
Ask HN: Company IP Assignment contract - notbatman
This clause in the ip contract my company is making everyone sign:<p>&gt; The Company is and shall be, the sole and exclusive owner of all right, title and interest throughout the world in and to all the results and proceeds of the Services performed under or in any way in connection with this Agreement, which are hereby deemed a “work made for hire” as defined in 17 U.S.C. § 101 for the Company. If, for any reason, any of such works do not constitute a “work made for hire,” Consultant hereby irrevocably assigns to the Company, in each case without additional consideration, all right, title and interest throughout the world in and to such works, including all Intellectual Property Rights therein. Consultant will and hereby is obligated make full and prompt disclosure to the Company of any inventions or processes, as such terms are defined in 35 U.S.C. § 100 (the “Patent Act”), made or conceived by Consultant, alone or with others, during the Term, whether or not such inventions or processes are patentable or protected as trade secrets and whether or not such inventions or processes are made or conceived during normal working hours or on the premises of the Company. Consultant will not disclose to any third party the nature or details of any such inventions or processes without the prior written consent of the Company.
---<p>How can I approach the subject about them not owning my stuff, and responses to canned answers like &quot;It&#x27;s a standard contract that we have everyone sign&quot;. If I have to sign, then I want them to give me honest answers to my questions about this circus of a clause, for my peace in mind at least.<p>I&#x27;ve spoken to lawyers, but they often charge me $700+ for spending an hour with them. I don&#x27;t have that kind of money to throw around. I&#x27;m also in Maryland, USA so the California protection stuff I read about doesn&#x27;t apply to me.<p>Btw, if you guys have any questions you&#x27;d like for me to ask, I&#x27;ll ask and see what they say. We can make a game of it!
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throwingaway99
This sounds completely fine. The "results and proceeds of the Services
performed under or in any way in connection with this Agreement" are the work
products that they're paying for.

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notbatman
What does this mean -- __If, for any reason, any of such works do not
constitute a “work made for hire,” __

Doesn 't this mean anything I do at home (And thus is not 'work made for
hire') has the ip assigned to the company?

