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Go back to the employment agreement you signed, read it. There likely is a "notify us about outside stuff" language in it. If your project is closely related

Go back to the employment agreement you signed, read it. There likely is a "notify us about outside stuff" language in it. If your project is closely related to your job or business your company is in, you have problems. If it's likely or is worth a lot, you have problems. If you've EVER used company assets to work on the idea you have problems. What you need your boss to sign is a simple letter that states work related to the fields of XYZ is not a part of your job and (there likely is some contract language from your contract) not claimed by the employeer. If the idea has value, I'd spend a few hundred dollars going to a lawyer. I'm meeting with my lawyer tomorrow to discuss being proactive about my current project which I started after I left my previous employeer, but I want to play defense now when it is cheap vs. later when it may be expense and time may be short. If you're ever going to go ask for VC or Angel money this likely is something they'll catch durring the process and then you'll have to go back to deal with it when the costs are higher and time is short. If you happen to work for a really big company the HR department might actually be able to help you, but talk with a lawyer first.

alok-g 14y ago
Disclosure: IANAL. Adding to John's message above: >> Go back to the employment agreement you signed, read it. Not just read it but make sure to read it very carefully. There are terms frequently used in such contracts that look like normal English (or other language) words but may have very well-defined and specific legal meaning. Examples would include "work", "inventions", "work for hire", etc. Generally you can find definitions of these online, including in Wikipedia, and also sometimes in the contract itself. The contracts also often have a place for "excepted works / inventions" where you can write things that you would want to exclude from the contract. Be careful again of the precise contract though as: 1. The exceptions are generally intended for work you did "prior" to employment by the company. Anything you do after joining may not be covered in this form. 2. As John noted, you may still have a requirement to disclose any excepted work you do within prescribed time limits to the employer. 3. You may have non-compete clauses which prevent you from working on things related to the employers line (or anticipated line) of business. This bears another example where people often misinterpret -- They claim for example that their side project is on end-consumer software application while the company products are enterprise related [Hint: Do not go by your or normal language definition of "related". As far as legal world is concerned, "software" may be just one category. A good check, though probably not correct, would be to see which line of businesses the employer's trademarks are registered for.] To summarize: 1. As John said, better to discuss with a lawyer. 2. Even with '1' above, go read a book or two. E.g.: "www.amazon.com/Intellectual-Property-Open-Source-Protecting/dp/0596517963/" 3. Do not blindly fill the excepted works/inventions form. It by itself may not save you. You may need a separate agreement in writing stating something like "Employer has no interest in your side project and does not mind you working on it on the sides". Make sure also that your side project is well defined in this new contract -- My guess is that over including or under including would not be good ideas. 4. There have been previous discussions on HN. I would have found some for you but need to rush right now. Disclosure: IANAL.

alok-g 14y ago

Disclosure: IANAL. Adding to John's message above: >> Go back to the employment agreement you signed, read it. Not just read it but make sure to read it very carefully. There are terms frequently used in such contracts that look like normal English (or other language) words but may have very well-defined and specific legal meaning. Examples would include "work", "inventions", "work for hire", etc. Generally you can find definitions of these online, including in Wikipedia, and also sometimes in the contract itself. The contracts also often have a place for "excepted works / inventions" where you can write things that you would want to exclude from the contract. Be careful again of the precise contract though as: 1. The exceptions are generally intended for work you did "prior" to employment by the company. Anything you do after joining may not be covered in this form. 2. As John noted, you may still have a requirement to disclose any excepted work you do within prescribed time limits to the employer. 3. You may have non-compete clauses which prevent you from working on things related to the employers line (or anticipated line) of business. This bears another example where people often misinterpret -- They claim for example that their side project is on end-consumer software application while the company products are enterprise related [Hint: Do not go by your or normal language definition of "related". As far as legal world is concerned, "software" may be just one category. A good check, though probably not correct, would be to see which line of businesses the employer's trademarks are registered for.] To summarize: 1. As John said, better to discuss with a lawyer. 2. Even with '1' above, go read a book or two. E.g.: "www.amazon.com/Intellectual-Property-Open-Source-Protecting/dp/0596517963/" 3. Do not blindly fill the excepted works/inventions form. It by itself may not save you. You may need a separate agreement in writing stating something like "Employer has no interest in your side project and does not mind you working on it on the sides". Make sure also that your side project is well defined in this new contract -- My guess is that over including or under including would not be good ideas. 4. There have been previous discussions on HN. I would have found some for you but need to rush right now. Disclosure: IANAL.