[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-1-en-105":3,"doc-seo-281835-105":53,"doc-detail-281835-en":127},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,14,19,24,29,34,39,44,49],{"id":8,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":11,"show_sort_weight":12,"slug":13},11,1,"Template","Presentations",90,"presentations",{"id":15,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":16,"show_sort_weight":17,"slug":18},12,"Resumes",80,"resumes",{"id":20,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":21,"show_sort_weight":22,"slug":23},14,"Invoices",70,"invoices",{"id":25,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":26,"show_sort_weight":27,"slug":28},15,"Posters",60,"posters",{"id":30,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":31,"show_sort_weight":32,"slug":33},16,"Social Media",50,"social-media",{"id":35,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":36,"show_sort_weight":37,"slug":38},17,"Forms",40,"forms",{"id":40,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":41,"show_sort_weight":42,"slug":43},18,"Letters",30,"letters",{"id":45,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":46,"show_sort_weight":47,"slug":48},21,"Paper Templates",5,"papers-templates",{"id":50,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":51,"show_sort_weight":4,"slug":52},158,"General","general-158",{"code":4,"msg":54,"data":55},"ok",{"site_id":56,"language":57,"slug":58,"title":59,"keywords":60,"description":61,"schema_data":62,"social_meta":120,"head_meta":122,"extra_data":124,"updated_unix":126},105,"en","non-competes-no-more-what-businesses-should-do-to-protect-trade-secrets-and-confidential-information-now","Non-Competes No More? What Businesses Should Do To Protect Trade Secrets And Confidential Information Now","","A commentary explains how non-compete restrictions are rapidly changing across federal and state law, including a Federal Trade Commission ban challenged shortly after adoption. It outlines why businesses can no longer rely on standardized employment non-compete “templates” and highlights divergent state requirements and notice or salary-threshold rules. The article then reviews practical steps employers should take in a post-non-compete environment to protect proprietary information and trade secrets. It also examines expected effects on hiring, retention, and employee mobility.",{"@graph":63,"@context":119},[64,80,102],{"@type":65,"itemListElement":66},"BreadcrumbList",[67,71,74,77],{"item":68,"name":69,"@type":70,"position":9},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":72,"name":10,"@type":70,"position":73},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/",2,{"item":75,"name":41,"@type":70,"position":76},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/letters/",3,{"item":78,"name":59,"@type":70,"position":79},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/non-competes-no-more-what-businesses-should-do-to-protect-trade-secrets-and-confidential-information-now/281835/",4,{"url":78,"name":59,"@type":81,"image":82,"author":87,"headline":59,"publisher":90,"fileFormat":93,"inLanguage":57,"description":61,"dateModified":94,"datePublished":95,"encodingFormat":93,"isAccessibleForFree":96,"interactionStatistic":97},"DigitalDocument",{"url":83,"@type":84,"width":85,"height":86},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/non-competes-no-more-what-businesses-should-do-to-protect-trade-secrets-and-confidential-information-now/281835.png","ImageObject",442,249,{"name":88,"@type":89},"\tCallum ","Person",{"url":68,"name":91,"@type":92},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-27","2026-09-16",true,{"@type":98,"interactionType":99,"userInteractionCount":101},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":100},"ViewAction",9,{"@type":103,"mainEntity":104},"FAQPage",[105,111,115],{"name":106,"@type":107,"acceptedAnswer":108},"Why are non-compete agreements facing major changes in 2024?","Question",{"text":109,"@type":110},"Non-compete agreements have been under heavy scrutiny, and a nationwide ban imposed by the FTC was set to take effect in early September, though it was challenged in federal court shortly after adoption. In parallel, states have imposed restrictions or bans, creating rapidly evolving compliance demands.","Answer",{"name":112,"@type":107,"acceptedAnswer":113},"How should businesses approach non-compete agreements given state-by-state differences?",{"text":114,"@type":110},"Businesses should not use one uniform template across a multistate workforce. Agreements need tailoring to align with each jurisdiction’s requirements, and some employers may shift away from non-competes to rely on other protections.",{"name":116,"@type":107,"acceptedAnswer":117},"What effects does a post-non-compete world have on hiring and retention?",{"text":118,"@type":110},"Without non-competes, employee mobility increases, expanding candidate pools and potentially easing recruitment for top talent. At the same time, businesses face greater poaching risk and may need more creative retention strategies, including monetary and non-monetary benefits.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":78,"og:type":121,"og:title":59,"og:site_name":91,"og:description":61},"article",{"robots":123,"canonical":78},"index,follow",{"doc_id":125,"site_id":56},281835,1790045522,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":128},{"doc_id":125,"user_id":129,"nickname":88,"user_avatar":130,"doc_module":9,"category_id":40,"category_name":41,"doc_title":59,"doc_description":61,"doc_content":131,"file_id":132,"file_url":133,"file_type":134,"file_size":135,"view_count":101,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":9,"is_downloadable":9,"audit_status":9,"page_count":136,"language":137,"language_code":57,"site_id":56,"html_lang":57,"table_of_contents":138,"faqs":139,"seo_title":140,"seo_description":61,"update_tm":141,"read_time":73},137451211410,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/2000bb0a9246f588df?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1786362646172706240","MEALEY’S® LITIGATION REPORT  \nIntellectual Property  \n| | Non-Competes No More? What Businesses Should Do To Protect Trade Secrets And Confidential Information Now\u003Cbr>By\u003Cbr>Geri Haight\u003Cbr>Mintz\u003Cbr>Boston, MA\u003Cbr>and\u003Cbr>Danielle Bereznay\u003Cbr>Mintz\u003Cbr>Washington, D.C.\u003Cbr>\u003Cbr>A commentary article reprinted from the\u003Cbr>July 8, 2024 issue of Mealey’s Litigation Report: Intellectual Property |\n| --- | --- |\n\nCommentary  \nNon-Competes No More? What Businesses Should Do To Protect Trade Secrets And Confidential Information Now  \nBy  \nGeri Haight  \nand  \nDanielle Bereznay  \n[Editor’s Note: Geri Haight is a Member in the Boston office at Mintz who has a multifaceted practice focusing on employment litigation, counseling, and compliance, as well as intellectual property and trade secret matters. Danielle Bereznay is an Associate in the Washington, DC office at Mintz who defends and counsels clients on restrictive covenant agreements, discrimination, harassment, and retaliation claims, employment and separation agreements, and employee handbooks and company policies. Any commentary or opinions do not reflect the opinions of the firm or LexisNexis®, Mealey Publications™. Copyright © 2024 by Geri Haight and Danielle Bereznay. Responses are welcome.]  \nBusinesses have long relied on non-compete agreements as an important tool to protect their confidential information and trade secrets by limiting a departing employee’s ability to work for a competitor. Employers have also used non-competes to prevent the poaching of their employees by competitors. Non-compete agreements have come under heavy scrutiny in recent years, with a looming nationwide ban imposed by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) set to come into effect in early September. Within hours of the FTC’s adoption of its final rule banning non-competes, however, it was challenged ina federal court, leaving the status and effect of the new rule in flux.1 So, what should businesses do?  \nThe legal landscape impacting non-competition agreements on the state and federal level has rapidly changed over the past several years, with businesses finding it increasingly difficult to manage a multistate  \nworkforce amid varying jurisdictional requirements. In addition to the FTC’s adoption of its final rule banning non-competes, state legislatures too have imposed a wide variety of restrictions on the use of employment-based noncompetition agreements (such as in the State of Washington and Washington, D.C.) or have banned them outright (most recently, Minnesota for new employees) . In California, where non-compete restrictions have been banned for over 100 years, California businesses now have an affirmative obligation to notify employees that any non-compete the employee signed is void and unenforceable. Other states, like Massachusetts, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Virginia, Washington, Oregon, and Washington, D.C. , have limited the applicability of non-competes to employees that meet a specific salary threshold, have a certain level of position, are exempt and/or have been provided with additional consideration to support the restriction. Given these jurisdictional requirements, there no longer is such a thing as a non-compete agreement “template” that a business can use uniformly across its workforce. Rather, such agreements need to be tailored to closely track developments in state law, potentially creating a lack of uniformity among employees. Given the varying obligations of a business with employees located across the country under state laws and the complexities involved in administering a multi-state non-competition agreement, some businesses have already scraped the use of non-compete agreements entirely and chosen to rely on other protections for their businesses, not waiting to see whether the FTC ban comes into effect.  \nGiven the present uncertainty, now is the time for businesses to prepare to protect their proprietary information and trade secrets and defend against competition. Apa","cbCaiu1lBveMdkBK","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiu1lBveMdkBK","pdf",639109,6,"English","# Commentary\n## Non-Competes No More? What Businesses Should Do To Protect Trade Secrets And Confidential Information Now\n## The Impact of Non-Competition Restrictions\n### Multistate Legal Uncertainty\n### Employee Hiring and Retention Effects","[{\"question\":\"Why are non-compete agreements facing major changes in 2024?\",\"answer\":\"Non-compete agreements have been under heavy scrutiny, and a nationwide ban imposed by the FTC was set to take effect in early September, though it was challenged in federal court shortly after adoption. In parallel, states have imposed restrictions or bans, creating rapidly evolving compliance demands.\"},{\"question\":\"How should businesses approach non-compete agreements given state-by-state differences?\",\"answer\":\"Businesses should not use one uniform template across a multistate workforce. Agreements need tailoring to align with each jurisdiction’s requirements, and some employers may shift away from non-competes to rely on other protections.\"},{\"question\":\"What effects does a post-non-compete world have on hiring and retention?\",\"answer\":\"Without non-competes, employee mobility increases, expanding candidate pools and potentially easing recruitment for top talent. At the same time, businesses face greater poaching risk and may need more creative retention strategies, including monetary and non-monetary benefits.\"}]","Non-Competes No More? What Businesses Should Do To Protect Trade Secrets And Confidential Information Now | PDF",1789568462]