05 May 2016

Congress Passed A Major Intellectual Property Law On Tuesday

Congress passed the Defend Trade Secrets Act on Tuesday which President Obama is expected to sign. It largely duplicated state trademark protections, but creates a federal statutory claim that is slightly different and also includes the unprecedented remedy of ex parte seizes of trade secrets containing materials. This is the biggest change to federal intellectual property laws since the American Invents Act in 2011 which reformed patent law. Among other things, it will make a federal forum available for all trade secret lawsuits.

2 comments:

andrew said...

It was apparently actually passed April 29, which would give the President until May 11 by my calculation (ten days excluding Sundays) to sign or veto the bill.

andrew said...

It became law on May 11. PL 114-153. https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/1890/text