New Year, New Progress: 2016 Update on Defend Trade Secrets Act & EU Directive

There’s no doubt that protection of trade secrets is a major concern for most businesses operating in today’s global economy. To address the threat to the trade secrets of US businesses, Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Christopher Coons (D-DE) introduced the “Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016” (“DTSA”) in the United States Senate, while Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) introduced a similar version of the same bill (H.R. 3326) in the United States House of Representatives. If enacted, the Defend Trade Secrets Act would provide a civil cause of action in federal court to private litigants for “misappropriation of a trade secret that is related to a product or service used in, or intended for use in, interstate or foreign commerce.”

On the other side of the Atlantic, the European Council and representatives of the European Parliament have recently reached a compromise agreement on the European Commission’s proposed Directive to harmonize trade secrets protection throughout the European Union’s 28 member states, and the proposed Directive is now poised for adoption by the European Parliament later this year.

In Seyfarth’s third installment of its 2016 Trade Secrets Webinar series, Seyfarth attorneys will provide attendees with a thorough discussion of the fundamentals as well as updates of the Defend Trade Secrets Act and the proposed EU Trade Secrets Directive. The panel will also provide insight into the limitations and new benefits of the Act and the proposed Directive.

The Seyfarth panel will specifically address the following topics:

• The background to the proposed Acts and the proposed EU Directive;
• Key provisions of the proposed Defend Trade Secrets Act and their implications for businesses;
• Key provisions of the proposed EU Directive and their implications for businesses; and
• Practical steps that business can take to protect their trade secrets under the proposed Act and Directive.