Legislation designed to enhance protections for U.S. companies' trade secrets is one step closer to becoming law after the Senate unanimously passed the measure Tuesday.
The Defend Trade Secrets Act, authored by Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Chris Coons, D-Del., would in part allow companies victimized by trade secret theft to sue in federal court.
The authors said that trade secrets — including algorithms, software codes, designs, recipes, industrial techniques and customer lists — are currently the only form of intellectually property unprotected by the federal civil court system.
"It’s a long overdue update that will empower American companies to protect their jobs in the 21st century," Coons said in a statement.
The measure would enable judges to seize assets related to trade secret theft or enjoin companies from disseminating those secrets publicly.
It would also establish a uniform standard for the crime in an effort to avoid a patchwork of state-level laws, although it would not pre-empt those laws.
Hatch and Coons said that the measure could save the U.S. economy billions each year. The National Association of Manufacturers tabbed the cost of intellectual property theft to American businesses at $250 billion annually.
The group added that although intellectual property represents years of work and the bulk of company portfolios, competitors can now "steal that knowledge with the click of a mouse."
"Manufacturers need a strong, unified federal policy that will enforce strict laws to protect what many businesses consider their most valued corporate assets," NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons said in a statement.
The measure next heads to the House and, if passed, to the White House for the president's signature.
The Obama administration signaled its support for the measure, but the House Judiciary Committee has yet to consider the bill despite gaining more than 120 sponsors from both sides of the aisle in that chamber.
Hatch and Coons expressed confidence that it would be signed into law "in the coming weeks."