The ramp-up to legislatively limit noncompetes continues: there are currently 24 states with 65 noncompete bills so far this year, and 4 more are pending in Congress.
Our 50-state (plus DC) chart of noncompete laws has been updated and is available here.
While most people reading this blog will know that California has a statute that bans noncompetes, it may come as a surprise that employers have dealt with that prohibition by turning to trade secret law for protection as far back as 1913 — even for low-level employees.
No one ever points to North Dakota’s or Oklahoma’s ban on noncompete as producing a thriving tech sector, because they haven’t. Yet, somehow think that the same ban in California is why we have Silicon Valley. This assumption is wrong for multiple reasons. Worse, it leads to poor policy.
Episode 12 of Fairly Competing is out! In this episode, Ben Fink, John Marsh, and I explore Wisk Aero LLC v. Archer Aviation Inc., an extremely well-reasoned decision offering an object lesson about preliminary injunctions in trade secret cases, highlighting that it’s no longer safe to assume you will get a preliminary injunction simply because a former employee downloaded 5,000 documents — even if he invokes the 5th Amendment.
Misconceptions about noncompetes abound. And, as noncompete agreements are increasingly in the cross-hairs of the media and legislators, it has become increasingly clear that some of the most vocal de...
With all of the changes at the state level (45 bills in 21 states, plus D.C.’s near-total ban, which is, as of yesterday, now officially adopted and pending funding, likely in the fall, it seems), the federal efforts — spearheaded by Senator Chris Murphy — continue to inch forward. During the Senate the confirmation hearing of Julie Su (currently the Secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency) for the position the Deputy Labor Secretary, Senator Chris Murphy reminds us that his bill to ban noncompetes is still in the works — and that, ultimately, he expects the FTC to regulate noncompetes.
As many of you know, I am very involved with the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s Trade Secret Law Committee. And, as you may also know, each year, we hold a multi-day, in-depth pro...
California has long been hostile to employee restrictive covenants. But, its stance on B2B covenants has been less clear. Yesterday (August 3, 2020), we got the answer. Spoiler alert: B2B noncompet...
Once again, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Murphy are pushing for federal regulation of noncompetes. By way of background, starting in 2015, a few U.S. Senators (Senators Warren and Murphy inc...
*This post was originally published by Erika Hahn and me on Law360 under the title, “Noncompete Misconceptions May Be Inhibiting Reform.” Federalism is alive and well. For about 200 ye...
It turns out that global climate change is caused by a decrease in the number of pirates. Don’t believe it? See the chart to the right. This is an example of mistaking correlation for causati...
Having just completed my most-recent review of every state's pending and recently enacted noncompete legislation, I have updated the BRR 50 State Noncompete Chart today (April 27, 2019) to reflect ...
It was only a matter of time... we now have a decision. For years, we’ve wrestled with how to handle enforcement or defense of a noncompete agreement between a California employee and an out-of-s...
Proposed legislation banning noncompetes has become de rigueur. Two more states - Vermont and New Hampshire - have introduced noncompete bills in just the past two weeks. Vermont's bill would ban a...
Noncompete agreements have for about a decade been the focus of legislative efforts around the country. Some states seek to strengthen enforcement of them, while others seek to scale them back or elim...
Below are the latest issues and cases making trade secrets | noncompete news since our last update … (My apologies to those who received an email update with a draft of this post.) Also, no...
Several bills concerning trade secrets and noncompetes were filed this week in the Massachusetts legislature. On trade secrets side, the following bills were filed: H.2569 by Representatives Bradle...
Once again, this installment of “Trade Secret | Noncompete Issues and Cases in the News” is my vacation readings update. There is again a lot here! Enjoy… Federal/Antitrust: In October 2009,...
Like a similar post last month, this post provides a summary of noncompete and trade secret issues and cases that have arisen in the past month or so, but that I have not already addressed in recent p...
This year, we have seen several dramatic changes to noncompete laws around the country. The following are some of the highlights: California: Many people thought noncompetes were DOA with the Cal...