This week, the Ninth Circuit resolves a novel question about
continuing violations under the Defend Trade Secrets Act, and
invalidates an agency's conclusion that computer programmers
are not entitled to "specialty occupation" visas.
ELI ATTIA v. GOOGLE LLC
As a matter of first impression, the Court holds that
the Defend Trade Secrets Act applies to post-enactment
misappropriation that began prior to enactment of that statute, but
that the plaintiff's trade secret protection here was
extinguished by publication in a patent application.
Panel: Judges Wallace, Tashima, and Bade,
with Judge Wallace writing the opinion.
Key highlight: "Unlike the [Uniform
Trade Secrets Act], the DTSA does not contain an anti-continued use
provision. This omission suggests that the DTSA is not limited to
misappropriation that only began after enactment of the
DTSA."
