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engaged in the business of producing and selling printed checks
and accounting-related forms designed for small businesses. At
that time, petitioner became familiar with the products of
Safeguard Business Systems, Inc. (Safeguard), a competitor of the
company for which petitioner worked.
Safeguard is engaged in producing and selling business forms
to small business owners. Safeguard's products and sales are
oriented toward smaller businesses, those with 50 or fewer
employees, with a primary focus on businesses employing 20 or
fewer persons. Similar forms, although perhaps not of comparable
quality, are available at office supply stores. The Safeguard
name receives substantial recognition in the industry.
Safeguard has approximately 900,000 customers serviced by a
sales network of approximately 850 people in North America.
Safeguard does not operate any retail outlets. Safeguard
operates through a limited number of distributors. Therefore, in
order to solicit sales of Safeguard products, a distributor
generally must buy the right to receive commissions on sales to a
base of customers (referred to as a base or a list) within a
defined geographical territory from a current or former
distributor (referred to as a buy-sell).
In 1986, petitioner was recruited by and accepted employment
with Safeguard as a branch sales manager. In this capacity,
petitioner gave sales support to distributors operating in parts
of Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado. Petitioner did not have
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