May 11, 2016 United States of America: The Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (Public Law No. 114-153) was passed by the Congress on April 27, 2016. It was signed into law by the President and became Public Law No. 114-153 on May 11, 2016. The Act makes important amendments to the Economic Espionage Act of 1996, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1831 et seq., which include inter alia: (i) creating a federal private civil action and a federal civil remedy such as damage, injunction and civil seizure order for trade secret misappropriation; (ii) adding definitions for "misappropriation" of trade secrets and "improper means" to acquire trade secrets; (iii) increasing the maximum penalty for trade secret theft from $5 million to the greater of $5 million or 3 times the value of the stolen trade secret; (iv) and providing immunity to employees from liability (whistleblower protection) for confidential disclosure of information to the government or in a court filing.

April 25, 2016 France: The Decree No. 2016-504 of April 22, 2016, on the Profession of Industrial Property Agents, which came into force on April 25, 2016, introduces amendments to Articles R421-1, R421-1-1, R421-5, R421-7, R421-8, R422-7-1 and R423-2 of Title II, Book IV, Regulatory Part of the Intellectual Property Code. These amendments refer to the conditions under which industrial property agents are allowed to use advertising and personalized solicitations and to the modification of the rules of recognition of professional qualifications for practising as industrial property agents in order to implement Directive 2013/55/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of November 20, 2013.