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Iowa Code § 550.2

Definitions

Known as the Uniform Trade Secrets Act

The act spans §§ 550–550 (8 sections).

Applied in 6 court decisions — leading case Shelby County Cookers, L.L.C., an Iowa Limited Liability Company v. Utility Consultants International, Inc., a Michigan Corporation (2014)

Most recently applied in CMI Roadbuilding, Inc. v. Iowa Parts, Inc. (September 2017)

How often courts cite this section

2012201710
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

1. “Improper means” means theft, bribery, misrepresentation, breach or inducement of a breach of a duty to maintain secrecy, or espionage, including but not limited to espionage through an electronic device.

2. “Knows” or “knowledge” means that a person has actual knowledge of information or a circumstance or that the person has reason to know of the information or circumstance.

3. “Misappropriation” means doing any of the following:

a. Acquisition of a trade secret by a person who knows that the trade secret is acquired by improper means.

b. Disclosure or use of a trade secret by a person who uses improper means to acquire the trade secret.

c. Disclosure or use of a trade secret by a person who at the time of disclosure or use, knows that the trade secret is derived from or through a person who had utilized improper means to acquire the trade secret.

d. Disclosure or use of a trade secret by a person who at the time of disclosure or use knows that the trade secret is acquired under circumstances giving rise to a duty to maintain its secrecy or limit its use.

e. Disclosure or use of a trade secret by a person who at the time of disclosure or use knows that the trade secret is derived from or through a person who owes a duty to maintain the trade secret’s secrecy or limit its use.

f. Disclosure or use of a trade secret by a person who, before a material change in the person’s position, knows that the information is a trade secret and that the trade secret has been acquired by accident or mistake.

4. “Trade secret” means information, including but not limited to a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, or process that is both of the following:

a. Derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by a person able to obtain economic value from its disclosure or use.

b. Is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy.

90 Acts, ch 1201, §2; 91 Acts, ch 35, §1

Official source: Iowa Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Iowa statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.