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Yeah, but if you do the invention off the clock, after you started? And you decide to disclose? No one will ever give you a yes or no answer. Never. It's like

Yeah, but if you do the invention off the clock, after you started? And you decide to disclose? No one will ever give you a yes or no answer. Never. It's like raising VC, or invading Russia. They will just put everything off until tomorrow. Forever. I worked at That Place In The Valley that is not in Cupertino or Menlo Park. I tried to get "I own the IP" authorization for some side project that didn't matter to the business. I had a meeting every two weeks or so for a year and a half and nothing ever happened. But now they know about it, and could make a claim if it blew up. So that's over.

tptacek 10y ago
If they don't sign off, either don't work on the side project or change jobs. Plowing ahead without clearing up the IP feels empowering, but what you've really done is concede virtually all the power to your employer, and in a way that allows them to retain it even after you leave the job.
- scaredthrowaway 10y ago
  As opposed to when I leave having started the project there? I have never gotten anything remotely close to a real answer of what I'm supposed to do once I commit the original sin of thinking while I have a salary. It's not like the moment after I quit every line of code I write is mine free and clear. They own the foundation unless otherwise resolved. They already have all the power. I didn't plow ahead, I stopped once I thought it might have potential. I really only tried for the few months, after that they kept asking me permission to close the request and I kept telling them no. (I was pretty pissed).
webmaven 10y ago
> No one will ever give you a yes or no answer. Never. It's like raising VC, or invading Russia. They will just put everything off until tomorrow. Forever. That hasn't been my experience (albeit with much smaller companies). For one thing, if you have correspondence showing that you've made a good faith effort to get an answer, it is going to tilt the playing field in your favor in a dispute. But as going to court isn't what you want, this does lead in to something of a ProTip (though IANAP, TINPA): In general, when hashing out a contract, it can pay off to ask for various requirements imposed on you (in this case, it would be disclosure "within 30 days") to be mirrored by similar requirements on the employer.

tptacek 10y ago

If they don't sign off, either don't work on the side project or change jobs. Plowing ahead without clearing up the IP feels empowering, but what you've really done is concede virtually all the power to your employer, and in a way that allows them to retain it even after you leave the job.

scaredthrowaway 10y ago
As opposed to when I leave having started the project there? I have never gotten anything remotely close to a real answer of what I'm supposed to do once I commit the original sin of thinking while I have a salary. It's not like the moment after I quit every line of code I write is mine free and clear. They own the foundation unless otherwise resolved. They already have all the power. I didn't plow ahead, I stopped once I thought it might have potential. I really only tried for the few months, after that they kept asking me permission to close the request and I kept telling them no. (I was pretty pissed).

webmaven 10y ago

> No one will ever give you a yes or no answer. Never. It's like raising VC, or invading Russia. They will just put everything off until tomorrow. Forever. That hasn't been my experience (albeit with much smaller companies). For one thing, if you have correspondence showing that you've made a good faith effort to get an answer, it is going to tilt the playing field in your favor in a dispute. But as going to court isn't what you want, this does lead in to something of a ProTip (though IANAP, TINPA): In general, when hashing out a contract, it can pay off to ask for various requirements imposed on you (in this case, it would be disclosure "within 30 days") to be mirrored by similar requirements on the employer.