How the incoming Trump Administration might impact trade secret protection in the United States

Published in IAM Trade Secrets Hub 2025

How the second Trump Administration’s trade secret policies will impact US businesses is difficult to predict. However, several themes and trends will likely drive US policy toward trade secrets under the new administration:

• the Biden-era’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rule prohibiting workplace non-compete clauses, which is currently before the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, will likely be discarded; 
• the US Department of Justice (DOJ) may resurrect Trump’s ‘China initiative’ and prosecute more criminal trade secret matters; and 
• protecting trade secrets may become more of a national competitive priority. 

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This article was first published on IAM in January 2025; for further in-depth analysis, please visit the IAM Trade Secrets Hub