The Economic Espionage Act -- Is It Working?

The federal Economic Espionage Act (the "EEA") was passed by Congress in 1996 to facilitate criminal prosecutions for theft of trade secrets from U.S. companies. The EEA is a powerful tool for federal prosecutors and potentially a great boon to companies owning trade secrets. Is the law, though, living up to that potential?

The objective data appear to indicate that in most judicial districts the EEA may not be used to its full extent. While prosecutions may continue to increase in coming years, companies will need to work hard to make sure their trade secrets are protected and to convince prosecutors to go to bat for those trade secrets.

In the linked article, we examine the data and discuss why it's important for companies to take action to make sure their trade secrets are protected.