Comments on the Federal Trade Commission’s proposed noncompete clause rulemaking will now be accepted until April 19. The FTC voted 4-0 yesterday to extend the public comment window by roughly 30 days; it was initially set to close on March 20. The controversial rule, based on the FTC’s interpretation of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act’s directive to prevent unfair competition, has already sparked an unorthodox forum and follows a shake up of the agency’s membership.

In a concurring statement following the vote, Commissioner Christine S. Wilson justified the decision to extend the deadline by stating, “given that the proposed rule is a departure from hundreds of years of precedent and would prohibit conduct that 47 states allow, I would have supported extending the public comment by 60 days.”