The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same: Court Holds That All Those New Non-Compete Rules Under Massachusetts Act Do Not Supplant Old Public Policies Applicable to Pre-Existing Agreements
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Utah Hopes That Third Time’s a Charm for Non-Compete Statute
Massachusetts Establishes Garden-Leave-Type Non-Compete Requirements and Limits
Utah and Idaho Continue Trend of State Legislatures’ Focusing on Non-Competes
Defend Trade Secrets Act Developments in 2017
Court’s Newest Member Has Trade Secret Protecting Track Record
“List of Holiday-Related Trade Secret/Non-Compete Cases”
Whether you are a young child missing teeth, or a grown-up taking account of her life, or Santa Claus himself checking up on everyone else’s life, many of us make lists at holiday time. They can be lists of gifts we want, or those we need to get, or people we wish to see or write to, or things we need or want to do before the end of the year. Sometimes they are just…
Criminal Enforcement Protects Trade Secrets Taken By Departed Employees
In the recent case of United States v. Nosal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit confirmed the applicability of both the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the Economic Espionage Act as safeguards against theft of trade secrets by departed former employees. Importantly, Nosal applied such laws to convict a former employee in a case involving domestic businesses and personnel without any alleged overseas connections. Because of civil enforcement provisions…
Assignment Lessons: 8th Circuit Finds Assigned Non-Competes Enforceable — Under Certain Facts
The 8th Circuit’s recent decision in Symphony Diagnostic Servs. No. 1 v. Greenbaum, No. 15-2294, __ F.3d __ (8th Cir. July 6, 2016), upheld the enforceability of non-compete and confidentiality agreements assigned by Ozark Mobile Imaging to Mobilex as part of Mobilex’s purchase of Ozark’s assets. Although the 8th Circuit is careful to ground its analysis in that case’s specific factual and legal framework, this decision is helpful in providing some guidance to those dealing…
Utah Restricts Post-Employment Restrictions
The State of Utah recently enacted Utah Code Annotated 34-51-101 et seq., the so-called Post-Employment Restrictions Amendments, which limit restrictive covenants entered into on or after May 10, 2016 to a one-year time period from termination. Although this could curtail certain employers’ plans, the amendments enacted provide some important exceptions and are in fact much more favorable to employers than those first proposed, which would have precluded virtually all post-employment restrictions in Utah. The statute…