Trade Secrets & Employee Mobility

On March 19, 2025, Wyoming became one of the latest states to enact legislation banning noncompete agreements. The new law, which goes into effect July 1, 2025, voids “[a]ny covenant not to compete that restricts the right of any person to receive compensation for performance of skilled or unskilled labor.” The law applies only to contracts entered into on or after July 1, 2025, and specifically states that nothing in the law alters, amends or impairs “any contract or agreement entered into before July 1, 2025.”  

The law, as drafted, broadly applies to any agreement containing a noncompete clause, such as an employment agreement, independent contractor agreement, or some other type of agreement. The law does not impact or address non-solicitation agreements.

Though the new law appears on its face to be far-reaching, it contains notable exceptions that effectively narrow the scope of noncompetes impacted by the law, discussed below.

On January 29, 2010, in an unpublished opinion, Majestic Marketing, Inc. v. Nay, No. E047085 (Fourth District, Division Two), at least one California Court of Appeal appears to have recognized the viability of the trade secret exception to California Business & Professions Code ¶16600 prohibition of employee non-competition agreements.

A recent decision from the California Court of Appeal questioned the viability of the trade secrets exception to California's broad prohibition against noncompete covenants.