For the past decade, intellectual property legislation was a bright spot for a Congress otherwise mired in partisan gridlock. In 2011, Democrats and Republicans in Congress united to pass the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA). And just this past May, President Obama signed into law the Defend Trade Secrets Act, which modernizes and strengthens trade secret law by adding new federal civil trade remedies and increasing the maximum criminal penalties for misappropriation.