Noncompete Agreements
The law and legal theories related to those aspects of protecting competitive business interests is one of the fastest growing areas of intellectual property law in many states - outside of traditional patent, copyright and trademark concerns.
Within this framework of protecting against unfair competition are topics that at least include covenants not to compete (also called "noncompetition agreements"), nonsolicitation agreements, confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements, trade secret protection and misappropriation, the Uniform Trade Secrets Act and state trade secret statutes. In addition, related issues involve such matters as the doctrine of inevitable disclosure, reverse engineering, developing a trade secret protection program, assignments of inventions by current employees, and associated state law claims often involved in trade secret and noncompetition lawsuits.
Covenants Not to Compete and Trade Secret Protection Overview.
Though not for everyone, covenants not to compete and confidentiality agreements can be excellent preemptive measures for protecting a company's client base, sales or manufacturing processes, and other confidential and proprietary information and trade secrets. While courts hold such agreements to a rigid standard and look for ways to defeat them, they are enforceable when properly written and executed.
Though state laws may differ, in most cases a covenant not to compete must: (1) be in writing; (2) be made part of the employment contract; (3) be based on valuable consideration; (4) be reasonable as to time and territory; and (5) not violate public policy. Most litigation concerning such covenants involve whether an employee has received valuable consideration, and whether the time period for the restrictions, the territory in which the restrictions apply, and the terms or scope of the noncompete itself are reasonable. In general, the restrictions cannot be greater than what is reasonably necessary to protect the "legitimate business interests" of the company.
Related Products
May 22, 2012
Price: $199.00
May 31, 2012
Price: $199.00