Trade secrets protections strengthened by the Clarification Act

On December 28, 2012, President Obama signed into law the Theft of Trade Secrets Clarification Act of 2012, which essentially expanded the definition of trade secrets under Section 1832 of the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 in two ways with this clause:

[related to] “a product or service used in or intended for use in interstate or foreign commerce.”

The new law now includes trade secrets that support services, and it, in effect, renders moot the Second Circuit’s ruling in United States v. Aleynikov, 676 F.3d 71 (2nd Cir. 2012), where the court concluded that section 1832 only applied to products produced for or placed in interstate or foreign commerce.

Now, the law represents an expansion of the protections afforded trade secrets by the EEA, and, arguably, a corresponding increase in their value.