Trade Secrets Protection Act of 2014
Latest action. Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 494.
Trade Secrets Protection Act of 2014 - (Sec. 2) Amends the federal criminal code to authorize an owner of a trade secret related to a product or service used in interstate or foreign commerce, who is aggrieved by a misappropriation of such trade secret, to bring a civil action to obtain appropriate relief. Grants U.S. district courts original jurisdiction of such actions, subject to a five-year statute of limitations beginning when the misappropriation is or should have been discovered.
Authorizes the court, upon ex parte application, to issue an order providing for the seizure of property necessary to preserve evidence in such civil action or to prevent the propagation or dissemination of the trade secret, if it finds that:
a temporary restraining order would be inadequate because the restrained party would evade or otherwise not comply with it;
immediate and irreparable injury will occur if such seizure is not ordered;
the harm to the applicant of denying the application outweighs the harm to the legitimate interests of the person against whom seizure would be ordered and the harm to any third parties who may be harmed by such seizure;
the applicant is likely to succeed in showing that the person against whom seizure would be ordered misappropriated the trade secret by improper means, or conspired to use improper means to misappropriate it, and is in possession of the trade secret;
the application reasonably describes the matter to be seized and its location;
the person against whom seizure would be ordered would destroy or otherwise make such matter inaccessible to the court if the applicant were to proceed on notice to such person; and
the applicant has not publicized the requested seizure.
Sets forth required elements of such an order, including providing for: (1) seizure in a manner that minimizes any interruption of the business operations of third parties; and (2) protection of the property from disclosure. Directs the court to take seized material into its custody. Grants a person who suffers damage by reason of a wrongful or excessive seizure under this Act a cause of action against the applicant for the order and entitles such person to appropriate relief.
The summary continues for 11 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to House with amendment(s)" stage on December 11, 2014. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on December 11, 2014: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 494.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 113th Congress (2013-14), 296 of the 9,091 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
George Holding (R-NC) introduced it on July 29, 2014, and 23 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 8 Democrats, 15 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on July 29, 2014, 4426 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4291 days ago, on December 11, 2014.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 113th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2015 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers