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As Economy Falters, More Employers Sue to Enforce Noncompetition Agreements

By Kate Fazzini IBM was alarmed when Mark D. Papermaster, a 26-year veteran assigned to an "elite" unit with access to closely guarded information about the company's technology and business strategies, told his superiors that he planned to take a job with Apple Inc. Employment lawyers say that the unusual dispute involving two industry titans illustrates the increased willingness of employers, driven by rough economic times and a deepening interest in protecting proprietary information, to litigate over noncompete agreements in New York courts. In the IBM case, Papermaster signed a one-year noncompetition agreement. The agreement acknowledges that "the disclosure of any (confidential information including expansion plans, client data and trade secrets, among other information) could place the Company at a serious competitive disadvantage and could do serious damage, financial and otherwise, to the business of the company." To read the complete article from New York Law Journal click here.

Full post as published by The Trade Secrets Vault on December 11, 2008 (boomark / email).