H.R. 3326: Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2015

114th Congress · introduced 2015-07-29 · Crime and Law Enforcement · Latest: Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2015-07-29 · official record
Who proposed it: Rep. Collins, Doug [R-GA-9] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2015

Plain summary

Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2015 This bill amends the federal criminal code to create a private civil cause of action for trade secret misappropriation. Specifically, the bill authorizes a trade secret owner to file a civil action in a U.S. district court seeking relief for trade secret misappropriation related to a product or service in interstate or foreign commerce. It establishes remedies, such as an injunction and damages. The statute of limitation is set at five years from the date of discovery of the misappropriation. A trade secret owner may apply for and a court may grant a seizure order to prevent dissemination of the trade secret if the court makes specific findings, including that an immediate and irreparable injury will occur if seizure is not ordered. A court must take custody of the seized materials and hold a seizure hearing within seven days. Any party harmed by the order may move to dissolve or modify the order and may also seek relief against the applicant of the seizure order for wrongful or excessive seizure. The Department of Justice must submit to Congress and publish a biannual report on trade secret theft outside the United States. The bill expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) trade secret theft occurs in the United States and around the world, (2) trade secret theft harms owner companies and their employees, and (3) the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 applies broadly to protect trade secrets from theft.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2015

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Collins, Doug [R-GA-9] · 164 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Hakeem S. Jeffries (D-NY), Suzan K. DelBene (D-WA), Brett Guthrie (R-KY), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Scott H. Peters (D-CA), Judy Chu (D-CA), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Sam Graves (R-MO), Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (D-GA), Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (R-GA), Mike Bost (R-IL), Jason Smith (R-MO), Michael K. Simpson (R-ID), Eric A. "Rick" Crawford (R-AR), Ann Wagner (R-MO), Austin Scott (R-GA), Trent Kelly (R-MS), Ken Calvert (R-CA), David G. Valadao (R-CA) and 104 more.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (2)

Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Statute: A written law passed by a legislature. A statute can be changed by a later law; changing a constitution needs an amendment.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-114hr3326.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/114/hr>

Record fed-us-cong114-hr3326 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong114 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong114