On Wednesday, President Obama signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act. His action follows the bill’s passage in Congress, which we previously reported here: /trade-secrets-bill-passes-house-goes-white-house/

In a signing ceremony in the Oval Office, President Obama recognized the legislation’s historic importance, commenting that the law “for the first time will provide civil actions for companies or individuals that are stealing trade secrets from our American innovators[1].”

The President also stressed his support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, acknowledging that the “TPP contains additional enforcement tools for us to be able to make sure that any of the countries that are signed up for this have to work with us to prevent this kind of theft of trade secrets.”

No word yet on when the TPP will come to a vote, but some members of Congress have signaled that they will wait until after the November election before considering that trade agreement.

[1] https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/05/11/remarks-president-signing-s-1890-defend-trade-secrets-act-2016

– Jessica Miles and Anthony D. Sabatelli, PhD, JD


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