SOUTHEAST TEXAS RECORD

Protecting intellectual property is a critical component of our nation’s founding and is essential to strengthening our economy, however flawed jury awards disconnected from underlying legal doctrine could have disastrous effects on collaboration and innovation. The United States Constitution allows Congress to write laws granting “authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries”. In the spirit of this constitutional objective, the Uniform Law Commission promulgated the Uniform Trade Secrets Act forty years ago to establish clarity about what a trade secret is and how misappropriation of trade secrets should be punished. To date 47 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands have adopted the uniform code.