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Shadrach, The stuff
in the new contract is actually the default if there is no contract. Since you are an employee, ANYTHING you
do relating (and I’m not sure if it even has to relate!) to computers is owned
by the company. This is standard
copyright law like it or not.
However, the “6 months post employment” part is not standard at all and
does not seem enforceable. One of the
standards of employment contracts (per our lawyer) is that they can not stop
you from earning a living in your chosen field. And the above says that for 6 months after you leave, any
new programs are their property…therefore denying you the opportunity to earn a
living. Another
standard is that they must be specific.
And the more specific, the easier they are to enforce. Eg: Our contract might say “you cant
work for a competitor”. We could probably
enforce that depending on the company.
If it said, “you can’t work for Quadrant, BuisCom or Fax Star” then not
only is it a very reasonable statement (these are direct no questions competitors
of ours), but would be virtually impossible for the employee to fight. The best
thing to do if you are an RPG programmer (at work anyway) and decide to do a
Palm Pilot app (in C++) that is NOT in your companies area (eg: Your company
sells Cars and your proposed Application is for musicians) is to get pre-approval (in Writing). This way if they say Ok, you have no
problems. If they say No, you can
either be the good little employee and get back to work, or you can quit, go to
work for a more appreciative company or put out your own shingle. But most companies will agree to let you
do your App. JMHO and I’m
not a lawyer…the above is worth the paper it is not printed on. Bob
Crothers -----Original
Message----- I work for a
small firm and just a few months ago we merged with a couple of other
companies. The new parent company is coming to us and 'asking' us to sign
this very detailed no competition contract. The original company had a
simple contract that seemed very reasonable to me that requested that we did
not sell services on the side to the companies customers during and for a year
after employment. The new
contract contains that same type of language plus a portion labeled inventions;
That basically says if you create anything, even on your own time during
employment and for 6 months after employment the rights to that invention
belongs to them. Which basically I am understanding to say, if I create a palm
pilot app to keep track of expense reports on the side I am obligated to send
the code to them and they have the right to sell or distribute the app. Is this
practice common in the computer industry? The contract states that even if you
have an idea that may be paten-able you are to put it in writing and submit it
to the company. This policy
seems kind of harsh and I even feel discouraged to play or even dream on
my own time and learn new tools, because if I create a little new app I
don't really own it or if I want to go into business for my self I can't do it
with a new idea because that would belong to them. Shadrach |
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