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LSDefine

Simple English definitions for legal terms

inevitability doctrine

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A quick definition of inevitability doctrine:

The inevitability doctrine is a legal theory that says if a key employee leaves their job and goes to work for a competitor, they will inevitably use their former employer's trade secrets. This means that the former employer can ask for an injunction to stop the employee from using those secrets to unfairly compete against them. However, most courts have rejected this doctrine because it turns a nondisclosure agreement into a noncompetition agreement. The leading case that supports this doctrine is PepsiCo, Inc. v. Redmond, where the court compared the situation to a coach whose player left with the playbook to join the opposing team before a big game.

A more thorough explanation:

The inevitability doctrine is a legal theory that applies to trade secrets. It suggests that a former employee who has access to confidential information of their previous employer cannot avoid using that knowledge to unfairly compete against the former employer once they are hired by a competitor.

For instance, if an employee of a company that produces a unique product leaves and joins a competitor, they may use the knowledge they gained from their previous employer to create a similar product. This could result in the former employer losing their competitive edge.

The plaintiff must prove that the former employee has confidential information and will not be able to avoid using that knowledge to unfairly compete against the plaintiff. However, most courts have rejected this doctrine because it turns a nondisclosure agreement into a noncompetition agreement.

One of the leading cases that upheld the inevitability doctrine is PepsiCo, Inc. v. Redmond, 54 F.3d 1262 (7th Cir. 1995). In this case, the court compared PepsiCo to a coach whose player left with the playbook to join the opposing team before the big game.

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MIAMI A
[] AromaticTroubledDormouse
20:55
How does one know if they are UR1 or UR2?
[] AromaticTroubledDormouse
20:56
CONGRATS MACAQUE!
TY
got a random stanford email and almost had a heart attack
ALSO CONGRATS!
Congrats1!
21:15
Miami A, yall I'm so excited I could cry.
21:15
Feel like I can finally stop holding my breath!! Whew!!!
[] baddestbunny
22:16
every time I get accosted by a strange man who follows me around because my male coworkers were too busy talking to walk me back to my car I get closer to saying we need to bring back traditional gender roles
Dkk
22:32
Nice! @Macaque
Dkk
22:32
@Aromatic, Have to guess.
Dkk
22:33
That sucks @Bunny do you have to go to the hospital?
[] baddestbunny
22:40
I said accosted not assaulted
23:35
guys. my notre dame address just went long is this good or bad
1a2b3c4d26z
23:37
Oooooo me too
23:37
omg is this good or bad
Dkk
23:47
Idk if gender roles are gunna fix that then.
23:49
it looks like most people who applied in october last cycle didn't get a decision until january... does it even mean anything that our addresses went long??
hows ED 2 compared to ED 1?
Dkk
0:10
No idea
windyMagician
0:34
reporting live to say my ndls address also went long
does it mean anything ^
Dkk
2:21
NDLS and Fordham took a very long time last year. It's good info for people to know.
[] baddestbunny
4:29
let’s get after it boys and girls
Dkk
5:21
I gtg to bed soon.
Dkk
5:22
Big day today. Gunna be a crazy one. I will sleep through the first half.
good morning lsd it is 5 am EST
also jazzy my ndls address went long ages ago i sadly do not think it means anything
my stanford address also went long LOL i think at most it's an indicator it's under review
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