Opinion ID: 1059041
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Virginia Act

Text: The plain language of the Act reflects the General Assembly's decision to protect the owner of a trade secret from another's misuse of that secret. Because the General Assembly has enacted legislation addressing this subject, the role of the courts is limited to construing and applying the terms set forth in the Act. See Dionne, 240 Va. at 304, 397 S.E.2d at 114. Depending on the facts of a particular case, software components, as parts of a computer program, may be trade secrets covered by the Act. See Code § 59.1-336. In order for a plaintiff to establish that such information has been the subject of a trade secret violation, two statutory elements must be proved, namely, the existence of a trade secret and its misappropriation by the defendant. See id. Thus, if a plaintiff fails to prove either required element, the plaintiff is not entitled to relief under the Act. See Code §§ 59.1-336 through -338. Under the definition of trade secret set forth in Code § 59.1-336, MicroStrategy was required to prove that the software components at issue: 1) had independent economic value from not being generally known and readily ascertainable by proper means by persons who could obtain economic value from their disclosure; and 2) were the subject of reasonable efforts to maintain their secrecy. To prove a misappropriation of alleged trade secrets under the Act, based on its theory of the case, MicroStrategy was required to establish two factors: 1) that the defendants disclosed or used trade secrets developed by MicroStrategy without its express or implied consent; and 2) that the defendants knew or had reason to know that their knowledge of the trade secrets was either acquired under circumstances giving rise to a duty to maintain their secrecy, or derived from or through a person who owed such a duty to MicroStrategy. Id.