JLM Couture, Inc., Plaintiff-Appellee v. Hayley Paige Gutman, Defendant-Appellant* On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York Fashion designer and social-media influencer Hayley Paige Gutman challenges a preliminary injunction and contempt order entered against her in litigation with her former employer, JLM Couture, Inc. The district court (Swain, C.J.) issued a preliminary injunction awarding JLM sole control of two social-media accounts — an Instagram Account and a Pinterest Account (together, the “Disputed Accounts”) — and preliminary enforcement of a five-year restrictive covenant prohibiting Gutman from “identifying herself” as a designer of certain goods. The district court also held Gutman in civil contempt for a series of Instagram posts that it found to be “marketing” in violation of an earlier version of the preliminary injunction. Gutman argues on appeal that this was reversible error and that the preliminary injunction should be dissolved. We DISMISS Gutman’s appeal from the district court’s interlocutory contempt order for lack of appellate jurisdiction. We AFFIRM the district court’s refusal to dissolve its preliminary injunction based on the law of the case. We VACATE in part the district court’s order modifying its preliminary injunction because it erred in determining ownership of the Disputed Accounts and failed to assess the reasonableness of the five-year noncompete restraint on Gutman. We thus REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. MICHAEL PARK, C.J. Fashion designer and social-media influencer Hayley Paige Gutman challenges a preliminary injunction and contempt order entered against her in litigation with her former employer, JLM Couture, Inc. The district court (Swain, C.J.) issued a preliminary injunction awarding JLM sole control of two social-media accounts — an Instagram Account and a Pinterest Account (together, the “Disputed Accounts”) — and preliminary enforcement of a five-year restrictive covenant prohibiting Gutman from “identifying herself” as a designer of certain goods. The district court also held Gutman in civil contempt for a series of Instagram posts that it found to be “marketing” in violation of an earlier version of the preliminary injunction. Gutman argues on appeal that this was reversible error and that the preliminary injunction should be dissolved. We dismiss Gutman’s appeal from the district court’s interlocutory contempt order for lack of appellate jurisdiction. We affirm the district court’s refusal to dissolve its preliminary injunction based on the law of the case. We vacate in part the district court’s order modifying its preliminary injunction because it erred in determining ownership of the Disputed Accounts and failed to assess the reasonableness of the five-year noncompete restraint on Gutman. We thus remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. I. BACKGROUND A. Factual Background 1. Employment History In July 2011, Hayley Paige Gutman signed an employment agreement with JLM (the “Contract”). See Appellant’s App’x at 376-94. Gutman agreed to design a line of bridal wear in exchange for a salary plus “additional compensation” tied to the sales of the products she designed. See Contract 4. The contract included provisions to protect JLM’s investment in Gutman’s name and brand association. Thus, among other terms, Gutman: (1) agreed not to use her name (or any derivatives of her name) in commerce once JLM registered a trademark thereof, id. 10(b)-(d); (2) agreed that various categories of creative material she produced would be JLM’s property, id.
