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US Trade Secret Defense Act Unlikely to Deter Corporate Espionage

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Legislation in the United States to protect trade secrets is designed to facilitate federal prosecutions, but will not prevent foreign countries like China from stealing corporate intelligence, former US federal prosecutor Nick Akerman told Sputnik.

WASHINGTON, (Sputnik) — On Wednesday, President Barack Obama signed into law the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA), which allows private companies to file federal lawsuits for trade secret theft, which the president said would hit US competitors who steal America trade secrets in the pocket book.

"No, not necessarily," Akerman told Sputnik on Thursday when asked if the act would prevent foreign countries like China from stealing corporate intelligence. "[DTSA] is a civil remedy."

Akerman, a former Watergate Prosecutor, said the DTSA will not affect the way China steals trade secrets, but it will make it easier for US federal law enforcement officials to prosecute corporate intelligence theft more effectively.

"If you have the [trade secret] evidence and you can put together the proper affidavit… the court can order it," Akerman noted. "And the [US] Marshals will go out and seize it."

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Akerman added that what also is important about the DTSA is that it allows prosecutors to bring racketeering and offenses related to organized crime to court based on theft of trade secrets.

DTSA, Akerman added, is recognition that trade secret theft is a national security issue that requires a much more comprehensive approach.

The overall goal of DTSA is to make the handling of trade secret theft cases a national standard, and allows private companies to bypass state courts to file civil suits on the federal level.

"Right now, all fifty US states have different [standards]," Akerman explained.

A lot of them use the uniform trade secrets act, others have it by virtue of common law, he concluded.

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