WASHINGTON – The House today passed the bipartisan Senate bill, the Defend Trade Secrets Act by a vote of 410-2. Chairman Chuck Grassley shepherded the legislation through the Senate Judiciary Committee on its way to Senate passage by a vote of 87-0. Authored by Senators Orrin Hatch and Chris Coons, the Defend Trade Secrets Act is aimed at helping the creators and owners of trade secrets more effectively address the growing problem of trade secret theft by creating a uniform federal civil cause of action. The legislation will provide clear rules and predictability for trade secret cases and does not preempt state law.
“It’s estimated that the United States suffers from the loss of 2.1 million jobs and over $300 billion in economic losses every year because of trade secret theft. As this problem has grown, our patchwork of state trade secret laws has made it increasingly challenging for victims to seek relief and hold thieves accountable. The Defend Trade Secrets Act allows victims to move quickly to federal court and will provide certainty of the rules, standards, and practices that American innovators need to prevent their valuable trade secrets from being stolen. I’m pleased to see the House take action on this legislation and I look forward to it being signed into law by the president,” Grassley said.
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