I'm not a lawyer, this is not a legal advice. Treat this text as preparation to a conversation with an actual lawyer. So. It's complicated. The company can su

I'm not a lawyer, this is not a legal advice. Treat this text as preparation to a conversation with an actual lawyer. So. It's complicated. The company can sue you for the ownership of the work, but until that lawsuit is lost you own the work. In practice they won't sue you unless you really tick them off (don't do that) or you become successful. There are also mitigating tactics for the upcoming lawsuit: 1. Promptly notify your manager in writing about what you do, print the email and keep it. If you can get a proof that s/he read it, print that too. They key here is that you don't want this to be a surprise to your manager later on when you quit and you don't want to come across as deceptive. It's best to keep good relationships. There is a method to writing this sort of emails - your claims must be broad as to encompass your entire work, and not too specific as to allow you to change things as you work. On the other hand an overly broad claim can attract a lot of undue attention, so strive for balance. 2. When you leave your day job, notify them again in writing about what you do. Ideally get your manager to respond and and print that response, or find other way to have proof. Again, it shouldn't be a surprise to them (see point #1). By doing this you have established a paper trail proving that they knew but chose not to act. If they fail to act within reasonable time, but chose to bring a lawsuit later after you become successful this paper trail will serve to undermine their claims of you being unfair. I was told that after 3 years of inaction they practically lose their stance. The clock starts ticking at the moment they were notified, and it resets every time there is a new violation (i.e. you create new work while still employed). Your more immediate problem is that many investors will look at this and either pass or say that they need a letter from a lawyer that assures them nothing can go wrong. Lawyers will tell you that this is complicated. One way to resolve complexity is to ask your current employer to sign a piece of paper that gives you all the rights to this particular work back. They usually don't as there is nothing for them to gain and maybe something to lose. On the bright side there will be investors who will invest despite this, it's just a smaller number. Those are more likely to be true believers, so there is a positive side to this filter as well. Lastly the law in most states puts restrictions on what kind of claims by employer are enforceable. There are clear-cut cases (like operating a lawnmower service while working at Facebook), but technology cases are complicated. This will cost a lot of money to get a definitive letter from a lawyer, and I don't think it's worth the expense in your case.