> And how do you tell ahead of time if someone's going to change their mind or go back on their verbal agreement? You can't. Ok, sorry, I was unclear: Talk ab

> And how do you tell ahead of time if someone's going to change their mind or go back on their verbal agreement? You can't. Ok, sorry, I was unclear: Talk about it, come to an agreement and get that in writing. E-Mail as confirmation should be enough to move the burden of proof to the employer. > I know Germany (and much of the EU) are very employee friendly, which is why I find this so surprising, and frankly pretty outrageous. I'm not surprised. This certainly is an area that will get a lot of problematic cases. The law in germany not only contains the first right of the employer to certain inventions, it also stipulates fair compensation and guidelines about the correct process. I much prefer that over "let's battle that out in court." It's actually quite employee-friendly.