On the recordApril 27, 2016
Today we are here to consider S. 1890, the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016. This bill puts forward enhancements to our Federal trade secrets law, creating a Federal civil remedy for trade secrets misappropriation that will help American innovators protect their intellectual property from criminal theft by foreign agents and those engaging in economic espionage. This bill will help U.S. competitiveness, job creation, and our Nation's future economic security. Our intellectual property laws cover everything from patents, copyrights and trademarks, and include trade secrets. But what are trade secrets? Trade secrets law is used to protect some of the most iconic inventions in America. For example, a trade secret can include recipes like Colonel Sanders' secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices, and the 125-year-old formula for Coca-Cola housed in a vault at the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta, Georgia. However, trade secrets are not simply isolated to the realm of food and beverages. They can include confidential formulas like the formula for WD-40, manufacturing techniques, customer lists, and algorithms like Google's search engine.…





