Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!vaxine!wjh12!genrad!decvax!ittvax!dcdwest!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!hplabs!sri-unix!chen%lsu.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa From: chen%lsu.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa Newsgroups: net.ai Subject: Noncompetition Clauses Message-ID: <12255@sri-arpa.UUCP> Date: Thu, 12-Apr-84 17:06:04 EDT Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.12255 Posted: Thu Apr 12 17:06:04 1984 Date-Received: Sat, 12-May-84 02:19:43 EDT Lines: 29 From: Peter Chen I think that there are quite a few companies putting on restrictions on post-employment activities, although most of these companies are usually not as restrictive as the company mentioned by Scott Fahlman. I think it is fair for an employer to ask its employees to avoid future involvement in direct competition with the company within a short period of time (say, one year instead of three years) and in a more narrow subject area (i.e., in the area/topics the individual is working on, rather than a broad definition of the AI field or the whole computer field). If I remembered correctly, when I worked for a large computer manufacturer ten years ago, I was required to sign an agreement that whatever ideas or products I might develop in my spare time would belong to the company even though the ideas/products were not related to computers. Do you think it is fair? Do you think your computer employer has the right of the novel you write during weekends? I think this case is much more unfair than asking the employee not to compete with the company after he/she leaves the company for more than a year. As far as I understand, all these agreements/contracts are legally binding if the contracts are signed under free will. Therefore, they can be enforced if the companies choose to do so. However, most of time the companies just use them as a possible protection for their interest. Peter Chen Computer Science Dept., LSU