Boutros and Schleppenbach: 2025 Trade Secrets Forecast
Companies looking ahead to Donald Trump’s second presidential term need only look to the past for clues on how his administration will handle the theft of trade secrets, according to Shook Government Investigations and White Collar Practice Co-Chair Andrew Boutros and Partner Jay Schleppenbach. In an article for World Intellectual Property Review, Boutros and Schleppenbach said that the record suggests Trump will make the theft of trade secrets by Chinese individuals and entities (or the government of China) a top target for vigorous federal enforcement.
In an article titled “2025 forecast: Trump’s top target for secrets theft,” Boutros and Schleppenbach highlighted efforts Trump and his cabinet made in office previously to put pressure on China, from imposing tariffs to developing and implementing the administration’s “China Initiative,” under which the U.S. Department of Justice pursued Chinese trade secret theft cases. They also noted Trump’s proposed cabinet appointees, who are staunch opponents of China.
“Accordingly, holders of trade secrets in the US can fairly anticipate that the Department of Justice will instruct its federal prosecutors and FBI colleagues to focus their energy and resources on overseas intellectual property theft—particularly those involving China—when President Trump returns to office in January,” they said.
