WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.), member of the Judiciary Committee, and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), current member and former Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today applauded the House Judiciary Committee’s passage of the Trade Secrets Protection Act (H.R. 5233). Coons and Hatch introduced similar legislation in the Senate, the Defend Trade Secrets Act, in April.

“The intellectual property that drives the U.S. economy has never been more valuable, or more vulnerable,” Senator Coons said. “American companies are losing jobs because of the theft of trade secrets every day. This bipartisan bill will empower American companies to protect their jobs by legally confronting those who steal their trade secrets. It will finally give trade secrets the same legal protections that other forms of critical intellectual property already enjoy. I applaud the House Judiciary Committee's passage of the companion to our bipartisan legislation today, and I’m optimistic about the bill's chances in the Senate. Congress needs to stop the hemorrhaging of jobs and revenue being lost to the theft of trade secrets by passing this legislation.”

“I applaud the House Judiciary Committee for taking this important action today and recognizing that trade secrets theft is a real risk to American jobs and our economy,” Senator Hatch said.  “Today’s House action and the Hatch-Coons trade secrets bill in the Senate show that there is both bipartisan and bicameral support to confront intellectual property thieves.  Other forms of intellectual property enjoy legal protections and it’s long overdue that trade secrets are granted these same legal defenses.  I hope the Senate will follow the House’s lead and act quickly to combat this growing threat to high-paying American jobs and the drain on innovation in our country.”

The Coons-Hatch Defend Trade Secrets Act would:

  • Harmonize U.S. law by building on the Economic Espionage Act to create a uniform standard for trade secret misappropriation. Companies will be able to craft one set of nondisclosure policies secure in the knowledge that federal law will protect their trade secrets.
  • Provide for injunctions and damages to preserve evidence, prevent disclosure, and account for the economic harm to American companies whose trade secrets are stolen.
  • Be consistent with the approach taken to protecting other forms of intellectual property, such as patents, trademarks and copyrights — all of which are already covered by federal civil law.

The Defend Trade Secrets Act has been endorsed by the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and companies including 3M, Abbott, AdvaMed, Boston Scientific, Caterpillar, Corning, DuPont, GE, Eli Lilly, Medtronic, Micron, Microsoft, Monsanto, Philips, P&G, and United Technologies.