[jriera]

Not a lawyer ... as you know...

Non-compete agreements are enforceable as any other agreement, remember the recent case of IBM vs. Apple regarding Mark Papermaster.

I have signed my fair share of non-compete, most recent case after being 'downsized' from my previous company, the first thing my new company wanted to know was what non-compete clauses I had in place. I had to go to HR to my previous company and get the non-compete agreement I signed 17 years ago, it was very similar to yours.

The respect of non-compete SHOULD be very high on your new company.

After all if an agreement that you signed, no different than a mortgage loan ... or are we practicing double standards ....