The Senate Committee on the Judiciary met Monday afternoon for a long discussion over an intellectual property bill.
House Bill 2014 create the West Virginia Intellectual Property and Trade Secrets Act which is different from the Uniform Trade Secrets Act. The goal of the bill is to “Make West Virginia an outlier in a positive sense towards tech companies”, said Speaker Hanshaw (R – Clay, 33).
It would rearrange the current Code to place a short title at the front of the article. It adds a new definition of intellectual property to the current definitions found in the article. The statute of limitation would be expanded from three to five years.
Multiple stakeholders testified during the committee either for or against the proposed legislation. After hearing from both sides, Chairman Trump (R – Morgan, 15) decided to table to the bill until a later date, so the Chamber of Commerce and other stakeholders could have enough time to read the Committee Substitute strike and insert amendment to the bill.
The Committee also passed three House bills during Monday’s meeting.
House Bill 2190 would modify bail requirements in the judicial system. It would require a magistrate, except for good cause shown, to release a person charged with certain misdemeanor offenses on his or her own recognizance.
House Bill 2412 would consolidate criminal offenses relating to government procurement into one article within Chapter 61 of the West Virginia Code, to establish definitions common to all offenses, and to clarify who is subject to these prohibitions.
House Bill 2809 relates to the Hatfield-McCoy Recreation Area. Currently, a person who does not remain within and on a designated and marked trail while within the Hatfield-McCoy Recreation Area is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than $100.
The bill would increase the criminal fines for individuals who do not remain within and on a designated trail while within the Hatfield-McCoy Recreation Area to a fine of not less than $1,000.
At the beginning of the meeting, Chairman Trump announced that House Bill 2519, Campus Self Defense Act, was taken off the Committee agenda.
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