[SOLAR_FIELDS]

Of course, that line of thinking involves the inevitable follow up: when is something a “copy” vs a “genuine invention”. If company has a patent on making widget A, how different does a previous employee who leaves and makes widget B have to be before it’s not considered a violation?

I am no expert here but my understanding is that the case law around this is much more well trodden in patent land than it is for noncompetes

[bumby]

You're right, but there are some nuances that I would expect a good law to address. My presumption is that trade secrets would have to be covered by confidentiality agreements, which are distinct from noncompetes. The threshold for infringement of intellectual property is a "preponderance of evidence"; i.e., it's "more likely than not" or "greater than 50%" so it's not a terribly high threshold to prove compared to other sorts of law.

If it's truly patented (different from a trade secret), you can't produce it, even if your invention is slightly different. For example, if I hold a patent on a "car" and you make a "car with a radio," you still can't produce it because it infringes on my patent. You can't make your product without covering the totality of my claim. That's why people try to make patent claims as broad as possible.