Putting aside federal antitrust laws, noncompete agreements are evaluated under state, not federal, law. Although some states have passed statutes regarding the reasonableness of CNCs, others rely upon the more fluid common law definition of reasonableness. In many cases this complex competitive analysis pivots merely off the following: (1) the number of years of the CNC; and (2) the geographic area covered by the CNC.
State laws also differ on whether a court has the power to ‘blue pencil’ or rewrite an overbroad noncompete agreement so that it does not transcend the boundaries of the reasonableness test. Such an ability is detrimental to the interests of franchisees and dealers, to the extent that it allows franchisors and manufacturers to get two bites at the apple on enforcing initially unlawful CNCs.
Unfair Noncompete Agreements
- Overview
- Legal Background of Noncompete Agreements
- Experience and Expertise of Goldstein Law Firm in Litigating for or Counseling Clients on Noncompete Agreements
- Modern Legal Analysis of Noncompete Agreements
- Not All Noncompete Agreements Are Equal Under the Law
- Noncompete Clauses in Franchise Agreements Must be Reasonable
- The Distinction Between In-Term and Post-Term Noncompete Agreements
- Rationales for the Use of Noncompete Agreements
- Recent Empirical Analyses of Noncompete Agreements
- Selected Cases and Individual State Laws on Franchise Noncompete Agreements
- Recommendations for Future Analysis of Franchise Noncompete Agreements
- Action Steps for Clients and Potential Clients Regarding Noncompete Agreements
