S. 3642 (112th): Theft of Trade Secrets Clarification Act of 2012

Introduced:
Nov 27, 2012 (112th Congress, 2011–2013)
Sponsor:
Sen. Patrick Leahy [D-VT]
Status:
Signed by the President
Slip Law:
This bill became Pub.L. 112-236.

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. S. stands for Senate bill.

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Status

This bill was enacted after being signed by the President on December 28, 2012.

Progress
Introduced Nov 27, 2012
Passed Senate Nov 27, 2012
Passed House Dec 18, 2012
Signed by the President Dec 28, 2012
Votes

House Vote on Passage
Dec 18, 2012 7:16 p.m.
Passed 388/4

Cosponsors
1 cosponsors (1D) (show)
Committees

House Judiciary

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

A bill to clarify the scope of the Economic Espionage Act of 1996.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

Read Bill Text »

Last updated Jan 01, 2012.
1 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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Citation

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

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Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

12/28/2012--Public Law. (This measure has not been amended since it was introduced.
The summary of that version is repeated here.) Theft of Trade Secrets Clarification Act of 2012 - Amends the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 to apply the prohibition against the theft of trade secrets to a trade secret that is related to a product or service used in or intended for use in interstate or foreign commerce (currently, a trade secret that is related to or included in a product that is produced for or placed in interstate or foreign commerce).

House Republican Conference Summary

The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.

This summary can be found at http://www.gop.gov/bill/112/2/s3642.

Summary

S. 3642 would amend the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 to clarify that it was intended to protect trade secrets, such as proprietary source code, which are related to a product or service used in or intended for use in interstate or foreign commerce.  The bill would close a loophole that became apparent after a Second Circuit decision threw out the criminal conviction of a programmer who stole the source code of his employer to establish a competing firm.   

House Democratic Caucus Summary

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The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

United States Code

The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)