What Is the Defend Trade Secrets Act?
The Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) is the federal civil trade secret statute that lets an owner of a misappropriated trade secret sue in U.S. district court when the secret relates to a product or service used in, or intended for use in, interstate or foreign commerce. The statute sits in 18 U.S.C. Chapter 90, alongside the Economic Espionage Act. That matters because trade secret disputes that once depended primarily on state law can now be litigated in federal court with federal remedies, including injunctions, damages, and in rare cases ex parte seizure, meaning a no-notice request for court-supervised seizure before the other side is heard.