Intellectual Property Law

Uniform Trade Secret Act Legislation - In Massachusetts, the Sixth Time May Be a Charm

By Lee.Gesmer

Steve Chow at Burns & Levinson has sent me the legislation attached below, which the Massachusetts Uniform Law Commission, of which he is a member, filed with the Massachusetts House of Representatives on November 5, 2008.

This is the sixth attempt since 1995 to get the 1985 Uniform Trade Secret Act (UTSA) enacted in Massachusetts; although there was no opposition, the furthest that a prior attempt progressed was to third reading in the House. The uniform act has been adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia. Apart from Massachusetts, the only other states that have not adopted the act are New York, New Jersey, Texas and Wyoming.

Steve Chow advises me that, because of some interest from the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies and the Associated Industries of Massachusetts there is a better than even chance that it will be adopted in Massachusetts before the end of this legislative session, which ends in July 2010.

Here is a link to the proposed legislation

Full post as published by Mass Law Blog on November 05, 2008 (boomark / email).