The Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016: A Summary

On May 11, 2016, President Barack Obama signed into law the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA), which creates a federal cause of action for trade secret misappropriation and gives trade secret owners the ability to request seizure of stolen trade secrets. State trade secret protections remain available and will parallel the additional federal rights created by the DTSA, which include enhanced damage provisions for willful and malicious misappropriation. As a result, the federal courts are likely to see an increase in what are often high stakes, complex trade secret cases.