Law360, New York ( December 16, 2014, 10:00 AM EST) -- The year 2014 brought significant developments in trade secret law, both in the U.S. and abroad. In-house counsel and private practitioners should consider trends that promise to shape further developments in the years ahead. In part 1 of this two-part series, we highlight five in particular: (1) the growing importance of specifically identifying trade secrets early in litigation; (2) increasing support for passage of a federal civil trade secret law; (3) the developing saga of the Bratz case and importance of perseverance; (4) the need to protect trade secrets during litigation, and the potential consequences of not doing so (i.e., the DuPont reversal); and (5) the continuing trend toward large damages awards and settlements in trade secrets cases....