New Texas Trade Secrets Act

Effective September 1, 2013 the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act becomes law.  In the past, trade secret law in Texas has been largely governed by a large and sometimes confusing body of case law.  Having a statute to rely upon should make it easier for companies to enforce their rights when their trade secrets are misappropriated and give clearer guidance as to what is considered a violation.

Highlights of the new bill are:

• It may now be easier for Texas companies to recover damages for trade secret theft.
• Customer data is included as the type of information that can be a protected trade secret, making it easier to obtain court relief against departing employees and unscrupulous competitors that misappropriate this data.
• A Company must use reasonable efforts to keep the information secret for it to be a trade secret entitled to protection.
• Injunctive relief, monetary damages, attorney fees and punitive damages may be awarded against the wrongdoers.