A Year With The DTSA - Will This One-Year-Old Protect Your Trade Secrets?

Happy Birthday to the Defend Trade Secrets Act ("DTSA")­. As we noted in our alert one year ago today, on May 11, 2016, President Obama signed into law the DTSA for the purpose of protecting American businesses from economic espionage by providing easier access to federal courts as well as the possibility of double damages, attorneys' fees, and the right to ex parte seizure of misappropriated information.

A year later, federal courts all over the county have addressed the language in the DTSA. However, with the exception of the recent "fig spread" case, discussed in our Dalmatia Import Group, Inc. v. Foodmatch, Inc., et al. alert, none of the cases have substantively addressed the issue of damages and attorneys' fees, as many dealt with prejudgment relief, motions to amend, and of course, motions to dismiss.