受僱人洩漏在職期間或離職後知悉的營業秘密，對於全世界的高科技產業與經濟造成重大打擊，因而關於競業禁止條款適用的範圍及其內容，引發本文探討競業禁止之法律適用性與案例探討的研究動機。首先，本文說明競業禁止的概念，再論述我國近年的實務案例，企業往往藉由與勞工簽定離職後競業禁止條款，惟離職後競業禁止條款所拘束、限制的範圍，往往對於勞工所損失的就業自由甚至勞工賴以維生之技能限制過深，而其侵害勞工權利的深度，本文最後探討與雇主所需值得保護的利益是否衡平，並做出結論議。

Employee misappropriation of trade secrets in today’s globalized, high-technology economy poses a real and substantial threat. Since there is no any specific statute in Taiwan, this article is intended to provide a general overview regarding covenants not to compete. A covenant not to compete can generally be crafted to limit a former employee’s ability to compete against his or her former employer for a reasonable period of time. ROC courts have enforced such agreements if they are ancillary to employment, reasonably limited in scope and duration and designed to protect legitimate business interests.