Professor Camilla Hrdy was quoted in a National Law Journal article regarding a recent district court decision enjoining the Federal Trade Commission’s noncompete ban.
“Camilla Hrdy, a Rutgers Law School professor, called Brown’s ruling “predictable” because the FTC’s noncompete rule is sweeping as it bans noncompete agreements nationwide with few exceptions…. “I have a lot of sympathy with the policy behind what the FTC was striving to do,” Hrdy said. “I do foresee a lot of administrative law problems here, and we’re already seeing so much of that with cutting back on agencies’ authority,” Hrdy added. “I saw this as setting up a perfect home run for cutting back on agency authority, so that the holding was not surprising to me but it does leave me slightly unsettled.” Hrdy’s work focuses on intellectual property, trade secrets, patent law and innovation policy. She said there is a direct link between trade secrets and noncompete agreements. “One of the main justifications, and arguably the best justification, for noncompete agreements is to protect trade secrets,” Hrdy said. However, she said the FTC’s ban on noncompete agreements is unlikely to stand, and employers will be left with current state regulations on noncompete agreements.”
Maydeen Merino, FTC’s Noncompete Rule Unlikely to Survive Litigation, Say
Antitrust, Intellectual Property Experts, National Law Journal, July 08, 2024 at 07:25 PM, https://www.law.com/nationallawjournal/2024/07/08/ftcs-noncompete-rule-unlikely-to-survive-litigation-say-antitrust-intellectual-property-experts/