The Texas Citizens Participation Act, Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 27.001 et seq. (the TCPA), Texas’ anti-SLAPP statute, is likely to receive a much needed overhaul after the Texas Senate unanimously passed H.B. 2730 on May 17, 2019. If the Texas governor signs it into law, as expected based on the bill’s broad bipartisan support in the Texas House and Senate, the revisions will take effect on September 1, 2019, and will clarify – and significantly narrow – the types of claims to which the TCPA applies. Also, importantly for companies seeking to protect their trade secrets and enforce their restrictive covenants, the changes to the TCPA would exempt such claims from its purview.

The TCPA was originally enacted in 2011 to protect citizens who exercise their First Amendment rights from retaliatory legal actions that seek to intimidate or silence them. Specifically, the TCPA allows a party to file a motion to dismiss within 60 days of service of a lawsuit if it can establish that the legal action is based on, relates to, or is in response to the party’s exercise of the right of free speech, the right to petition, or the right of association. If the party-defendant meets this burden, the plaintiff must then establish “by clear and specific evidence a prima facie case for each essential element of the claim in question.” If the defendant is ultimately successful on its motion to dismiss, the defendant is entitled to recover its attorneys’ fees.

Importantly, while a TCPA motion to dismiss is pending – and during any subsequent appeal of the trial court’s ruling on the motion – discovery and all other proceedings at the trial court are stayed. This stay can result in significant delay, which can be particularly harmful in cases in which an employer seeks emergency injunctive relief to prevent the irreparable harm associated with the use and disclosure of misappropriated trade secrets or the violation of restrictive covenants by former employees.Continue Reading Texas Legislature takes aim at Anti-SLAPP challenges

This is a guest post from our colleagues in Reed Smith’s Intellectual Property, Information and Innovation Group. For additional reading on the Defend Trade Secrets Act, please see our prior Employment Law Watch blog post, “New Immunity Given To Employees Who Disclose Employer Trade Secrets.” 

Following President Obama’s signing of the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA” or the “Act”) into law last week, parties are beginning to file lawsuits asserting claims under the DTSA. As widely reported, before the DTSA’s enactment, civil trade secret legislation was solely a creature of state law.  Consequently, absent another basis for federal jurisdiction, parties could only bring a civil trade secret claim in state court. The DTSA dramatically changed trade secret litigation practice by opening the door to federal court through creation of a federal civil trade secret misappropriation cause of action.
Continue Reading First Round of Defend Trade Secrets Act Complaints Alleging Misappropriation Activity Both Before and After DTSA’s Enactment: Will They Stick?

As technology accelerates and electronic information theft becomes more difficult to detect and prevent, vigilant companies constantly look for ways to protect the trade secrets they consider their “crown jewels.” The passage of the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) will help company management and counsel sleep better knowing that federal courts will be empowered to provide consistent, uniform trade secret protection across the country.

The House voted yesterday to pass the DTSA, which the Senate had unanimously passed.  President Obama is expected to sign it into law.

The DTSA amends the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 (EEA) by allowing plaintiffs to file civil lawsuits for trade secret misappropriation in federal court.  Thus, the DTSA provides an option to bring claims for misappropriation of trade secrets in federal court when federal jurisdiction would not otherwise exist. It also provides uniformity in the law regarding trade secrets at a federal level, and should result in the development of national case law in an area that is often viewed as patchwork at best. This consistency, along with the benefit of access to federal courts, is one of the main reasons company management strongly supported the DTSA.
Continue Reading Landmark Federal Trade Secrets Legislation on Its Way to President Obama for Signature