Partner
On January 9, 2012, the Governor signed the Trade Secrets Act making it the law of New Jersey. The Trade Secrets Act protects business information that meets three criteria: it is not generally known, it provides economic value from its use, and the business makes a reasonable effort to keep it a secret. The Act provides a civil remedy against any person who obtains any trade secret by improper means or improperly discloses such information. It provides for damages beyond the actual loss of money from disclosure (such as a “reasonable royalty”) as well as punitive damages equal to twice the amount of damages awarded. Before the Act was signed this week, New Jersey was one of only four states in the United States that did not have a statute protecting trade secrets.