Trade secret litigation first took off in Texas with the enactment of the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act (TUTSA) in 2013, which made it easier for plaintiffs to sue for misappropriation and—importantly—to obtain injunctive relief.

The enactment of the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) fueled another increase in trade secret litigation, but this time in federal court. Substantively, the DTSA is virtually identical to TUTSA, but it now provides federal-question jurisdiction in virtually every trade secret case. It is very rare for Congress to "federalize" a standard state-law cause of action, and plaintiffs have seized the opportunity to bring trade-secret claims in "heavy-handed" federal courts.