Prior to this, the restrictions on non-competes varied by jurisdiction. Many were similar to Texas:
Under Texas law noncompete agreements can be enforceable if:
The noncompete provision is part of an otherwise enforceable agreement.
The non-compete requirement is supported by valid consideration (consideration meaning something of value provided to the employee).
The non-compete requirement is reasonable in geographic scope, timeframe, and activities being restrained.
The factors were issues for a jury. Even with this change from the FTC, I expect companies will still be able to pursue prohibitively expensive litigation against former employees for things like theft of trade secrets. Even a bogus claim can cost many thousands of dollars to defend even if it is meritless.
“Dude, you’re getting a Dell.” guy. Early 2000s Dell commercials. I guess some people liked them or were at least annoyed when Dell pulled the plug on them.
FTC bans noncompete agreements for workers ( www.washingtonpost.com )
Dell finding ways to absolutely suck as an employer ( arstechnica.com )