Employers Seeking to Protect Confidential Information and Trade Secrets in New Jersey – Legal Overview, Best Practices and Practice Tips
Non-compete agreements are often used to protect confidential information from getting into the hands of a competitor. A recent New Jersey case regarding non-competes validated the use of both non-competes and non-solicit agreements in New Jersey. At the moment, employers can continue complying with the parameters that have been approved by the courts, including a narrowly drawn agreement tailored to protect relationships and confidential information that is not unduly restrictive to employees. However, employers do need to be prepared to address potential changes in the law in the states where they have employees (whether in offices or remote). An employer’s restrictive covenants may become unenforceable overnight, leaving them with little protection over one of their most important assets – their confidential information.
If non-compete agreements become unenforceable, employers should still take steps to safeguard their interests with respect to their confidential information. Those protections can be an employer’s best tool to protect confidential information if a key employee departs to a competitor and their non-compete is deemed unenforceable. Even for employers located in states that still enforce non-competes, like New Jersey, their workforces likely have many remote employees who live in states that limit those clauses more strictly than the employer’s home state. This may be an issue even with a forum selection clause/choice of law clause selecting New Jersey as the governing law, as certain states may not enforce those clauses as to employees working within their borders. For these reasons, protection of trade secrets is more important than ever in order to ensure a legal right to take action against an employee who discloses secrets to a competitor. A robust trade secret plan that is consistently applied and enforced can be the answer to the changing landscape of non-competes.
LINKS
Read the Chambers and Partners practice guide "Trade Secrets 2026 - USA – New Jersey," authored by Galit Kierkut and Martin C. Fojas.