4 ms·
> a bunch of contract clauses that basically lets the company own all IP while employed. Probably the most practical solution here is to simply disregard this
by fergie 7y ago
> a bunch of contract clauses that basically lets the company own all IP while employed.
Probably the most practical solution here is to simply disregard this clause in the contract. Breaching such a clause would be a civil, not a criminal offense, and it is unlikely that a civil complaint would be even considered unless there was a lot of money at stake, and it was easy/cheap to prove/uphold. In order for it to be upheld your employer would have to spend a lot of time and energy deciding, and then proving what it was you built "on their time".
In other words, given that you don't actively publicize your own personal contribution to a commercial project its very unlikely that your employer can have any leverage over you in this regard.
- chii 7y agothis is very dangerous advice. If it is in your clause,then it's easy to come after you for it. Just don't do it on company dime and company time. This is what weekends are for, and it'd be up to the company to prove otherwise.
- marcosdumay 7y ago> This is what weekends are for What I get from the OP's question is that the company owns anything he creates, independently of it being done on work time.
- mongol 7y agoBut if it says "while employed", I don't think working on it on weekends makes a difference. Employment lasts until it ends, not only while on working hours.
- anonymousab 7y agoThe idea behind these clauses is that they apply 24/7/365 while you are salaried.
- fastball 7y agoYou are giving the same advice as the commenter you are replying to.
- davzie 7y agoJust start a company and make sure you document that the company you created is doing the work and not you personally. That'll probably throw a spanner in the works if it ever did get legal. You could say a contractor did the work then I guess. Obviously I'm not a lawyer and I'm probably totally in the wrong but seems at least another layer of safety over you just doing it personally if your employment contract says your employer owns all IP regardless of when its worked on as long as you're employed by them.
- opportune 7y agoIf it's not a pure tech company I think you can disregard it simply because it's not worth the effort / bad PR for your employer to pursue it. For example I'm currently employed by big tech co and am dabbling with an ecommerce business. Why would my employer subject themselves to probably hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees to claim a stake in a processed food startup? Even if the business is worth like 1M-10MM (it's not, maybe it could be in the future, but unlikely) why would they risk hurting their ability to attract talent to make what looks like a rounding error to the organizational budget?