§1831 — Title 18 Crimes and Criminal Procedure | U.S. Code

Summary

It is a crime for someone who knows or means their actions will help a foreign government, a foreign-controlled group, or a foreign agent to take or share a company's secret information without permission. That includes stealing, copying, getting, trying to get, or planning with others to get a trade secret. A company that does this can be fined up to the larger of $10,000,000 or three times the value of the stolen trade secret to the offending company, including research and design costs and other expenses the company avoided.

Title 18, §1831

Crimes and Criminal Procedure — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Whoever, intending or knowing that the offense will benefit any foreign government, foreign instrumentality, or foreign agent, knowingly—

(1)steals, or without authorization appropriates, takes, carries away, or conceals, or by fraud, artifice, or deception obtains a trade secret;

(2)without authorization copies, duplicates, sketches, draws, photographs, downloads, uploads, alters, destroys, photocopies, replicates, transmits, delivers, sends, mails, communicates, or conveys a trade secret;

(3)receives, buys, or possesses a trade secret, knowing the same to have been stolen or appropriated, obtained, or converted without authorization;

(4)attempts to commit any offense described in any of paragraphs (1) through (3); or

(5)conspires with one or more other persons to commit any offense described in any of paragraphs (1) through (3), and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy,

(b)Any organization that commits any offense described in subsection (a) shall be fined not more than the greater of $10,000,000 or 3 times the value of the stolen trade secret to the organization, including expenses for research and design and other costs of reproducing the trade secret that the organization has thereby avoided.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2013—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 112–269, § 2(a), substituted “not more than $5,000,000” for “not more than $500,000” in concluding provisions. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 112–269, § 2(b), substituted “not more than the greater of $10,000,000 or 3 times the value of the stolen trade secret to the organization, including expenses for research and design and other costs of reproducing the trade secret that the organization has thereby avoided” for “not more than $10,000,000”.

§1831 Economic espionage

Summary

Title 18, §1831

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Citations & Metadata