7 U.S.C. § 2157
Section 2157 · Release of trade secrets
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case Mississippi State University v. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Inc. (2008)
Most recently applied in 992 So. 2d 595 - Miss. State Univ. v. PETA, INC. (July 2008)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. 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.
It shall be unlawful for any member of an Institutional Animal Committee to release any confidential information of the research facility including any information that concerns or relates to—
(1) the trade secrets, processes, operations, style of work, or apparatus; or
(2) the identity, confidential statistical data, amount or source of any income, profits, losses, or expenditures,
of the research facility.
It shall be unlawful for any member of such Committee—
(1) to use or attempt to use to his advantages; or
(2) to reveal to any other person,
any information which is entitled to protection as confidential information under subsection (a) of this section.
A violation of subsection (a) or (b) of this section is punishable by—
(1) removal from such Committee; and
(2)(A) a fine of not more than $1,000 and imprisonment of not more than one year; or
(B) if such violation is willful, a fine of not more than $10,000 and imprisonment of not more than three years.
Any person, including any research facility, injured in its business or property by reason of a violation of this section may recover all actual and consequential damages sustained by such person and the cost of the suit including a reasonable attorney's fee.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect any other rights of a person injured in its business or property by reason of a violation of this section. Subsection (d) of this section shall not be construed to limit the exercise of any such rights arising out of or relating to a violation of subsections (a) and (b) of this section.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Effective Date
Section effective one year after Dec. 23, 1985, see section 1759 of Pub. L. 99–198, set out as an Effective Date of 1985 Amendment note under section 2131 of this title.