The President has now signed into law the Defend Trade Secrets
Act of 2016 ("the Act"), which was passed by Congress
with overwhelming bipartisan support. Effective upon the
President's signature, and applicable to any misappropriation
of trade secrets on or after the date of signing, the Act creates a
new federal civil remedy for trade secret
misappropriation. It adds another important tool for the protection
of intellectual property rights, which are often the most important
assets of a business.
The Defend Trade Secrets Act is an amendment to Chapter 90 of
Title 18 of the United States Code, also known as the Economic
Espionage Act of 1996. The Act provides a federal civil remedy
complementary to the remedies already provided by state law,
i.e., the Act does not pre-empt the state laws, but adds a
federal remedy if the Act's jurisdictional threshold
is met as set out in the opening paragraph of the Act:
