Episode 25 of Fairly Competing covering the death of the FTC’s noncompete ban is out!
On April 23, 2024, the FTC adopted its noncompete rule to ban virtually all employee noncompetes. For background, see FTC bans noncompetes: How will you protect your company’s information and keep your customers?
The rule was scheduled to go into effect on September 4, 2024.
But on August 20, 2024, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas vacated the rule.
Companies and employees have a reprieve, but they should not let their guard down.
In this episode, John, Ben, and I discuss what happened, what to expect going forward, and what companies should do now to protect their trade secrets, confidential information, customer goodwill, and the integrity of their workforce.
You can join us on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or go to FairlyCompeting.com, if you’re just looking for the RSS feed.
And, because this show is for you, please email John, Ben, or me with any topics you’d like to hear us discuss. While we cannot offer legal advice on the show, we can certainly discuss any issues you may be wondering about.
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Firm resources:
We know how hard it is to keep up with the ever-changing requirements around the country. To help, we have created the following resources (available for free):
- 50-State Noncompete Law Chart, the first of its kind and regularly updated (downloadable PDF) (to be updated for Rhode Island’s nurse exemption);
- Chart of Noncompete “Low-Wage” Thresholds and Criteria (downloadable);
- Notice requirements summary chart, providing details for each of the 8 states (plus D.C.) that has notice requirements related to noncompetes (downloadable PDF);
- 50-State and Federal Trade Secret Law Chart, providing a comparison of the trade secrets laws nationally to the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (downloadable PDF).
- “Changing Trade Secrets | Noncompete Laws” (dedicated blog page) now provides a current detailed summary of the changing landscape of trade secret laws and noncompete laws around the country, state by state and at the federal level;
- Trade secret and other legitimate business interest protection plan strategy and checklist; and
- Ten Minute Trade Secret Training Series, currently with three training videos and one “basics” video:
We hope you find all of these resources useful. More are coming.
And please note that we are grateful for all of the input we’ve received over the years, and welcome any suggestions for improvements that you may be willing to share.