Employment IP Assignment Clauses

Depends where you live. California law renders those clauses null as long as the IP is generated outside of work, without use of employer equipment, facilities, internal knowledge or other IP already belonging to the employer. There are some potential issues if the side work "relates to the employer's business", so running any specific plan through a real lawyer is a good idea at some point. But, as far as I have heard, doing this is not uncommon when the side-project does not com

Many companies require their employees to give away any and all intellectual rights while working for them, even when created on your own spare time and equipment.You may request an exception, but it'll need to be reviewed and approved beforehand by their lawyers.Previous discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2208056

I’d you are going to start something on the side, carefully read your current employment agreement, particularly the part about IP assignment. Most Silicon Valley companies I’ve worked with, including FAANGs, claim ownership of everything you produce, inside or outside of employment, at home or in office, using their equipment or yours. You don’t want to lick into a unicorn idea and have your former employer’s lawyers send you that letter...

If your side-project is at all related to your day job, this most likely runs afoul of your employment agreement and IP considerations. Typically, your employer claims ownership of all IP you generate that pertains to your work or its business. For example, if you work at Google, I think it's essentially impossible to simultaneously work on any other side project that you wish to commercialize that will not be owned by Google.

Put it in your contract before you get employed. If starting a company while employed, reach out to your employer saying you're building company X which does Y as a side project and you need a document stating no IP ownership.

Most employment contracts have clauses to the effect of "anything created using company tools or company time is owned by the company". If there isn't a clear dilineation between your work hours, work location and equipment you could get into a contentious situation. (I'm not an attorney but I recently consulted with one for this exact reason.)

I have started working for a big international company only recently and was quite surprised to learn that the clause "we own all IP you produce at any time including at home on your own equipment" is common in contracts. It is present in my contract as well.It affected my motivation to work on side projects a lot. How do other devs deal with this? I'd like to write some code for fun at home at least sometimes, but arguing with the legal department just to put it in github is d

My current employer has a standard "you own anything you do in your spare time, as long as it's not done on work equipment" clause in the contract. Quite a few people here have side projects, discussion about them is open, and the culture is that of respect for these people and the projects. I get the impression that the company likes people with the motivation and energy to engage in side projects, and practically encourages them.

Many US employers have employment agreements in which they claim default ownership of business-related intellectual property that their employees create, such as software, even when it is written on the employee's own time. Every tech company I have worked for has had one of these clauses.I think this is what the authors are (somewhat clumsily) alluding to.Here's some more information (it's not an ideal source, but I wasn't able to find a better one; maybe someone else

Why is every time I see this law referred to people seem to have only read the first clause, not the following clauses> 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 th