Peter A. Steinmeyer and Susan Gross Sholinsky, Members of the Firm in the Employment, Labor & Workforce Management practice, in the firm’s Chicago and New York offices, respectively, authored an article in IPWatchdog, titled “Strategies for Complying with the Notice Provisions of the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016.”

Following is an excerpt:

The DTSA contains immunity and anti-retaliation provisions intended to protect individuals who may need to disclose trade secrets. Specifically, the DTSA provides immunity to individuals under any federal or state trade secret law for the disclosure of a trade secret that is made (i) in confidence to a federal, state, or local government official, either directly or indirectly, or to an attorney for the sole purpose of reporting or investigating a suspected violation of law, or (ii) in a complaint or other document filed in a lawsuit or other proceeding, if such filing is made under seal.

Further, if an individual files a lawsuit against his or her employer alleging retaliation for reporting a suspected violation of law, the individual may disclose the trade secret to his or her attorney. The individual may also use the trade secret information in the court proceeding, provided that he or she files any document containing the trade secret under seal and does not disclose the trade secret except pursuant to court order.

See also the attorneys' Act Now Advisory.

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