Restrictive Covenants – Should They Be Read Literally?

Prophet plc v Huggett [2014] EWHC 615 (Ch)

If a drafting error renders a restrictive covenant useless if read literally, is it still enforceable?

A contract between a software developer and an employee containing a clause which restricted the employee from joining a competing business only operated to prevent the employee, a sales manager, from being engaged or employed in connection with any products in which he was involved during his employment. As no competitor would ever be selling the claimant employer's products, the clause was completely ineffective. The court was nevertheless prepared to read words into the clause to produce a commercially sensible result.

Relevant law