News & Analysis as of

Independent Contractors Trade Secrets

Independent contractors are individuals or entities that perform work for other individuals or entities, but are not employees of those individuals or entities. Whether a worker is an employee or an independent... more +
Independent contractors are individuals or entities that perform work for other individuals or entities, but are not employees of those individuals or entities. Whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor is not always an easy determination. However, due to differences in tax and liability treatment, misclassifying an employee as an independent contractor can have serious consequences. Autonomy is the defining feature of independent contractor arrangements. Independent contractors control the manner and method of how work is performed while payers control the desired result. Control over schedule and number of hours worked, ownership of equipment or tools, permanency of relationship, and acceptance of jobs from multiple entities are all possible factors in determining whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor.   less -
DRI

Non-Compete Clauses and Professional Liability

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Non-compete provisions have long been viewed by employers as reasonable and appropriate velvet handcuffs on departing employees and as an unfair burden on competition by the departing employees. The purpose of non-compete...more

Proskauer - Minding Your Business

CA Federal Court Awards Biomedical Companies $62M Following Jury Trial Involving Confidentiality-Related Claims

On November 1, 2023, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California awarded damages to Skye Orthobiologics, LLC (“Skye”) and Human Regenerative Technologies, LLC (“HRT”) for breach of contract,...more

Mintz - Employment Viewpoints

Laws Impacting Employee Non-Competition, Non-Solicitation, and Non-Disclosure Agreements – What to Know, What to Do and What to...

Many employers experienced whiplash in 2023 from the flurry of judicial, administrative and legislative activity aimed at restricting the use of employee non-competition, non-solicitation, and non-disclosure agreements. Can...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Artificial Intelligence in the Modern Workplace: Safeguarding Source Code Generated with AI Assistance

Generally, an employer owns all rights in software code created by its employee in the scope of their employment. As outlined in the last edition of this series, this general rule typically applies to independent contractors...more

Holland & Hart LLP

Minnesota Reforms Law to Ban (Almost) All Noncompete Agreements

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Agreements not to compete have existed as part of the common law for hundreds of years.1 These restraining agreements are designed to reduce economic harm to an employer when a “key” employee departs and are often required at...more

Lathrop GPM

Minnesota Non-compete Ban Signed into Law

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On May 24, 2023, Governor Walz signed off on Minnesota legislation prohibiting employers from entering into non-compete agreements with employees or independent contractors. How will this new law affect your business? What...more

AEON Law

Patent Poetry: Court Awards $500K in Attorneys’ Fees to Allstate in Trade Secret Case

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A New Jersey federal court has ruled in favor of Allstate Insurance in a dispute over attorney’s fees in a case involving allegations of employee misuse of company confidential information and trade secrets. Defendants...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

2 cents on Speak Out, Respect Marriage acts

The impact on most employers should be minimal. As you've probably heard, President Biden has recently signed into law two measures that could affect employers: The Speak Out Act, and the Respect for Marriage Act....more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Reaction and Response to the FTC & DOJ Workshop on Labor Market Competition

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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) hosted a virtual workshop on December 6-7, 2021, bringing together agency representatives, lawyers, economists, academics, and other experts to discuss...more

Ruder Ware

Protecting Your Rights: Protecting Works Created by Employees and Independent Contractors

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Many businesses work hard and invest heavily to develop and protect their intellectual property rights, including trade secrets and proprietary processes, designs, and know-how. However, special rules apply in determining...more

McGlinchey Stafford

The Bullet Point: An Ohio Commercial Law Bulletin: Do I Have An Enforceable Contract?

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Contract Interpretation McCruter v. Travelers Home & Marine Ins. Co., 11th Dist. Lake No. 2019-L-167, 2021-Ohio-472- In this appeal, the Eleventh Appellate District affirmed in part and reversed in part the lower court’s...more

Kidon IP

Employees or Independent Contractor Generated IP (Part 2)

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 In part 1, I reviewed patents and copyrights. In this post, I will discuss trade secrets, IP rights, and other protection measures.  Trade Secrets - No federal or state statute expressly addresses initial ownership of...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Survival by the Thinnest Margins: Potential Trade Secret Claims Post-Texas TCPA Amendments

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Effective on September 1, 2019, the 86th Texas Legislature’s amendments to the Texas Citizen’s Participation Act, Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code Chapter 27 (“TCPA”) essentially removed the vast majority trade secret...more

Womble Bond Dickinson

Intellectual Property Considerations and Guidance for Start-Ups: Trade Secrets

Womble Bond Dickinson on

When many people think of trade secrets, they envision something mysterious and legendary—such as the original Coca-Cola formula locked in an Atlanta vault, or Col. Sanders’ recipe for fried chicken. But many companies have...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

[Podcast]: Key Contractual Provisions for Employers to Incorporate in Documents with Confidentiality Covenants

In this episode of The Proskauer Brief, Kate Napalkova, special employee benefits and executive compensation counsel, and associate Oleg Zakatov discuss potential pitfalls that lurk in employment agreements and other employee...more

Adler Pollock & Sheehan P.C.

Noncompetes with Massachusetts Employees: Subsidizing a Former Employee’s “Garden Leave”

Effective October 1, 2018, employers in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and other states seeking to hold Massachusetts employees to noncompete agreements must meet the requirements of a new law passed by the Massachusetts...more

Perkins Coie

Washington State Poised to Impose Significant Restrictions on Noncompetition Agreements

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Last week, the Washington State Legislature passed a proposal that, once signed into law, will significantly restrict the use of noncompetition agreements in Washington. We fully expect Governor Jay Inslee to sign this law,...more

Orrick - Trade Secrets Group

A 2018 Trade Secrets Year in Review

With the holidays behind us and our calendars flipped over to 2019, we’re taking a look back at some key trade secrets developments of the past year. ...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Gig Economy Temporary Staffing With Smartphone Apps: 7 Legal and Practical Considerations for Employers

New technologies that enable temporary staffing candidates to find positions via applications that use algorithms to match people to positions, are here. With names like tilr and Shiftgig, these apps use an alternative,...more

Locke Lord LLP

Meet the New Noncompete Law in Massachusetts: FAQs

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Click here for PDF No. The Act applies only to agreements entered into on or after October 1, 2018. Agreements entered into previously are unaffected. Pre-existing agreements do not need to be amended to comply with the new...more

K&L Gates LLP

Sweeping Changes to Noncompetition Agreements in Massachusetts

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Massachusetts has enacted a new law, the Noncompetition Agreement Act (the “Act”), which imposes a significant number of new requirements that employers will have to fulfill in order to enforce noncompetition agreements...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP

How to Comply with Massachusetts’ New Restrictions on Employee Noncompetition Agreements

On August 10, 2018, Massachusetts’ Governor signed into law the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act (the “Act”), establishing strict new requirements for noncompetition agreements with employees entered on or after...more

Proskauer - Law and the Workplace

[Podcast]: New Non-Compete Law in Massachusetts

In this episode of The Proskauer Brief, senior counsel Harris Mufson and associate Samantha Regenbogen discuss significant reforms to Massachusetts law that will apply to non-competition agreements as well as adopting the...more

Fisher Phillips

Web Exclusive - May 2018: The Top 14 Labor And Employment Law Stories

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It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years—and this past month...more

Fisher Phillips

Web Exclusive - April 2018: The Top 19 Labor And Employment Law Stories

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It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there were an unprecedented number of changes all through 2017. And if the first four months...more

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