
How to do Discloure before new empoloyment - ausjke
I have a few side-projects that I have been slowly working on when I can find time over the years. Many jobs require that they fully &quot;own&quot; you as long as you&#x27;re employed by them, means whatever you do in the employment period is owned by the company.<p>How should I do a full disclosure before signing the offer letter? I want to keep what I had, further I also want to have the right to keep working on the side projects in the future and keep it to myself(out of work hours, and never use any employer&#x27;s resource for that, and, never directly compete with the employer&#x27;s market). The products are normally very different from what I will be doing once hired.
======
codingdave
I'd research what your contract really says - most of the time, they only
claim IP in areas that overlap the employer's business, on their time, using
their systems, or some combination of those three. A contract that says they
own everything you create while employed is heavy-handed, and should be
negotiated before you sign.

As far as where to disclose, they should include a form to document any prior
inventions when they gave you the employment contract. If they did not, ask
HR. It is a fairly standard addendum to IP contracts.

~~~
ausjke
Thanks. The contract and NDA is normally a few pages with terms I don't really
understand fully, but I did read "once you're employeed we own you even for
what you do after work and in the weekends".

Can't say there is 0 overlap but the main market and product type are
definitely different.

------
Olumde
Are you in the UK? Such terms are common in tech here in the UK.

I also had a job offered with pretty much identical terms. I planned to
disclose and negotiate this clause after negotiating the salary (they offered
less than I used to make) but they walked off in a huff when I pushed back
against the offer. I did not regret it as I have IP that I have been
developing for years and I hope to spin into a company in a couple of years.

~~~
ausjke
No I'm in US, Thanks for the reply.

