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The public can expect an increase in trade secret litigation in Maryland and Washington, D.C. in 2014, as well as throughout several other jurisdictions in the United States. Certainly 2013 was a big trade secrets year, but 2014 promises to be an even bigger year.
One very hot trade secrets issue involved the allegation by security company Mandiant in February 2013 that the Chinese government was sponsoring hackers in China that systematically engaging in cyberattacks in the United States. The U.S. responded with outrage, followed with a White House " Executive Order and 5-Point Plan" for combatting Cybertheft; then the Pentagon publicly accused China of cyberhacking in its Annual Report to Congress; and the U.S. Senators called for the creation of a watch list of foreign countries that " engage in economic or industrial espionage". It appeared the U.S. had taken the upper hand on China in terms of the moral high ground and public image on the topic.
Then came the Edward Snowden scandal of the NSA.
Snowden single-handedly snatched America's moral high ground away with his now infamous "revelations" about NSA surveillance programs, including spying on friendly government leaders and allies. America took a huge credibility hit. After all, it is very difficult to complain about others hacking when you are doing the same thing as well as monitoring "friends' " telephone calls. There will surely be more uproar about this debacle in 2014.
All along, trade secrets legislation has also been gaining ground in the states, including Maryland and D.C.
Maryland is one of 48 states that have adopted the Uniform Trade Secrets Act. Texas, by the way, became the 48th state to do so in 2013. And the Massachusetts legislature currently has two bills that would also adopt the uniform act. New York and Massachusetts are the only hold-outs thus far in adopting some form of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act., which celebrates its 34th anniversary in August.
Maryland's own trade secrets law can be found at : Md. Com. L. Code Secs. 11-1201, et seq. (http://law.justia.com/codes/maaryland/2010/commercial-la/title-11/subtitle-12/) (http://www.lawserver.com/law/state/louisiana/la-laws/louisiana revised statutes title 51 chapter 13-a); and see, http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/Maryland Trade n - Review]/
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