Confidentiality And Invention Assignment Agreements Enforceable Against Former Employee

Richard Raysman is a Partner in our New York office

Generally speaking, noncompete agreements are often rigidly construed by courts and reviewed in terms of whether they are reasonably limited with respect to time and place. On the other hand, confidentiality agreements and invention assignment provisions, which are commonplace in industries with high levels of technological innovation, enjoy more favorable treatment in the law.  This dichotomy was on display in a recent state court dispute involving the enforceability of certain confidentiality and invention assignment provisions against an ex-employee of a high-tech manufacturer.   

In Milliken & Co. v. Morin, 731 SE 2d 288 (S.C. 2012), a company sued its former employee after he resigned and started a new venture allegedly using the company's proprietary information.  A jury found in favor of the company based upon the employee's breach of corporate confidentiality and invention assignment agreements. The