

Do companies have intellectual property rights to my spare time projects? - fuzzythinker
http://answers.onstartups.com/questions/19422

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wccrawford
On that same note, all the contracts I've signed say that they own anything
that relates to their core business, whenever I create it, and that makes
sense to me.

So I just don't create things in my free time that relate to my day job's core
business. And I think that's fair, as they pay me handsomely for all my time
and ideas that apply.

Luckily, my hobby interests lie in a different realm than my day jobs usually
do, so it shouldn't ever be a problem. Oddly enough, in my interview, they
asked me if I was interested in the business. I told them I wasn't really, but
I love programming. That turned out to be better for me than I expected. Hehe.

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hga
That's how I understand how the California law works. If it's not related to
your company's core business (which gets into legit IP issues most especially
trade secrets) what you do on your own time with your own resources is yours,
full stop.

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ap22213
Even if you're under the California law, be very careful that the two work-
worlds never overlap. And, keep very good dated records.

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Hyena
Short answer: in California, no, and given the extent of the CA tech industry
and the reach of its boilerplate, ypu might be pleased to see that the clause
from Cali is in your contract in Georgia.

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gte910h
Georgia used to have very strenuous assignment/non-compete rules (your entire
contract was thrown out if there was any wrong clause in the non-compete,
therefore companies were careful to not over-reach). I'm saddened we happened
to amend the constitution of the state to allow the non-California style "take
it to court and let judges alter crap ex post facto"

