U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) lauded the passage by the Senate Judiciary Committee of the Defend Trade Secrets Act last week.
Tillis, who serves as a member of the committee, is an original cosponsor of the legislation, which is aimed at addressing inadequacies in U.S. law through the creation of a uniform standard for trade secret misappropriation.
The legislation would also provide injunctions and damages to preserve evidence, prevent disclosure and account for economic harm to companies whose trade secrets are stolen.
“I am pleased the Senate Judiciary Committee took a stand to help protect American intellectual property from thieves and other bad actors who impose severe economic harm on our nation,” Tillis said. “North Carolina is particularly blessed to be home to some the world’s top innovators and developers of intellectual property, and I look forward to helping them continue their vast economic contributions to our state by working with my Senate colleagues to pass this legislation and make it law.”
The act follows a recent U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission report that concluded that Chinese innovation is dependent on trade secret theft. Such theft endangers American jobs and threatens incentives for continued investment in research and development.
Trade secrets, as well as other forms of intellectual property, are easily stolen. Such theft is often done at the behest of a foreign government or for the benefit of a foreign competitor.