On May 11, 2016, President Obama signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (the “DTSA”) into law. This law creates a new procedure that private citizens can use to protect their intellectual property rights. In exceptional circumstances, the owner of a trade secret can apply to a federal court ex parte (without the other person present) and obtain an order to seize trade secret materials that were allegedly misappropriated. The DTSA provides detailed requirements that a party must satisfy to obtain a seizure order. The DTSA also includes several rights that protect the person from whom seizure is sought.
To read a more detailed article about the DTSA and the ex parte seizure procedures, click here.
A copy of the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 is available here.
If you have a question about the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016, please contact Trent Echard at techard@smgglaw.com or at (412) 281-5423. Trent is a shareholder and a registered patent attorney at Strassburger McKenna Gutnick & Gefsky in Pittsburgh. This post is provided for informational purposes only. Nothing in this post creates an attorney client relationship.
