Return to Non-CALJIC Offenses – Contents
F 18.36 n1 Theft Of Trade Secrets: Mens Rea (PC 499c(b)(2)).
A conviction for theft of trade secrets requires specific evidence of how competitors would be advantaged by access to the information alleged to be trade secrets. (People v. Pribich (94) 21 CA4th 1844, 1850-51 [27 CR2d 113].)
F 18.36 n2 Theft Of Trade Secrets (PC 499c): Definition Of "Trade Secret."
"Based on the Legislature’s express statement of its intent and the legislative history, . . . the Legislature intended to define a trade secret in such a way that information would qualify as a trade secret only if it derived independent economic value from both not being generally known to the public and not being generally known to those who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use." (See People v. Laiwala DEPUBLISHED (2004) 115 CA4th 850, 861-62.)
F 18.36 n3 Theft Of Trade Secrets: Elements.
(See People v. Hsieh DEPUBLISHED (2000) 86 CA4th 297 [103 CR2d 51] [prosecution for theft of trade secrets requires proof that alleged theft involved trade secret or that defendant acted with necessary intent].)
F 18.36 n4 Theft Of Trade Secrets (PC 499c): Whether Attempted Theft Of Trade Secret Is A Lesser Included Offense.
"The intent element of the substantive crime of theft of a trade secret is satisfied by a finding that the perpetrator acted `with intent to deprive or withhold the control of a trade secret from its owner, or with an intent to appropriate a trade secret to his or her own use or to the use of another. . . .’ Neither the intent to deprive nor the intent to appropriate necessarily encompasses a finding that the perpetrator knew or believed that the object of the theft was in fact a trade secret. One may take information with the intent to use it without entertaining any belief about whether the information is actually a trade secret. Attempted theft of a trade secret requires proof that the perpetrator specifically intended to take information believing that the information was a trade secret. Were this not true, someone who took information without any knowledge that it was a trade secret would be guilty of attempted theft of a trade secret. As the intent element of theft of a trade secret does not necessarily include this specific intent element of attempted theft of a trade secret, the lesser offense is not necessarily included in the greater offense." (People v. Laiwala DEPUBLISHED (2004) 115 CA4th 850, 863-64.)
F 18.36a
Theft Of Trade Secrets:
Requirement Of "Independent Economic Value"
Penal Code section 499c requires proof that the __________ (insert propriety item, i.e., master software key) derived actual or potential "independent economic value" from "not being generally known to other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use.
Points and Authorities
See People v. Laiwala DEPUBLISHED (2004) 115 CA4th 850, 861-62.
