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And the intellectual property laws are bullshit. Your employer owns all your ideas even if they pop into your head off-hours. It's hard to make a spinoff when s

And the intellectual property laws are bullshit. Your employer owns all your ideas even if they pop into your head off-hours. It's hard to make a spinoff when some megacorp has that kind of teeth into you. California has all the startups, not because Californians are smarter or harder-working, but because they are more free.

cobertos 3y ago
Do you mean Michigan's IP laws or Detroit? I always assumed that this was something an employer had to write in, not the default. Do you have a source? From looking, the only default I found is Michigan has the concept of a "shop right" but that involves inventions on employer time with employer resources. It is also narrowly defined[1] [1]: See end of "Patent Rights" section, https://www.michbar.org/file/barjournal/article/documents/pdf4article730.pdf https://www.michbar.org/file/barjournal/article/documents/pd...
- myself248 3y ago
  IANAL so this is my layman's understanding, but I've had to sign a number of agreements with my employer giving them rights to every thought I've ever had. My understanding is that these agreements are not valid in California. I could be wrong.
  - cobertos 3y ago
    Ah, I've seen these clauses too. The link above says for the rights of a patent or similar IP to be assigned there needs to be "consideration" which, they're not paying you when you're at home. So theoretically in MI you could fight something like this if it became a problem. Doesn't stop them trying to bleed you dry through a lawsuit though.
    - DropInIn 3y ago
      I could see them arguing that the mere existence of the employment is the consideration.... And with some of the courts that have come about, I could see them winning.... Not justifiably but nevertheless winning....
  - TedDoesntTalk 3y ago
    This is nonsense. In every US state, work you do in your own time on your own equipment that does not compete with your employer is yours.
AlbertCory 3y ago
> California has all the startups, not because Californians are smarter or harder-working, but because they are more free. Nah. It's the weather /s

cobertos 3y ago

Do you mean Michigan's IP laws or Detroit? I always assumed that this was something an employer had to write in, not the default. Do you have a source? From looking, the only default I found is Michigan has the concept of a "shop right" but that involves inventions on employer time with employer resources. It is also narrowly defined[1] [1]: See end of "Patent Rights" section, https://www.michbar.org/file/barjournal/article/documents/pdf4article730.pdf https://www.michbar.org/file/barjournal/article/documents/pd...

myself248 3y ago
IANAL so this is my layman's understanding, but I've had to sign a number of agreements with my employer giving them rights to every thought I've ever had. My understanding is that these agreements are not valid in California. I could be wrong.
- cobertos 3y ago
  Ah, I've seen these clauses too. The link above says for the rights of a patent or similar IP to be assigned there needs to be "consideration" which, they're not paying you when you're at home. So theoretically in MI you could fight something like this if it became a problem. Doesn't stop them trying to bleed you dry through a lawsuit though.
  - DropInIn 3y ago
    I could see them arguing that the mere existence of the employment is the consideration.... And with some of the courts that have come about, I could see them winning.... Not justifiably but nevertheless winning....
- TedDoesntTalk 3y ago
  This is nonsense. In every US state, work you do in your own time on your own equipment that does not compete with your employer is yours.

AlbertCory 3y ago

> California has all the startups, not because Californians are smarter or harder-working, but because they are more free. Nah. It's the weather /s