Trade Secrets | Noncompetes
Over the past few years, there have been a few bills at the federal level that would ban or limit the use of noncompetes. (I will be updating the Changing Trade Secrets | Noncompete page soon to reflect the more recent of those and some other recent developments, so stay tuned. In the meantime…) This … Continue reading Another Federal Noncompete Bill
In preparation for the start of my class (I teach Trade Secrets and Restrictive Covenants at my old law school, Boston University School of Law), I re-ran my chart of reported noncomepte and trade secrets decisions. As regular readers of this blog know, several years ago, I became curious to see how many reported trade secret … Continue reading New Trade Secret and Noncompete Survey – National Case Graph (Updated January 13, 2019)
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-state employer. It frequently involved a race to the courthouse. Then, in 2013, the United States Supreme Court gave us Atlantic Marine, and … Continue reading It was only a matter of time…
Back in July, I posted a story about how courts and lawyers frequently assess whether a noncompete is overly broad by asking whether the restriction would prevent the employee from working as a janitor. If it can, the agreement is generally considered to be overly broad. See Cleaning up overly broad noncompetes: the “Janitor Rule.” The test has … Continue reading Do we need a replacement for the janitor rule?
The BRR 50 State Noncompete Chart has been updated today to reflect a new laws in Idaho, Massachusetts, and Utah (and a few additional tweaks in other states). (See “Changing Trade Secrets | Noncompete Laws” for the background.) In sum, Idaho removed a presumption that it created in 2016, Massachusetts passed its first noncompete statute, making … Continue reading 50 State Noncompete Chart Updated (Idaho, Massachusetts, Utah)
This is an update to reflect the adoption by Massachusetts of its own version of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act. The background: Until now, every state but Massachusetts and New York had adopted the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (the UTSA) in one form or another – though some may quibble with whether Alabama or North Carolina actually adopted … Continue reading Trade Secrets Laws and the UTSA – A 50 State and Federal Law Survey Chart (updated for Massachusetts)
Last week, I posted an article explaining the new noncompete and trade secrets law reform legislation passed by the Massachusetts Legislature. See Massachusetts noncompete and trade secret reform has arrived: What you need to know. Governor Charlie Baker is expected to sign it into law (by the August 10 deadline). The article above will tell you what … Continue reading Massachusetts’ New Noncompete Law: the Text
Last week, I posted an article explaining the new noncompete and trade secrets law reform legislation passed by the Massachusetts Legislature. See Massachusetts noncompete and trade secret reform has arrived: What you need to know. Governor Charlie Baker is expected to sign it into law (by the August 10 deadline). The article above will tell you what … Continue reading Massachusetts’ New Trade Secrets Law: the Text
Almost a decade in the making, the Massachusetts legislature has today (July 31 – at 11:57 PM) finally passed noncompete reform. Unheralded, however, is the companion updating of Massachusetts trade secrets law. The reform is a significant step in the right direction: The bill (if signed by Governor Baker) largely codifies existing law, while making … Continue reading Massachusetts noncompete and trade secret reform has arrived: What you need to know.
Despite the lack of headlines, the Massachusetts Legislature has continued to move closer and closer toward noncompete and trade secret reform. It now looks potentially imminent. On January 23, 2017, Representative Lori Ehrlich and Senator Will Brownsberger submitted companion bills entitled, “An Act relative to the judicial enforcement of noncompetition agreements.” The House bill (H. 2366) and Senate … Continue reading Quick Update: The rumors of Massachusetts noncompete reform’s death have been greatly exaggerated
The “janitor rule,” as it’s come to be known, is the rule of thumb in restrictive covenant law that if a noncompetition agreement (or other restrictive covenant) restricts the scope of a former employee’s future employment indiscriminately, untethered to the legitimate business interests properly protected by the noncompete, the restriction is overly broad. The test … Continue reading Cleaning up overly broad noncompetes: the “Janitor Rule”
Yesterday, I posted about the bills to ban noncompetes at the federal level: Federal Legislators Propose Noncompete Ban. Only the House bill was available on line; the Senate bill was not. While the Senate bill remains unavailable online, I have the text and am posting it here. Below are some of the key provisions: The prohibition … Continue reading Federal Legislators Propose Noncompete Ban – UPDATE
On April 26, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced the Workforce Mobility Act to impose a federal ban on the use of employee noncompetes. A companion bill was introduced in the House by Representatives Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Keith Ellison (D-MN), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and David Cicilline (D-RI), who have since … Continue reading Federal Legislators Propose Noncompete Ban
On Tuesday, April 17, the Massachusetts legislature’s Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development favorably reported H.4419 to the House Steering, Policy and Scheduling. The new bill – which covers both trade secrets and noncompetes – is a compilation of S840, S988, S1017, S1020, H43, H854, H2366 and H2371. Accordingly, much of the language is from bills that we … Continue reading Quick Update: Massachusetts Legislature Reports Out Noncompete Bill
This was a busy week for noncompete laws. Two of the states that have actually made changes to their noncompete laws in the past two years – Idaho and Utah (see Changing Trade Secrets | Noncompete Laws) – are at it again. Idaho has now repealed the law that it adopted in 2016. See Governor vetoes 1 … Continue reading Quick Update: Idaho and Utah Modify Their Noncompete Laws