Trade Secret Law

"Intellectual property theft involves robbing people or companies of their ideas, inventions, and creative expressions—known as “intellectual property”—which can include everything from trade secrets and proprietary products and parts to movies, music, and software. It is a growing threat—especially with the rise of digital technologies and Internet file sharing networks. And much of the theft takes place overseas, where laws are often lax and enforcement is more difficult. All told, intellectual property theft costs U.S. businesses billions of dollars a year and robs the nation of jobs and tax revenues. Preventing intellectual property theft is a priority of the FBI’s criminal investigative program. It specifically focuses on the theft of trade secrets and infringements on products that can impact consumers’ health and safety, such as counterfeit aircraft, car, and electronic parts."

The jurisdiction of the House Committee on the Judiciary includes the United States Patent and Trademark Office, patents, trademarks, and copyright.

The jurisdiction of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary includes the United States Patent and Trademark Office, patents, trademarks, and copyright.

The ITC is an independent, quasi-judicial federal agency with broad investigative responsibilities on matters of trade. The ITC adjudicates cases involving allegations of misappropriation of trade secrets by imported goods (Section 337 investigations, conducted pursuant to the Tariff Act of 1930). Site includes Section 337 publications, investigational history materials, and access to the ITC's Investigations Database System (IDS), a database of information related to all unfair import investigations conducted by the ITC under Section 337, and the Electronic Document Information System (EDIS), the ITC’s document management system for filing and accessing documents related to ITC investigations.

"Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), established in 1972, is a trade association for owners of patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets." Includes a Trade Secrets Committee, which "will focus on providing practical education to IPO membership and the public on the topic of trade secrets. Such education may include presentations at IPO meetings, white papers, form documents for posting to www.ipo.org, etc."