> That doesn't fit my understanding of the law. Do you have references?
Do you live in California? If not, I have no idea what law applies to you and your work.
But if you live in California you are in luck: Section 2872 of the labor code is explicit in this matter. In fact every employee assignment agreement I have handed out to someone I've hired (going back to 1989) has included the text of that section, for example:
in accordance with Section 2872 of the California Labor
Code that the foregoing Agreement between you and Company does
not require you to assign or offer to assign to Company any Invention
that you develop entirely on your own time without using Company’s
equipment, supplies, facilities or trade secret information, except
for those Inventions that either:
a. Relate at the time of conception or reduction to
practice to Company’s business, or actual or demonstrably
anticipated research or development; or
b.Result from any work performed by you for Company. To the
extent a provision in the foregoing Agreement purports
to require you to assign an Invention otherwise excluded
from the preceding paragraph, the provision is against
the public policy of this state and is unenforceable.
This limited exclusion does not apply to any patent or Invention
covered by a contract between Company and the United States
or any of its agencies requiring full title to such patent
or Invention to be in the United States.
Don't use the company's computer, phone, network, IP etc.
Don't try to make your day job a side project.
Don't let your side project get in the way of your day job (or you'll get fired just 'coz you didn't do your day job).
Otherwise: no problem.
This law is widely cited as one of Silicon Valley's advantages over other places.
California went through a period of rational law making, e.g. laws like this, a presumption that drivers know what they are doing regardless of the posted speed limit, etc. Then they went insane (three strikes etc) and the rest is, sadly, history. Still not as crazy as the rest of the USA though.
No, that's in the text I quoted and I referred to it in my original comment: the CA courts have historically sided with the employees over the companies except when it was pretty unambiguous that the employee was going into the same business as their (former) employer, e.g. Avant! -- which typically includes actual taking of source code.
On the other hand stories like google's self driving car team departing to start their own self driving car company, or the tons of people who have left Cisco to start routing companies are legion.
Do you live in California? If not, I have no idea what law applies to you and your work.
But if you live in California you are in luck: Section 2872 of the labor code is explicit in this matter. In fact every employee assignment agreement I have handed out to someone I've hired (going back to 1989) has included the text of that section, for example:
Don't use the company's computer, phone, network, IP etc. Don't try to make your day job a side project. Don't let your side project get in the way of your day job (or you'll get fired just 'coz you didn't do your day job). Otherwise: no problem.This law is widely cited as one of Silicon Valley's advantages over other places.
California went through a period of rational law making, e.g. laws like this, a presumption that drivers know what they are doing regardless of the posted speed limit, etc. Then they went insane (three strikes etc) and the rest is, sadly, history. Still not as crazy as the rest of the USA though.