of trade secret misappropriation, and this article will provide an overview of those various rights, remedies and obligations.
WHAT ARE TRADE SECRETS?
First, what is a trade secret? Not all information or data is of a nature that qualifies for protection from theft and use under the DTSA. Accordingly, the scope of information protected is included tin he definition of a “trade secret” as provided in 18 U.S.C. § 1839(3):
the term “trade secret” means all forms and types of financial, business, scientific, technical, economic, or engineering information, including patterns, plans, compilations, program devices, formulas, designs, prototypes, methods, techniques, processes, procedures, programs, or codes, whether tangible or intangible, and whether or how stored, compiled, or memorialized physically, electronically, graphically, photographically, or in writing if--
(A) the owner thereof has taken reasonable measures to keep such information secret; and
1 18 U.S.C. §1836(c).
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Energy & Intellectual Property
Protecting Your Enterprise: Requirements And Remedies Under The Federal Defend
Trade Secrets Act
P. Ryan Beckett
FDCC ANNUAL INSIGHTS 2023