WASHINGTON – The US Senate unanimously approved the Theft of Trade Secrets Clarification Act, a bill intended to close a loophole relating to the products covered in the original law.

The legislation, authored by Sen. Patrick Leahy (I-VT) and Herbert Kohl (D-WI), updates the Economic Espionage Act of 1996, covering the theft of trade secrets related to a product or service used in interstate commerce.

The bill was introduced after a federal court “narrowly” interpreted the law, Leahy told Senate colleagues. His bill offers a "straightforward fix, but an important one,” he said.

The court ruled that existing law applied only to trade secrets that are part of a product that is produced to be placed in interstate commerce, rather than all those used in interstate commerce.