A Lesson in Jury Instruction Hygiene: The Ninth Circuit Undoes a Trade Secrets Verdict Over a Flipped Burden of Proof

The federal Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) and its state-law counterparts cover much of the same ground, but they are not identical.  One potential difference was discussed in our recent client alert: under the DTSA, a plaintiff must prove its trade secrets were not readily ascertainable through proper means, while California’s model civil instructions treat ready ascertainability as an affirmative defense the defendant must prove.

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