Passage of the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) made a major change in the landscape for managing and protecting intellectual property (IP). This is particularly important when the owner of the IP does not wish to pursue patent protection or cannot meet the qualifications for obtaining a patent. The DTSA provides an important federal remedy as a complement to state trade secret laws, which have been amended in the majority of states to adopt the structure of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA).

Since the passage of the DTSA, the asserts of trade secrets have increased rapidly. There are trade secret asserts in a variety of unrelated commercial areas, like automotive technology, paint chemistry, real estate sales, branded waters, healthy drinks, firework displays, highway tourist attaches, nut fines in cookies, and toys and games for children. Trade secrets are not industry specific; they just need to be secret. Everything is a trade secret; nothing is a trade secret; and, the difference between them is what was done or not done by the trade secret owner to protect the alleged trade secret.