If you have been following our podcast California Employment News, you know that the Federal Trade Commission issued a rule that would act as a comprehensive ban on non-compete agreements. The ban would have taken effect next month, and would have invalidated non-compete provisions in millions of existing agreements and would have precluded non-compete provisions in future agreements with employees, independent contractors, volunteers and other workers.  It would have preempted the laws of the 46 states that already regulate noncompete. In a victory for employers and business owners nationwide who rely on some form of non-competition provision to protect their IP, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas invalidated the FTC rule in its ruling on August 20, 2024.