While the non-competition agreement has been criticized on the grounds that it may infringe an ex-employee's working rights, the Taipei District Court does not quite agree.
In the case of CIS Technology Inc (亞瑟科技) versus Lin Yao-ching (林耀清), the court determined the ex-employee was liable for breaching the non-competition agreement, under which he is not allowed to go into business competing with his ex-employer after termination of his employment.
The agreement is a device widely applied in highly competitive industries to protect trade secrets.
Despite Lin's arguments the non-competition agreement is in breach of his constitutional right to work, the court ruled he must pay NT$130,000 to his ex-employer for violating the agreement he signed when he began his employment.
CIS Technology, a manufacturer of electronic, computer and communications products, claimed that Lin had used skills and information he had acquired during his service in the company to compete against it after his employment ended.
The dispute began last August when Lin quit the company and sent e-mails to the firm's customers telling them of his departure and future plans.
According to the court, Lin wrote in the e-mails that he would be developing products such as cable modems and ADSL modems for another company before starting a new job. He also asked for help with his plans and noted he would visit them soon.
When it obtained the e-mails, CIS Tech accused Lin of violating the non-competition obligations in his contract and requested he pay 24 months salary in damages -- NT$1,560,000.
Lin had argued he did not intend to do anything that competed with his ex-employer, but he wanted to make his departure from CIS known to the customers he had kept in contact.
He also cited the ROC Constitution in his defense, contending the non-competition agreement unfairly restricted his right to work.
The court decided the constitutional defense was not applicable, saying it related to contractual relationships in private law.
Unless the terms of the contract were excessively unreasonable, the court would normally recognize its legal force, the judge said.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2