Trade Secrets & Employee Mobility

We recently reported on the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) 3-2 vote to issue its final noncompete rule that, unless it is enjoined, would ban all new noncompetes and a majority of existing noncompetes (the Noncompete Rule).  As expected, within hours of the FTC’s vote on the final noncompete rule, Ryan, LLC, a leading global tax services and software provider, filed a lawsuit challenging the Noncompete Rule, and shortly thereafter the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America (the U.S. Chamber) followed suit, filing its own lawsuit seeking to vacate and set aside the ...

As expected, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted 3-2 yesterday to issue its final noncompete rule, with only a few changes from the proposed rule that are discussed below. Unless it is enjoined, which we expect, the rule will become effective 120 days after publication of the final version in the Federal Register.

If the final rule survives the legal challenges, which are likely to make it all the way to the United States Supreme Court, all new non-competes would be banned. Except for existing non-competes for senior executives (as defined below), all existing noncompetes with ...

On March 29, 2024, Maine Governor Janet T. Mills vetoed a bill that would have banned all employee noncompete agreements in the State of Maine.  Both chambers of the Maine legislature passed L.D. 1496, An Act to Prohibit Noncompete Clauses, that if enacted, would have banned employers from entering into noncompete clauses with employees and would have permitted noncompete agreements in Maine in only three limited circumstances: (i) the sale of a business; (ii) a shareholder in a limited liability company who sells or disposes all of the shareholders shares; or (iii) member of a ...

Now on Spilling Secrets, our podcast series on the future of non-compete and trade secrets law:

When faced with trade secret misappropriation, employers must decide how to proceed. In this episode, hear some tips on how and why employers might choose to refer the matter for criminal investigation.