Getting arrested for DUI does not mean you will be convicted. Police misconduct, defective breathalyzers and crime lab mistakes may be enough to get your charges lessened or dismissed. Visit our page on Colorado DUI Laws to learn more.
Colorado DUI
Getting arrested for DUI does not mean you will be convicted. Police misconduct, defective breathalyzers and crime lab mistakes may be enough to get your charges lessened or dismissed. Visit our page on Colorado DUI Laws to learn more.
Colorado In-Depth
It is normal to be frightened and overwhelmed following an arrest. Therefore our lawyers are devoted to demystifying major topics in Colorado criminal defense law.
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Please note: Our firm only handles criminal and DUI cases, and only in California. We do not handle any of the following cases:
And we do not handle any cases outside of California.
Call Us NowA first offense of stealing a trade secret is a misdemeanor in Colorado punishable by:
A subsequent trade secret theft offense within 5 years of a prior conviction is a felony punishable by:
To help you better understand the complexities of Colorado’s trade secret law, our Colorado criminal defense lawyers discuss the following, below:
Colorado Revised Statute 18-4-408 (2) (d) defines “trade secret” as follows:
“Trade secret” means the whole or any portion or phase of any scientific or technical information, design, process, procedure, formula, improvement, confidential business or financial information, listing of names, addresses, or telephone numbers, or other information relating to any business or profession which is secret and of value. To be a trade secret the owner thereof must have taken measures to prevent the secret from becoming available to persons other than those selected by the owner to have access thereto for limited purposes.1
Examples of trade secrets include (but are not limited to):
There are four “elements of the crime” that a prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt before you can be found guilty of stealing trade secrets in violation of Colorado law.
Trade secret theft is a federal crime as well.
To be found guilty of stealing a trade secret under federal law, the secret must be related to a product or service used in or intended for use in interstate or foreign commerce. In addition, you must have intended or known that the offense would injure the rightful owner of the trade secret.3
The first offense for stealing trade secrets in Colorado is a class 2 misdemeanor. Consequences of misdemeanor theft of trade secrets can include:
However, a second or subsequent offense within 5 years of a prior offense will be charged as a class 5 felony. Punishments for felony theft of trade secrets can include:
If you are convicted of trade secret theft under 18 U.S.C. 1832, the federal penalties are:
Regardless of whether you are charged under state or federal law, you may also face a civil suit for damages by the rightful owner of the trade secret(s).6
The best defense to a trade secrets theft charge in Colorado depends on your particular set of facts. Six commonly-used defenses include:
Example: You and a friend make a $5 bet about the ingredients in a local burger company’s “secret sauce.” You get yourself hired as a temp in their offices and gain access to their files to look it up. Although you have wrongfully acquired the trade secret, you have not deprived the owner of control of it or appropriated it for your own or someone else’s use. So you should not be found guilty under CRS 18-4-408.
Trade secrets cases — whether criminal or civil — are complicated cases often involving corporate espionage and technical forensics. As a result, defenses are equally complex.7
There are a lot of moving parts to a Colorado charge of stealing trade secrets, and the prosecutor must prove each element beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore, a skilled trade secrets defense lawyer will focus on the weakest elements of the prosecution’s case.
Colorado Legal Defense Group
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Denver, CO 80211
(303) 222-0330
(1) Any person who, with intent to deprive or withhold from the owner thereof the control of a trade secret, or with an intent to appropriate a trade secret to his own use or to the use of another, steals or discloses to an unauthorized person a trade secret, or, without authority, makes or causes to be made a copy of an article representing a trade secret, commits theft of a trade secret.
(2) As used in this section:
(a) “Article” means any object, material, device, or substance, or copy thereof, including any writing, record, recording, drawing, sample, specimen, prototype, model, photograph, microorganism, blueprint, or map.
(b) “Copy” means any facsimile, replica, photograph, or other reproduction of an article, and any note, drawing, or sketch made of or from an article.
(c) “Representing” means describing, depicting, containing, constituting, reflecting, or recording.
(d) “Trade secret” means the whole or any portion or phase of any scientific or technical information, design, process, procedure, formula, improvement, confidential business or financial information, listing of names, addresses, or telephone numbers, or other information relating to any business or profession which is secret and of value. To be a trade secret the owner thereof must have taken measures to prevent the secret from becoming available to persons other than those selected by the owner to have access thereto for limited purposes.
(3)(a) Theft of a trade secret is a class 1 misdemeanor. A second or subsequent offense under this section committed within five years after the date of a prior conviction is a class 5 felony.
(3)(a) Theft of a trade secret is a class 2 misdemeanor. A second or subsequent offense under this section committed within five years after the date of a prior conviction is a class 5 felony.
(b) Notwithstanding section 16-5-401(1)(a), C.R.S., any prosecution for violation of this section shall be commenced within three years after discovery of the offense.