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Employers looking to heighten available protection of valuable trade secrets are welcoming the arrival of the Defend Trade Secrets Act, a federal statute that went into effect May 11. The DTSA permits trade secret owners to file misappropriation claims in federal court, but only those owners who first implement some important changes to confidentiality agreements can reap the full scope of benefits of the new law.

The DTSA, which applies to publicly and privately held companies alike, received near-universal bipartisan support in Congress. The law does not apply retroactively, so it can only be invoked to combat misappropriation claims occurring on or after May 11. A claim accrues under the statute when the misappropriation is discovered, or where, by the exercise of reasonable diligence, misappropriation should have been discovered, and is subject to a three-year statute of limitations.

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