case by case, copy vs. applying experience.

1. Trade Secret is protected by law, as well as by Non-disclosure agreement, many company requires employees to sign this.

After you left a previous company, you can use your professional experience (including past work done for others) to create new work. But you cannot directly copy the work you created for others.

This copy vs. experience analysis has to be done case by case, for example analysis in biotech is different from electronics.

2. Non-compete agreement is different from non-disclosure agreement. Different discussion.

Non-compete agreement has to balance between the right of employee making a living vs. protecting company's trade secret.  Usually it requires "reasonable" time period and "reasonable" geographic limitation.  Case law varies among states, but two or three years exclusion is the maximum to the "reasonableness".   

Also the company has to sue you to enforce the agreement, in most cases the company doesn't care even if you violated. 

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• got it. thank you! -慧惠- ♀ (0 bytes) () 02/06/2015 postreply 09:01:29