4 ms·

I think the legality of this depends on the exact details of the contract he signed. If they are a gaming shop and he releases a game, they may have some kind o

by keefe 18y ago

I think the legality of this depends on the exact details of the contract he signed. If they are a gaming shop and he releases a game, they may have some kind of a claim here. A few months ago I decided I wanted to complete a web research application I had started back in graduate school (and continued after that). This is a completely different area than my company's, but I still had to go through a long series of discussions maintaining this job (for paying the rent while finishing...) and working on this in my spare time. This lead me to my currently insane 70-80 hour weeks which will maintain for uhm... more months than I'd like. As I understand it, if you do not use any of the company's trade secrets or intellectual property and you develop on your own time with zero company resources, you should be OK. By releasing this game under an alias and in what appears to be a related area, it seems like this guy actually may have been violating some kind of a contract. I think the moral of the story is, document everything you do as outside of work hours and if you can pull it off, get your company to send you an email stating they know about your work and know it is not related.

cstejerean 18y ago
Depends on the employment contract. Some companies specifically state that they own any idea you have while working for them. Be especially careful with working for large companies that seem to have a product in any market you can think of, and are planning to enter the others.
- keefe 18y ago
  The applicable statute: 2870. (a) Any provision in an employment agreement which provides that an employee shall assign, or offer to assign, any of his or her rights in an invention to his or her employer shall not apply to an invention that the employee developed entirely on his or her own time without using the employer's equipment, supplies, facilities, or trade secret information except for those inventions that either: 1. Relate at the time of conception or reduction to practice of the invention to the employer's business, or actual or demonstrably anticipated research or development of the employer; or 2. Result from any work performed by the employee for the employer. (b) To the extent a provision in an employment agreement purports to require an employee to assign an invention otherwise excluded from being required to be assigned under subdivision (a), the provision is against the public policy of this state and is unenforceable.

by keefe 18y ago

cstejerean 18y ago

Depends on the employment contract. Some companies specifically state that they own any idea you have while working for them. Be especially careful with working for large companies that seem to have a product in any market you can think of, and are planning to enter the others.

keefe 18y ago
The applicable statute: 2870. (a) Any provision in an employment agreement which provides that an employee shall assign, or offer to assign, any of his or her rights in an invention to his or her employer shall not apply to an invention that the employee developed entirely on his or her own time without using the employer's equipment, supplies, facilities, or trade secret information except for those inventions that either: 1. Relate at the time of conception or reduction to practice of the invention to the employer's business, or actual or demonstrably anticipated research or development of the employer; or 2. Result from any work performed by the employee for the employer. (b) To the extent a provision in an employment agreement purports to require an employee to assign an invention otherwise excluded from being required to be assigned under subdivision (a), the provision is against the public policy of this state and is unenforceable.