President Obama Signs Defend Trade Secrets Act

In what has been heralded as potentially the "most significant expansion" of federal intellectual property law in 70 years (since passage of the Lanham Act), President Barack Obama signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) on Wednesday, May 11. The DTSA creates a right to file a civil claim under federal law for trade secret misappropriation and to seek various remedies, including an ex parte seizure order early in the action. The DTSA does not preempt state trade secret law, but it bolsters the rights currently available under state law. Claims under the DTSA may be brought in federal or state courts, and the law applies to misappropriation occurring on or after May 11. 18 U.S.C. 1836(e).