The EEA requires the court to enter orders to preserve the confidentiality of the trade secret in any proceeding under the act. In cases of trade secret conversion in interstate or foreign commerce for economic benefit, a person faces a fine and/or 10 years in prison, and a corporation can be fined up to $5 million. A corporation or other organization held in violation of foreign espionage is subject to a maximum fine of $10 million. An individual convicted of theft of a trade secret under this statute for economic espionage with a foreign government, instrumentality or agent faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and/or a fine up to $500,000. The penalties that may be imposed under the EEA are severe. The standard definitions of trade secrets apply, as do the rules that the owner must have taken measures to keep the information secret, and the information must derive independent economic value from not being known and not being readily ascertainable through proper means. The EEA also prohibits "attempts" and "conspiracies" to commit economic espionage. For example, in June 2008, a former Chinese national who admitted he tried to sell fighter pilot training software to the Chinese navy was sentenced to two years in prison. The EEA creates a crime for the misappropriation of a trade secret to the economic benefit of anyone other than the trade secret owner generally, or specifically a foreign government. It criminalizes misappropriation of trade secrets. proprietary economic information" and to combat the rising tide of espionage against and threats to corporate trade secrets. ยงยง 1831-39, gives companies another tool in the fight against misappropriation of trade secrets to "adopt a national scheme to protect U.S. The Economic Espionage Act ("EEA"), 18 U.S.C. This article originally appeared in the ApConnecticut Law Tribune.
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