Trade Secrets Law in Illinois

Note: This page covers information specific to Illinois. See the Trade Secrets overview for more general information.

The Illinois Trade Secrets Act ("ITSA") is located at chapter 765 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes. ITSA is largely identical to the Uniform Trade Secrets Act. For generally applicable information on trade secrets claims and defenses, see Basics of a Trade Secret Claim and Publishing Trade Secrets.

Like the Uniform Trade Secret Act, ITSA prohibits "misappropriation" of trade secrets and provides certain remedies.

Definitions

765 Ill. Comp. Stat. 1065/2 (scroll down) defines the key terms of ITSA:

(a) "Improper means" includes theft, bribery, misrepresentation, breach or inducement of a breach of a confidential relationship or other duty to maintain secrecy or limit use, or espionage through electronic or other means. Reverse engineering or independent development shall not be considered improper means.

(b) "Misappropriation" means:

(1) acquisition of a trade secret of a person by another person who knows or has reason to know that the trade secret was acquired by improper means; or

(2) disclosure or use of a trade secret of a person without express or implied consent by another person who:

(A) used improper means to acquire knowledge of the trade secret; or

(B) at the time of disclosure or use, knew or had reason to know that knowledge of the trade secret was:

(I) derived from or through a person who utilized improper means to acquire it;

(II) acquired under circumstances giving rise to a duty to maintain its secrecy or limit its use; or

(III) derived from or through a person who owed a duty to the person seeking relief to maintain its secrecy or limit its use; or

(C) before a material change of position, knew or had reason to know that it was a trade secret and that knowledge of it had been acquired by accident or mistake.

(c) "Person" means a natural person, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision or agency, or any other for‑profit or not‑for‑profit legal entity.

(d) "Trade secret" means information, including but not limited to, technical or non‑technical data, a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, drawing, process, financial data, or list of actual or potential customers or suppliers, that:

(1) is sufficiently secret to derive economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use; and

(2) is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy or confidentiality.

For generally applicable information on how a trade secrets claim works, see Basics of a Trade Secret Claim.

Remedies

If the court finds that a defendant has misappropriated a plaintiff's trade secret(s), it may impose the following remedies:

• Injunctive Relief: ITSA empowers a court to order a defendant to stop violating the plaintiff's rights and to take steps to preserve the secrecy of the plaintiff's information. See 765 Ill. Comp. Stat. 1065/3 (scroll down). Most importantly, this means that a court has the authority, as far as the law of trade secrets goes, to order you to stop publishing someone's trade secrets if it finds that your publication amounts to misappropriation. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution may limit the court's ability to do so, however. For details, see Publishing Trade Secrets.

• Damages: A court can make a defendant pay money damages to the plaintiff for the economic harm suffered as a result of a trade secret violation. This may include the plaintiff's losses resulting from the misappropriation and the defendant's profits derived from it. If the court determines that the defendant acted willfully or maliciously, it may award the plaintiff punitive damages in an amount up to twice its actual damages. See 765 Ill. Comp. Stat. 1065/4 (scroll down).

• Attorneys' Fees: If a plaintiff sues and wins, the court may award attorneys' fees if it finds that the defendant acted willfully or maliciously. On the other hand, if the defendant wins, the court may award attorneys' fees if it finds that the plaintiff acted in bad faith when filing the lawsuit. The court may also award attorneys' fees if a motion to terminate an injunction is made or resisted in bad faith. See 765 Ill. Comp. Stat. 1065/5 (scroll down).

Statute of Limitations

The statute of limitations for a trade secret claim in Illinois is five years. See 765 Ill. Comp. Stat. 1065/7 (scroll down).