Major Questions That The DTSA Brings

Technological developments have made it easier for employees to download confidential information, including trade secrets, for uses both legitimate and illegitimate. Last year Congress passed the Defend Trade Secrets Act, which elevated trade secret misappropriation matters from the state to the national level, making trade secret protection better but also more complicated. In this Today’s General Counsel Article, attorney Leiza Dolghih discusses a number of issues raised by the passage of the DTSA: preemption; the use of Anti-SLAPP statutes as a defense in a theft of trade secrets matter; the use of a powerful ex parte seizure proceeding the law mandates (in limited circumstances); the whistleblower protection that DTSA may provide to employees; and the question of how to assess damages.