99 cases that involve conduct almost entirely outside the US so long as it has some nexus with the country. Specifically, courts have ruled that the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act applies so long at least one “act in furtherance of the misappropriation” takes place in the US. That’s very broad—and what it means is that Israeli companies can bring suits in US federal court for trade secret claims that happen mostly in Israel or somewhere else so long as that minimal “act in furtherance” took place in the US. Daniel Zaheer: I’d also add that US courts have powerful tools for discovery, and don’t require a lot of the pre-suit evidence gathering that courts in other countries require. That means plaintiffs can get into court quickly and then use those tools to get evidence of wrongdoing. In addition to the courts, the US International Trade Commission has other powerful remedies for enforcing US IP laws—including both patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation. Those include barring importation of infringing goods into the US market, and they can be imposed after fairly speedy investigations and trials. Michael Ng: That evidence-gathering works both ways, though. It means that claimants need to be prepared to produce their own documents, and make their own witnesses available to give testimony in depositions. That can take a lot of work, and requires close coordination between the business and legal teams. That’s part of why our firm has invested in our office in Tel Aviv—to give us a team on the ground that can work with clients, read documents in Hebrew or English, and generally coordinate what can be complicated proceedings.
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