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 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-
plication under clause (i) unless the court 
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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— 
‘‘(aa) the information is a 
trade secret; 
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‘‘(bb) the person against 
whom seizure would be ordered— 
‘‘(AA) misappropriated 
the trade secret of the appli-
cant by improper means; or 
‘‘(BB) conspired to use 
improper means to mis-
appropriate the trade secret 
of the applicant; and 
‘‘(cc) the person against 
whom seizure would be ordered 
has possession of the trade se-
cret; 
‘‘(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 
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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 narrowest seizure 
of property necessary to achieve the pur-
pose of this paragraph and direct that the 
seizure be conducted in a manner that 
minimizes any interruption of the business 
operations of third parties and, to the ex-
tent possible, does not interrupt the legiti-
mate business operations of the person ac-
cused of misappropriating the trade secret 
that are unrelated to the trade secret that 
has allegedly been misappropriated; 
‘‘(iii)(I) be accompanied by an order 
protecting the seized property from disclo-
sure by restricting the access of the appli-
cant, including during the seizure, and pro-
hibiting any copies, in whole or in part, of 
the seized property, to prevent undue dam-
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age to the party against whom the order 
has issued or others, until such parties 
have an opportunity to be heard in court; 
and 
‘‘(II) if access is granted to the appli-
cant, the access shall be consistent with 
subparagraph (D); 
‘‘(iv) set a date for a hearing de-
scribed in subparagraph (F) 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 an-
other date for the 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 
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 
the damages that any person may be enti-
tled to recover as a result of a wrongful or 
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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. 
If the seized material includes an electronic 
storage medium, or if the seized material is 
stored on an electronic storage medium, the 
court shall prohibit the medium from being con-
nected to an electronic network or the Internet 
without the consent of both parties, until the 
hearing required under subparagraph (B)(iv) 
and described in subparagraph (F). 
‘‘(E) SERVICE OF ORDER.—The court shall 
order that service of a copy of the order under 
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this paragraph, and the submissions of the ap-
plicant to obtain the order, shall be made by a 
Federal law enforcement officer, or may be 
made by a State or local law enforcement offi-
cer, who, upon making service, shall carry out 
the seizure under the order. 
‘‘(F) SEIZURE HEARING.— 
‘‘(i) DATE.—A court that issues a sei-
zure order shall hold a hearing on the date 
set by the court under subparagraph 
(B)(iv). 
‘‘(ii) BURDEN OF PROOF.—At a hear-
ing held under this subparagraph, the 
party obtaining the order shall have the 
burden to prove that the facts supporting 
the findings of fact and conclusions of law 
necessary to support the order are still in 
effect. If the party fails to meet that bur-
den, the seizure order shall be dissolved or 
modified appropriately. 
‘‘(iii) DISSOLUTION OR MODIFICATION 
OF
ORDER.—A party against whom the 
order has been issued or any person 
harmed by the order may move the court 
at any time to dissolve or modify the order 
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after giving notice to the party who ob-
tained the order. 
‘‘(iv) DISCOVERY TIME LIMITS.—The 
court may make such orders modifying the 
time limits for discovery under the Federal 
Rules of Civil Procedure as may be nec-
essary to prevent the frustration of the 
purposes of a hearing under this subpara-
graph. 
‘‘(G) 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. 
‘‘(H) MOTION FOR ENCRYPTION.—A party 
may make a motion at any time, which may be 
heard ex parte, to encrypt any material seized 
or to be seized under this paragraph that is 
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stored on an electronic storage medium. The 
motion shall include, when possible, the desired 
encryption method. 
‘‘(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, provided the order does 
not prevent a person from accepting an 
offer of employment under conditions that 
avoid actual or threatened misappropria-
tion described in paragraph (1); 
‘‘(ii) if determined appropriate by the 
court, requiring affirmative actions to be 
taken to protect the trade secret; and 
‘‘(iii) in exceptional circumstances 
that render an injunction inequitable, that 
conditions future use of the trade secret 
upon payment of a reasonable royalty for 
no longer than the period of time for which 
such use could have been prohibited; 
‘‘(B) award— 
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‘‘(i)(I) damages for actual loss caused 
by the misappropriation of the trade se-
cret; and 
‘‘(II) damages for any unjust enrich-
ment caused by the misappropriation of 
the trade secret that is not addressed in 
computing damages for actual loss; or 
‘‘(ii) in lieu of damages measured by 
any other methods, the damages caused by 
the misappropriation measured by imposi-
tion of liability for a reasonable royalty for 
the misappropriator’s unauthorized disclo-
sure or use of the trade secret; 
‘‘(C) if the trade secret is willfully and ma-
liciously misappropriated, award exemplary 
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. 
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‘‘(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; 
(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 
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