By David Monachino

New Jersey is one of the four remaining states that have not adopted some or all of the provisions of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (Massachusetts, New York and Texas are the others), but instead NJ courts have relied wide range of common law decisions in order to establish a trade secret misappropriation claim. On September 26, 2011, the New Jersey Senate approved a bill known as the “New Jersey Trade Secrets Act” (A – 921), which provides statutory remedies and procedural guidance for the misappropriation of trade secrets. This proposed bill provides for damages for both actual loss suffered by a plaintiff and for any unjust enrichment of the defendant caused by the misappropriation of trade secrets. Damages also may include a reasonable royalty for unauthorized disclosure or use of the trade secrets. In cases of willful misappropriation, punitive damages and attorneys’ fees may be awarded. In addition, if a claim for misappropriation is brought in bad faith, attorneys’ fees may be awarded.

The New Jersey Act also has a couple of unique and helpful provisions, including a requirement that a court “preserve the secrecy of an alleged trade secret by reasonable means consistent with” court rules. There is also “a presumption in favor of granting protective orders in connection with discovery proceedings” as well as “provisions limiting access to confidential information to only the attorneys for the parties and their experts, holding in-camera hearings, sealing the records of the action, and ordering any person involved in the litigation not to disclose an alleged trade secret without prior court approval.”

The NJ Assembly has to vote on the Senate’s amended version of the bill before it is presented to Governor Chris Christie for his signature. The bill is expected to be voted upon after the November recess and Governor Christie then has 45 days to sign the bill into law. If the bill is singed, it will become effective immediately, but will not be retroactive. Assuming the law eventually passes, it is still important for companies doing business in NJ to define what may constitute proprietary information, especially if that definition is broader than the “trade secret” definition found in the statute. Either way — whether the bill passes or not — it remains important for a business to continue to take reasonable efforts to maintain the secrecy of any information that it deems confidential or risk losing trade secret protection.