SEC. 2. FEDERAL JURISDICTION FOR THEFT OF TRADE SE-
CRETS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1836 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by striking subsection (b) and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(b) PRIVATE CIVIL ACTIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An owner of a trade secret 
may bring a civil action under this subsection if the 
person is aggrieved by a misappropriation of a trade 
secret that is related to a product or service used in, 
or intended for use in, interstate or foreign com-
merce. 
‘‘(2) CIVIL SEIZURE.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(i) APPLICATION.—Based on an affi-
davit or verified complaint satisfying the 
requirements of this paragraph, the court 
may, upon ex parte application, issue an 
order providing for the seizure of property 
necessary to preserve evidence in a civil ac-
tion brought under paragraph (1) or to 
prevent the propagation or dissemination 
of the trade secret that is the subject of 
the action. 
‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS
FOR
ISSUING 
ORDER.—The court may not grant an ap-
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plication under clause (i) unless the court 
finds that it clearly appears from specific 
facts that— 
‘‘(I) an order issued pursuant to 
Rule 65(b) of the Federal Rules of 
Civil Procedure would be inadequate 
to achieve the purpose of this para-
graph because the party to which the 
order would be issued would evade, 
avoid, or otherwise not comply with 
such an order; 
‘‘(II) an immediate and irrep-
arable injury will occur if such seizure 
is not ordered; 
‘‘(III) 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 of granting the ap-
plication and substantially outweighs 
the harm to any third parties who 
may be harmed by such seizure; 
‘‘(IV) the applicant is likely to 
succeed in showing that the person 
against whom seizure would be or-
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dered misappropriated the trade se-
cret and is in possession of the trade 
secret; 
‘‘(V) the application describes 
with reasonable particularity the mat-
ter to be seized and, to the extent rea-
sonable 
under 
the 
circumstances, 
identifies the location where the mat-
ter is to be seized; 
‘‘(VI) the person against whom 
seizure would be ordered, or persons 
acting in concert with such person, 
would destroy, move, hide, or other-
wise make such matter inaccessible to 
the court, if the applicant were to pro-
ceed on notice to such person; and 
‘‘(VII) the applicant has not pub-
licized the requested seizure. 
‘‘(B) ELEMENTS OF ORDER.—If an order 
is issued under subparagraph (A), it shall— 
‘‘(i) set forth findings of fact and con-
clusions of law required for the order; 
‘‘(ii) provide for the seizure of any 
property in a manner that minimizes any 
interruption of the business operations of 
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third parties and, to the extent possible, 
does not interrupt those legitimate busi-
ness operations of the person accused of 
misappropriating the trade secret that are 
unrelated to the trade secret that has al-
legedly been misappropriated; 
‘‘(iii) be accompanied by an order pro-
tecting the property from disclosure by re-
stricting the access of the applicant, in-
cluding during the seizure, and prohibiting 
any copies, in whole or in part, of the 
seized property, to prevent undue damage 
to the party against whom the order has 
issued or others, until such parties have an 
opportunity to be heard in court; 
‘‘(iv) set a date for a hearing at the 
earliest possible time, and not later than 7 
days after the order has issued, unless the 
party against whom the order is directed 
and others harmed by the order consent to 
another date for such hearing, except that 
a party against whom the order has issued 
or any person harmed by the order may 
move the court at any time to dissolve or 
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modify the order after giving notice to the 
applicant who obtained the order; and 
‘‘(v) require the person obtaining the 
order to provide the security determined 
adequate by the court for the payment of 
such damages as any person may be enti-
tled to recover as a result of a wrongful or 
excessive seizure or wrongful or excessive 
attempted seizure under this paragraph. 
‘‘(C) PROTECTION FROM PUBLICITY.—The 
court shall take appropriate action to protect 
the person against whom an order under this 
paragraph is directed from publicity, by or at 
the behest of the person obtaining the order, 
about such order and any seizure under such 
order. 
‘‘(D) 
MATERIALS
IN
CUSTODY
OF 
COURT.—Any materials seized under this para-
graph shall be taken into the custody of the 
court. The court shall secure the seized material 
from physical and electronic access during the 
seizure and while in the custody of the court. 
‘‘(E) SERVICE OF ORDER.—The court shall 
order that service of a copy of the order under 
this paragraph shall be made by a Federal law 
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enforcement officer, or may be made by a State 
or local law enforcement officer, who, upon 
making service, shall carry out the seizure 
under the order. 
‘‘(F) ACTION
FOR
DAMAGE
CAUSED
BY 
WRONGFUL
SEIZURE.—A person who suffers 
damage by reason of a wrongful or excessive 
seizure under this paragraph has a cause of ac-
tion against the applicant for the order under 
which such seizure was made, and shall be enti-
tled to the same relief as is provided under sec-
tion 34(d)(11) of the Trademark Act of 1946 
(15 U.S.C. 1116(d)(11)). The security posted 
with the court under subparagraph (B)(v) shall 
not limit the recovery of third parties for dam-
ages. 
‘‘(3) REMEDIES.—In a civil action brought 
under this subsection with respect to the misappro-
priation of a trade secret, a court may— 
‘‘(A) grant an injunction— 
‘‘(i) to prevent any actual or threat-
ened misappropriation described in para-
graph (1) on such terms as the court 
deems reasonable; 
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damages in an amount not more than 3 times 
the amount of the damages awarded under sub-
paragraph (B); and 
‘‘(D) if a claim of the misappropriation is 
made in bad faith, a motion to terminate an in-
junction is made or opposed in bad faith, or the 
trade secret was willfully and maliciously mis-
appropriated, award reasonable attorney’s fees 
to the prevailing party. 
‘‘(c) JURISDICTION.—The district courts of the 
United States shall have original jurisdiction of civil ac-
tions brought under this section. 
‘‘(d) PERIOD OF LIMITATIONS.—A civil action under 
subsection (b) may not be commenced later than 5 years 
after the date on which the misappropriation with respect 
to which the action would relate is discovered or by the 
exercise of reasonable diligence should have been discov-
ered. For purposes of this subsection, a continuing mis-
appropriation constitutes a single claim of misappropria-
tion.’’. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 1839 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
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(2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting a semicolon; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(5) the term ‘misappropriation’ means— 
‘‘(A) acquisition of a trade secret of an-
other by a person who knows or has reason to 
know that the trade secret was acquired by im-
proper means; or 
‘‘(B) disclosure or use of a trade secret of 
another without express or implied consent by 
a person who— 
‘‘(i) used improper means to acquire 
knowledge of the trade secret; 
‘‘(ii) at the time of disclosure or use, 
knew or had reason to know that the 
knowledge of the trade secret was— 
‘‘(I) derived from or through a 
person who had used improper means 
to acquire the trade secret; 
‘‘(II) 
acquired 
under 
cir-
cumstances giving rise to a duty to 
maintain the secrecy of the trade se-
cret or limit the use of the trade se-
cret; or 
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‘‘(III) derived from or through a 
person who owed a duty to the person 
seeking relief to maintain the secrecy 
of the trade secret or limit the use of 
the trade secret; or 
‘‘(iii) before a material change of the 
position of the person, knew or had reason 
to know that— 
‘‘(I) the trade secret was a trade 
secret; and 
‘‘(II) knowledge of the trade se-
cret had been acquired by accident or 
mistake; 
‘‘(6) the term ‘improper means’— 
‘‘(A) includes theft, bribery, misrepresenta-
tion, breach or inducement of a breach of a 
duty to maintain secrecy, or espionage through 
electronic or other means; and 
‘‘(B) does not include reverse engineering 
or independent derivation; and 
‘‘(7) the term ‘Trademark Act of 1946’ means 
the Act entitled ‘An Act to provide for the registra-
tion and protection of trademarks used in commerce, 
to carry out the provisions of certain international 
conventions, and for other purposes, approved July 
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5, 1946 (15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.) (commonly re-
ferred to as the ‘‘Trademark Act of 1946’’ or the 
‘‘Lanham Act’’)’.’’. 
(c) EXCEPTIONS TO PROHIBITION.—Section 1833 of 
title 18, United States Code, is amended, in the matter 
preceding paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or create a private 
right of action for’’ after ‘‘prohibit’’. 
(d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) The section heading for section 1836 of title 
18, United States Code, is amended to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘§ 1836. Civil proceedings’’. 
(2) The table of sections for chapter 90 of title 
18, United States Code, is amended by striking the 
item relating to section 1836 and inserting the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘1836. Civil proceedings.’’. 
(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to any misappropria-
tion of a trade secret (as defined in section 1839 of title 
18, United States Code, as amended by this section) for 
which any act occurs on or after the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
(f) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in the 
amendments made by this section shall be construed to 
modify the rule of construction under section 1838 of title 
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18, United States Code, or to preempt any other provision 
of law. 
Æ 
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