Employers often place limitations on their employees’ ability to compete following the termination of the employment relationship. The justification for restraints on trade is that employers have a protectable interest in their customer and vendor relationships, the goodwill associated with
Continue Reading Competing Views on Non-Compete Agreements: Changes May be Coming Across the Nation to Employers’ and Business Purchasers’ Ability to Limit Competition
An employee’s termination date – that is, the date the employee quits or is fired – may be critical to determining when his non-competition obligations expire. Under Louisiana law, a non-competition agreement may not “exceed a period of two years
Continue Reading Louisiana Appellate Court: Time Limit on Non-Compete Runs From Termination, Not Judgement.
With the announcement last week of a tentative partial trade agreement with China, the U.S. appears to be headed to a somewhat easing of tensions between the two superpowers. Terms of the agreement are vague, with references to a reduction
Continue Reading U.S./China Trade “Deal” Short on IP/Trade Secret Specifics
A trend may be developing in favor of non-compete agreements in Louisiana. Two recent appellate court decisions enforced their terms, even though they contained either overly broad or ambiguous language. The first is from the Louisiana Supreme Court, Causin, L.L.C.
Continue Reading A Recent Trend In Louisiana Non-Compete Cases?
Back in March, 2017, we posted about a civil lawsuit against Anthony Levandowski, who allegedly sped off with a trove of trade secrets after resigning from Waymo LLC, Google’s self-driving technology company. Waymo not only sued Levandowski, but also his
Continue Reading Not So Fast And Furious – Executive Indicted for Stealing Self-Driving Car Trade Secrets
Hackers are getting creative. As they gather information about potential targets for identify theft and other cybercrimes, they increasingly target companies’ human resources departments. Employee records often contain troves of sensitive personal information sought by such criminals – from original
Continue Reading Hacked? Compromised Employee Data May Trigger Duty for Employer to Notify Affected Employees
Drafting an enforceable (and meaningful) non-compete provision in an employment agreement can be difficult. Many states, like Louisiana, recognize that non-compete provisions in employment agreements raise a serious public policy concern. In Louisiana, this public policy is set forth in La.
Continue Reading Louisiana Supreme Court Allows Employer-Friendly Decision in Non-Compete Case to Stand
AT&T Services, Inc. and its subsidiary, DirectTV, LLC (collectively, “AT&T”) sued Max Retrans, LLC (“Max Retrans”), a consulting company that works with local broadcasting companies to sell their content to Pay-TV service providers for re-broadcast.
Background. Local broadcasting companies—like the local
Continue Reading AT&T Sues Consulting Firm for Trade Secret Theft and Breach of Contract
In Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media, the U.S. Supreme Court held that government agencies can withhold a private company’s records from public disclosure under Exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) if the company has
Continue Reading Supreme Court Expands Confidentiality Protections for Private Companies
A federal court in New Orleans recently allowed a trade secret claim to proceed to trial, even though the alleged trade secrets were later disclosed in a patent application. Cajun Servs. Unlimited, LLC v. Benton Energy Serv. Co., No.
Continue Reading Patent Application Not Fatal To Trade Secret Claims, Federal Court Rules
