Federal Trade Secret Protection is Long Overdue

Mike Greco’s article “Federal Trade Secret Protection is Long Overdue” was featured in the Westlaw Journal on January 20, 2016.

Earlier in 2015, a bipartisan group of House and Senate legislators introduced sorely needed trade secret legislation, the Defending Trade Secrets Act, H.R. 3326, that would open the federal courthouse doors to victims of trade secret theft and provide them with a civil remedy. This is the third time such legislation has been proposed in recent years. Hopefully, the third time is the charm.

Although the legislation enjoys widespread support in the business community, recent media coverage suggests it also faces significant opposition. Notably, the opposition comes primarily from academics, not practitioners or businesses.

In the article, Mike addresses the following questions:

• Is there any legitimate reason why California courts should provide less protection to the same trade secret?
• Why should a company involved in interstate commerce suffer from inconsistent protection of its trade secrets?

Mike states that the time has come to welcome trade secrets into the family of federal protection afforded other intellectual property. Businesses large and small will benefit from the resulting uniformity in protection, speedier access to justice, and a judiciary better equipped to resolve trade secret disputes.