• Team
    ▼
    • Philip P. Crowley
    • Christian Jensen
    • Jay S. Pattumudi
    • Anthony Wilkinson
    • David Kanarfogel
  • About
    ▼
    • Technology
    • Life Sciences
  • Services
  • Resources
  • Contact Us
  • Careers
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Crowley Law, LLC

Crowley Law New Frontier

Call: 844-256-5891
  • Team
    • Philip P. Crowley
    • Christian Jensen
    • Jay S. Pattumudi
    • Anthony Wilkinson
    • David Kanarfogel
  • About
    • Technology
    • Life Sciences
  • Services
  • Resources
  • Contact Us
  • Careers
  • Team
    • Philip P. Crowley
    • Christian Jensen
    • Jay S. Pattumudi
    • Anthony Wilkinson
    • David Kanarfogel
  • About
    • Technology
    • Life Sciences
  • Services
  • Resources
  • Contact Us
  • Careers

Crafting Nondisclosure, Nonuse And Noncompete Agreements

9.8.18

Nondisclosure, nonuse and noncompete agreements can be powerful agreements that protect your startup company’s confidential information and business prospects. In drafting these agreements, however, it’s important not to overreach.

The nondisclosure and nonuse parts of agreements, when drafted with reasonable restrictions, can be widely enforceable.  These agreements restrict present and former employees and contractors from disclosing confidential information and in using it for any purpose other than designated projects for the company owning the information.  Noncompete agreements, however, raise some nettlesome issues.

In states like California and Tennessee, State constitution provisions and the decisions of courts have substantially restricted the ability of companies to tie up workers with noncompete agreements. Even in states such as New York and New Jersey, where noncompete agreements are permissible, courts tend to adopt the rule of reason – and courts in these States have generally had a restrictive view of what is “reasonable”.

A noncompete agreement should not prevent a former employee from working at all jobs for which he or she is qualified. Absent special circumstances, it’s difficult to obtain an enforceable agreement for more than a year or two, regardless of what is written on paper.

To draft an agreement that is enforceable in court, it’s important to be strategic.  Identify employees who have access to information that would be harmful to your company if disclosed to a competitor or used by the departed employee while employed by a competitor.  Examples include:

  • Developments that have not yet been patented
  • Customer data that is not generally known
  • Trade secrets that are valuable to the company

Once you have identified people in your company who have access to information you want to protect, work with your legal counsel to develop agreements that are not overreaching or overbroad.  Identify the confidential information that you need to protect. And work with your counsel to tailor the duration, scope and geographic restrictions to the employee’s job.

The more tailored your agreement, the more enforceable it will be should a former employee test it in court or should your company seek to enforce it against a former employee.

Primary Sidebar

Depend on us to keep you informed with our monthly newsletter and invites to informative webinars and seminars.

Select list(s) to subscribe to


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Crowley Law LLC, 89 Headquarters Plaza, Morristown, NJ, 07960, https://www.crowleylawllc.com/. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

Privacy Disclaimer

Footer

Crowley Law LLC
Business & Technology Attorneys


Phone: 844-256-5891
Email: [email protected]
New Jersey Office | New York Office
About | Services | Resources & Events | Contact Us

Awards Disclaimer

Copyright © 2023 by Crowley Law LLC.
All rights reserved. Terms of Use / Privacy Policy | Sitemap
Attorney Advertising. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
Website by New Frontier

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.
Cookie settingsACCEPTREJECT Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT