Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 1890, the Defend Trade Secrets Act. I introduced the House companion, and I am proud to see this bill moving forward. This legislation is sorely needed to protect the United States from the billions of dollars it faces in losses each year due to trade secrets theft.

However, the legislation could not have reached this point without the hard work and dedication of several people. First, I would like to thank Chairman Goodlatte and his staff for their efforts to move this bill through the Committee on the Judiciary and bring it to the floor. This has been, as the ranking member said, a several-year process. We are glad to see it here.

I also wanted to thank those who introduced the House legislation with me, Mr. Nadler and Mr. Jeffries, both from New York, and their staff, for their commitment to the issue and their willingness to work across the aisle to implement meaningful reform.

On the Senate side, Senators Hatch and Coons were instrumental in getting us to this point. Their leadership, along with the leadership of Chairman Grassley and Senator Leahy, helped ensure the strong Senate vote of 87-0 and ensured this product was able to come to the House.

I would finally like to take just a moment to thank Jennifer Choudhry, my former legislative director, for her hand in introducing and shepherding this bill through the legislative process. Her contributions were invaluable, and she should be proud of her part in getting this legislation to the House floor today. I also thank Sally Rose Larson, who has taken up the mantle in my office and helped to get us here to the finish line.

The Defend Trade Secrets Act enjoys support from a broad coalition of groups and industries, from Americans for Tax Reform, the American Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Section, the Information Technology Industry Council, the chamber of commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and many more. In fact, Mr. Speaker, this bill has more than 160 bipartisan cosponsors.

Mr. Speaker, estimates show that as much as 80 percent of companies' assets are intangible, many in the form of trade secrets. Couple that with the fact that trade secrets theft is costing America billions of dollars each year. In fact, one study indicates that trade secrets theft costs America approximately $300 billion annually. That price tag will continue to grow as technology and thieves become more sophisticated. Trade secrets theft jeopardizes our economic security and threatens jobs, which is why it is so important that we take steps to address it.

Trade secrets include everything from business information to designs, prototypes, and formulas. Coming from Georgia, one good example is the recipe for Coca-Cola. Trade secrets are commercially valuable information subject to secrecy protection. They are a critical form of intellectual property, yet they do not enjoy the same protections that apply to other forms of intellectual property, such as copyrights, patents, and trademarks.

Additionally, trade secrets derive economic value from not being publicly known, and this confidential business information can be protected for an unlimited time. However, once trade secrets are disclosed, they instantly lose their value, making it even more important to have the mechanisms in place to protect them.

Currently, Federal law is insufficient to address many of the challenges related to trade secrets theft in today's economy. The only Federal mechanism for trade secrets protection under current law is the 1996 Economic Espionage Act, which made trade secrets theft by foreign nationals a criminal offense.

However, this only addresses part of the problem, and criminalizes only a portion of trade secrets theft, whereas a civil remedy for misuse and misappropriation would allow companies to more broadly protect their property.

The Defend Trade Secrets Act will address that, and it will strengthen the ability of companies to protect valuable trade secrets, which, in turn, allows them to protect American jobs and innovation. The bill will empower companies to protect their trade secrets in Federal court by creating a Federal private right of action.

The bill streamlines access to relief, and, in extraordinary circumstances, allows victims of trade secrets theft to obtain a seizure to ensure trade secrets are not abused while cases are pending. The Defend Trade Secrets Act also provides for an injunction and damages.

Protecting the trade secrets of American businesses is crucial to keeping our country a leader in the world economy. Providing a Federal civil remedy will create certainty for companies throughout the Nation, including my home State of Georgia.

Congress has the responsibility to give industries the tools they need to protect their intellectual property and, in turn, encourage job creation and economic growth. This bill takes a step forward in better protecting American innovation.

Again, I want to thank the tireless work of my House and Senate colleagues in advancing this critical legislation. I am proud to see this bill, which provides critical intellectual property protections and protects American businesses, move forward. I would encourage all my colleagues to join me today in supporting the Defend Trade Secrets Act.

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