
Algo stock trader: How to protect intellectual property when joining a company? - ssanders82
I&#x27;m a profitable automated stock trader. I&#x27;ve been supporting myself trading for 5+ years, averaging 40% annual returns. I&#x27;m active on the algotrading subreddit, and was contacted by the investment arm of a wealthy family last year. I&#x27;ve been trading a small amount of money for them, and they are happy and ready to ramp things up.<p>They just offered me a job with a base salary plus profit share, they want me to head an internal hedge fund (low 7 figures to start) and build a track record for a year, then they will raise the capital invested. I would also be in charge of hiring and heading a team. This position requires an overseas move.<p>I&#x27;ve spent ~10 years writing my trading codebase (70,000 LOC), along with extensive backtesting resulting in roughly 10 different profitable patterns (systems) that I trade. I want to protect myself and that IP.<p>I want to say that there haven&#x27;t been any red flags in this process. I&#x27;ve met several of their people, multiple times, and they are excited and want a long-term relationship. They&#x27;ve looked for a person like myself for this project for a while, and recognize my expertise.<p>They are a bit naive in the coding&#x2F;tech domain (their family money is in mining and real estate). They just sent me a (boilerplate) contract which gives them rights to any property &quot;developed in the course of the engagement&quot; along with property &quot;relating to the Proprietary Property.&quot;<p>I am fine with giving them access to anything I develop while being paid by them, but it will be tough to separate from my existing codebase and systems, which I will use to trade their money, presumably on their server. (I lease my own VPS now, and their brokerage account is connected to mine via an advisor account.)<p>I&#x27;m excited for the chance to run this fund, but am a bit overwhelmed by potential legal and financial missteps.<p>TL;DR: Has anyone ever been in a situation where they needed to use old code for a new employer, without relinquishing IP rights?
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cjbenedikt
Been in a similar situation as a prop trader for a major company. I made it
part of the contract that the model(s) I brought to the table and which were
part of the decision to hire me remain my IP as well as any new/modified
developments based on those models. The original code was placed into a sealed
envelope and kept with a law firm in order to be able to demonstrate
intellectual ownership later should it be deemed necessary.

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ssanders82
Awesome idea, thanks.

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verdverm
Ask a lawyer, there are things you can do to protect your existing IP.

Negotiate for changes to that term of the contract.

