Massachusetts To Adopt The Uniform Trade Secrets Act

With H. 4732 (and amendment H. 4868) sitting on Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker's desk, Massachusetts is finally on the verge of adopting the Uniform Trade Secrets Act ("UTSA"). The UTSA was published by the Uniform Law Commission in 1979 and amended in 1985, at which time many states began adopting it. New York, and possibly North Carolina and Alabama (there is some debate about whether their legislation has expressly adopted the text of the Act), are now the only jurisdictions in the United States that have not adopted the UTSA. Previously, Massachusetts trade secrets law was based on the Restatement (First) of Torts § 757 (1939). See Jet Spray Cooler, Inc. v. Crampton, 282 N.E.2d 921, 925 (Mass. 1972).