A federal trade secrets protection bill that's championed as a safeguard of innovation and criticized as potentially harmful to unwitting employees got its first look Wednesday in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Defend Trade Secrets Act gives federal courts the ability to order “seizure of property necessary” to stop the dissemination of stolen trade secrets. The bill draws from the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, which has been adopted in various forms by 47 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Tom Beall, chief intellectual property counsel for fiber optic cable manufacturer Corning Inc., told the Senate panel that state laws, while helpful, are inefficient for a national economy and globalized competition.