What Are "Reasonable Efforts or Measures" Under the Uniform Trade Secrets Act?

Trade secrets are an increasingly important component of most businesses' intellectual property protection strategies, and 48 states have adopted versions of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA) to increase consistency in how courts evaluate trade secret claims. Critically, in every UTSA jurisdiction—and under the related federal Defend Trade Secrets Act—trade secret protection is only available if a business employs reasonable efforts or measures to keep the relevant information. . . secret. Please join Steptoe's Claudia Wilson Frost and Paul Stancil in a one-hour, CLE-eligible webinar as they review the principles courts around the country have embraced when evaluating the "reasonable efforts or measures" question. They will explore the evidence parties need to prove—or disprove—at trial to establish reasonable measures have been taken.

Among other things, the webinar will address:

• How to reconcile a purportedly "uniform" Act with frequently disuniform interpretations across different jurisdictions.   
• How to define reasonable efforts or measures when the statute itself is silent on the subject.
• Whether uniform jury instructions offer a potential solution.
• What other possible sources of "uniformity" might offer litigants and trial courts with respect to guidance on the topic.  
• How the proposed FTC prohibition against noncompetition agreements might impact the analysis if it takes effect, including a discussion of how California's longstanding ban on noncompetes affects California's reasonable efforts analysis.
• Practical differences in the reasonable efforts analysis at different stages in litigation—from the temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction stages through trial on the merits.