PJC Business 2024

M ISAPPROPRIATION OF T RADE S ECRETS

PJC 111.1

Improper means, proper means, and reverse engineering. The definition of “improper means” is taken from section 134A.002(2) of the Act. See Education Man agement Services, LLC v. Tracey , 102 F. Supp. 3d 906, 914 (W.D. Tex. 2015) (apply ing the Act and listing improper means). The definition does not contain an exclusive list of improper means. The definitions of “proper means” and “reverse engineering” are derived from the Act. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 134A.002(4)–(5). The Act defines proper means to include reverse engineering “unless prohibited.” Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §134A.002(5). The Committee notes that no Texas case has yet addressed the mean ing of “unless prohibited” under the Act. If breach of an agreement prohibiting reverse engineering is raised by the evidence, PJC 101.2 may be submitted. In a case in which reverse engineering of a product or device is not prohibited and is raised by the plead ings and the evidence, the following definition may be submitted with PJC 111.1: “Reverse engineering” means the process of studying, analyzing, or disassembling a product or device to discover its design, structure, construction, or source code provided that the product or device was acquired lawfully or from a person having the legal right to convey it. Uniform construction. The Act provides that it should be “applied and construed to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law with respect to the subject of this chapter among states enacting it.” Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 134A.008. Sim ilarly, the Texas Government Code also provides that a “uniform act included in a code shall be construed to effect its general purpose to make uniform the law of those states that enact it.” Tex. Gov’t Code § 311.028.

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