New statute aims to promote favorable business climate
and may provide broader protection of information under Texas
law.
On May 2, Texas Governor Rick Perry signed the Texas Uniform
Trade Secrets Act (Texas UTSA) into law.1 The purpose of
the act is to provide uniformity with other states in the
protection of trade secrets, with Texas joining the overwhelming
majority of states in adopting a version of the model Uniform Trade
Secrets Act (model UTSA). Although Texas courts often cited the
model UTSA in trade secret cases, Texas had not expressly adopted
it. As a result, whether a particular category of information would
be classified as "trade secrets" was difficult to predict
and often turned on the facts of a particular case. While the new
law will not end the fact-specific nature of trade secret inquiry,
it should provide more guidance and broader protection of
information under Texas law. The new law takes effect on September
1, 2013 and governs any
