Alok -- 1. Many of the things you're asking would likely be very sensitive to the specific facts of the situation, and probably at least somewhat unpredictabl

Alok -- 1. Many of the things you're asking would likely be very sensitive to the specific facts of the situation, and probably at least somewhat unpredictable in outcome. That includes, for example: + the scope of copyright protection (see my summary of Oracle v. Google below); + the meaning of "compete" with an employer. Consider the Oracle v. Google case, for example: A highly-regarded federal trial judge in the Bay Area held that Google had not infringed any protectable copyright interest in the Java API. But then a federal appellate court in Washington DC ruled that the trial judge had used the wrong analytical approach to determine what was protectable and what wasn't [1]. 2. If you're asking these questions because of your specific situation, be very careful what you disclose publicly, because you might be jeopardizing your attorney-client privilege by doing so. (Also, for clarity, I'm not acting as your lawyer here, and you shouldn't rely on what I say on HN as legal advice about your specific situation.) 3. I haven't researched the California employee-invention statute recently, and don't remember offhand how courts have interpreted the term "invention" as used there. A quick Google search revealed a published law-student paper, which I haven't read but it looks as though it might be useful [2]. 4. As to IC layouts, take a look at the Semiconductor Chip Protection Act [3], which protects mask works. NOTES: [1] Oracle v. Google: http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12333423636908326934 http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1233342363690832... [2] Employee inventions: See Parker A. Howell, Whose Invention is it Anyway? Employee Invention-Assignment Agreements and Their Limits, Cite as: 8 WASH. J.L. TECH. & ARTS 79 (2012), http://digital.law.washington.edu/dspace-law/bitstream/handle/1773.1/1169/8wjlta79.pdf?sequence=4 http://digital.law.washington.edu/dspace-law/bitstream/handl... [3] SCPA: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ100.pdf http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ100.pdf