Uncle Sam Wants You to Protect Trade Secrets (Maybe)

As business in the United States has increasingly focused on technology development, and as companies are looking to gain market advantages by developing processes and methods intended to increase their competitive position, preservation of trade secrets has become increasingly important. The U.S. Government has not failed to understand this; in recent years it has passed legislation giving federal prosecutors the ability to pursue criminal charges against individuals who engage in economic espionage. However, if a business cannot get a federal prosecutor interested in its specific concerns about trade secret misappropriation, or if the company needs immediate injunctive relief to stop a trade secret theft and has monetary damages it needs to pursue, the company is generally left to navigate state court systems with uncertain results because of the absence of a nationwide system capable of addressing trade secret issues across the country. However, there may be