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Cross-Border Cases
Practice review: differences in cross-border non-compete enforceability
The same non-compete clause can be wildly different in enforceability across jurisdictions.
A typical scenario: a company uses its home-country non-compete for overseas key staff, then finds in a departure dispute that the clause is unenforceable or sharply narrowed locally.
Jurisdictions differ greatly on duration, geography, compensation, and reasonableness, so copying a template is risky.
The lesson: tailor cross-border non-compete and confidentiality clauses to local rules and spread risk with other protections such as a trade-secret program.