10-7 ISSUES RELATED TO LITIGATING IN FEDERAL COURT UNDER THE DTSA

• Jurisdiction: United States

10-7 Issues Related to Litigating in Federal Court Under the DTSA

Given its recent enactment, there is currently little case law discussing the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016. The following section touches on the issues that have arisen in the months since it was passed.

The DTSA provides federal courts with original jurisdiction over claims regarding misappropriation of trade secrets relating to interstate or foreign commerce. Thus, once it became effective in May 2016, a number of plaintiffs amended their complaints to add a claim under the federal statute.³⁹ One plaintiff, for example, used the amended complaint to assert a basis for federal jurisdiction that previously did not exist.⁴⁰ Although the DTSA's jurisdiction provisions are not particularly controversial so far, what may prove more complicated is whether a court would decide to extend supplemental jurisdiction over other claims brought alongside the DTSA claim. At least one district court found that no analysis was necessary in asserting supplemental jurisdiction, and another made "no determination on whether to exercise its discretion over the remaining claims . . . in the event the federal claim [did] not survive."⁴¹

--------

Notes:

^[39] See, e.g., Ford Motor Co. v. Versata Software, Inc., No. 15-cv-10628, 2016 WL 6609455 (E.D. Mich. Sept. 6, 2016); EmployBridge, LLC v. Riven Rock Staffing, LLC, No. 16-833 WJ/KK, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 109184, at *6-7 (D.N.M. Aug. 17, 2016).

^[40] EmployBridge, LLC v. Riven Rock...