The Economic Espionage Act (EEA), codified in 18 U.S.C. § 1831-1839, makes the theft of or trafficking in trade secrets for foreign governments, instrumentalities, or agents a criminal.
[co-authors: Bryce Couch, Jessica Lee, Alexandra Duncan, and Vrinda Bhuta]
This CLE paper explores criminal intellectual property violations. There are a wide range of potentially applicable statutory provisions. Part One broadly discusses criminal copyright infringement, focusing on 17 U.S.C. Section 506 and 18 U.S.C. Section 2319. Part Two explores the Trademark Copyright Act, as well as its relation to its civil law counterpart, the Lanham Act, and its evolution since 1984. Part Three explores the theft of trade secrets, both those illegally obtained for the benefit of a foreign government, instrumentality, or agent and those merely sold for profit. Part Four explores the enactment of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act a 1998 bill that responded to the increasing prevalence of web-based technology highlighting the anti-circumvention and anti-trafficking measures necessary to prevent internet piracy. Part Five explores counterfeit and illicit labels, as well as counterfeit docum