The Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) is a United States federal law that allows an owner of a trade secret to sue in federal court when its trade secrets have been stolen. The act was signed into law by President Barack Obama on May 11, 2016. It underscored Congress’s desire to align closely with the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, which had been adopted in some form in almost every U.S. state. Technically, the DTSA extended the Economic Espionage Act of 1996, which criminalizes certain trade secret misappropriations.
The law also grants legal immunity to corporate whistleblowers.
After the DTSA's passage by the Senate, Forbes magazine called the law the "Biggest Development in [Intellectual Property] in Years".
Notable cases
On June 10, 2016, the Honorable Jon S. Tigar of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California granted the first temporary restraining order (TRO) under the DTSA prohibiting an ex-employee from soliciting customers of plaintiff Henry Schien, Inc.