To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog: Can you be sued for misappropriation of trade secrets in the U.S. based on foreign activities? U.S. courts are taking an increasingly broad view of the scope of U.S. trade secret law, and have allowed trade secret cases to proceed even if plaintiffs only allege a generic or small connection to U.S. activities. Generally, in the U.S. legal system, there is a presumption that U.S. law only applies domestically and “does not rule the world.” Microsoft Corp. v. AT & T Corp., 550 U.S. 437, 454 (2007). The Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”), however, explicitly provides a cause of action when the defendant is a “natural person who is a citizen or permanent resident alien of the United States, or an organization organized under the laws of the United States or a State or political subdivision thereof” or “an act in furtherance of the offense was committed in the United States.”18 U.S.C.A. § 1837;