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As discussed in a recent article in the Austin Business Journal, the State Supreme Court of New York recently held that Dell Inc. "falsely advertised its promotional credit financing and warranty terms to its customers." More specifically, New York Supreme Court Justice Joseph Teresi ruled that Dell engaged in fraud, false advertising, deceptive business practices and abusive debt collection.
In his ruling, Judge Teresi stated that Dell "engaged in repeated misleading, deceptive and unlawful business conduct, including false and deceptive advertising of financial promotions and the terms of warranties, fraudulent, misleading and deceptive practices in credit financing and failure to provide warranty services and rebates."
The New York Attorney General filed the lawsuit in May 2007, and as a result Dell will be required to pay an undetermined amount of restitution and will be prohibited from engaging in the business practices cited in the lawsuit.
In Texas, The Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act was signed into law to protect consumers from deceptive trade practices, including false advertising. To learn more about the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and the consumer protection related legal services the attorneys of Ross Law Group are able to provide, please visit our consumer protection information center, or contact us at our Austin, Texas based office.
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It is no secret that the "trade secrets" of a business are increasingly becoming a valuable "intangible asset" for many businesses. The disclosure of trade secrets to rival businesses can ultimately lead to a decrease in market share, and for this reason alone their value is undeniable.
As reported in a recent issue of Business Law Today, a 2001 survey indicated that U.S. businesses lost $59 billion (in 2001 dollars) due to intellectual property theft in a one-year period.
One of the biggest factors that have made businesses more vulnerable to having their trade secrets unwillingly disclosed is the rise in employee mobility. In today's business world, employees are spending more and more of their business hours away from the traditional office.
As the Business Law Today article notes, a problem leading to the unwilling disclosure of businesses trade secrets is that "too few companies focus on creating and implementing internal controls in this area."
At Ross Law Group we assist businesses in many areas of business law. If you have a "trade secrets" related business issue or any other business legal issue that you believe we may be able to assist you with, contact our Austin, Texas based office.
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As reported in a recent CNN article, the United States government is quietly attempting to negotiate with major cell phone service providers to ease their contractual penalties for early service termination.
Many of the largest cell phone service providing businesses, including Sprint, AT&T and Verizon, provide for early contract termination fees of as high as $175.00, this irrespective of how long the customer has to keep their service active.
The government's plan appears to be two fold: The first part would allow customers to withdraw from the contract within the initial 30 day service period without any penalty. The second component of their plan would seek to reduce early contract termination fees based on the amount of time the customer has keep their service active.
While the Federal Communications Commission has not yet accepted the government's plan, the idea seems promising and surely would be held in high regard by any cell phone user who has had to pay an early contract termination fee.
At Ross Law Group, we are lawyers who draft and review proposed contractual terms. If you have a contract related legal issue that you believe we may be able to assist you with, contact us to set us a business consultation.
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An interesting legal battle is continuing to develope between two of the biggest internet businesses there are; Craigslist v. Ebay. Craigslist has now countersued its minority interest holder Ebay, which filed its original lawsuit last month, alleging that Ebay has violated federal and state antitrust laws.
It is no secret that Ebay has long been interested in gaining a majority interest in Craigslist, and it now appears that Craigslist believes Ebay is trying to bring it down with a competing online classified website called Kijiji.
In that these are two of the most popular online businesses out there, quite a legal battle is ensuing. More can be read about this in the msnbc.com article "Craigslist fires back in court at Ebay." |
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Generally speaking, if a non-compete agreement has been drafted and executed correctly, it can be enforceable under Texas law. However, the circumstances surrounding the execution of the agreement and the language of the agreement itself are important factors in determining whether or not a particular non-compete agreement is enforceable. For these reasons, many non-compete agreements may not be enforceable.
Section 15.50 of Subchapter E of the Texas Business and Commerce Code iterates the requirements for a valid "covenant not to compete" in Texas. In part, the acts states that to be enforceable the covenant must 1) 'be ancillary to or part of an otherwise enforceable agreement at the time the agreement was made and 2) contain limitations as to time, geographical area, and scope of activity to be restrained that are reasonable and do not impose a greater restraint than is necessary to protect the goodwill or other business interest of the promise.'
So the bottom line is that, subject to certain specific criteria, a validly executed non-compete agreement can be enforceable in Texas.
Every case and non-compete agreement is different and a licensed attorney should always be contacted to discuss the validity of a particular agreement.
The aforementioned information is general in nature and should not be construed as legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is established.
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