A [Mostly] Legislative History of the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016

Abstract

This paper provides a narrative of the passage of the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 — legislation, passed by Congress in April, 2016, that establishes a federal civil cause of action for the theft of trade secrets. It analyzes the justifications for the bill, how it was drafted and passed and how Congress expressed its objectives in the law’s legislative history source documents.