Information that is technical and valuable may be property
called a "trade secret". The proprietary protection only
lasts as long as the secret is treated as such by the owner and
remains as a secret. This article will discuss trade secret
protections in the United States and Canada.
The U.S. has federal and state trade secret laws. Almost all
states have passed their own version of the Uniform Trade
Secret Act. These statutes define what constitutes a trade
secret, prohibit certain wrongful acts and set out enforcement
mechanisms. On May 11, 2016 the federal Defend Trade
Secrets Act of 2016 came into effect.1 The new federal
law is based on the Uniform Trade Secret Act structure. It
allows trade secret owners to bring civil actions in federal court
for trade secret misappropriation where the secrets relate to a
product or service for use in interstate or foreign
commerce".2 Now, trade secrets owners have a choice
between federal and state court. Which one to pick
