Questions tagged [intellectual-property]
The intellectual-property tag has no usage guidance.
74 questions
-3
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3
answers
484
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Startup based on my own side project open-sourced through my employer [closed]
I work at a FAANG-size company (moonlighting friendly in theory) and have a side project that I've built mostly in my free time, a bit during work hours, and had it recently approved by the legal ...
- 103
7
votes
8
answers
5k
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How to claim royalties for product design and coding after the fact, when I did not negotiate an arrangement beforehand [closed]
I am currently working as a sales representative for a company.
A customer requested the company to create a product 2 years ago (even before I started working there), and the company has never been ...
- 105
0
votes
2
answers
416
views
If a former employer did not pursue a creative idea, am I free to pursue it? [closed]
Background: I used to work as design director for an experiential company and, while employed there, I pitched an idea for a new experience that would fit really well within their brand. They thought ...
- 109
19
votes
10
answers
12k
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Agreement made at hire is unenforceable due to a technicality, employer refuses to make new agreement to correct
I'm an engineer based in the US. Last year, I received a new job offer. The new job offer had an intellectual property (IP) agreement which was far broader than what my previous job had, so I spent ...
- 335
0
votes
1
answer
943
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Can a workplace ask for Power of Attorney? [closed]
A small company in the USA updated the "Employee Confidentiality Agreement and Intellectual Property Agreement" and is asking employees to sign it.
Under the heading "Assignment of ...
- 243
-1
votes
2
answers
613
views
Do I have copyright for uncharged work when being on contract
I am a contractor working for a client in EU. In order to cover the requirements of the application we are building I wrote a small implementation of a framework. At least for half of the work on this ...
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56
votes
7
answers
11k
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Is it normal for an employment contract to involve signing over prior intellectual property?
I'm in process of starting a new job, and the employment contract contains a clause that states any intellectual property I created before (!) signing the contract becomes the property of the company ...
- 641
-1
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2
answers
369
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Use work laptop to develop a product on home system using VNC [closed]
I am planning to develop a private software product. I'm going to develop and save all code and documentation on the home system but to reduce headache of switching back and forth from the work laptop ...
- 99
6
votes
7
answers
2k
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Is it reasonable for me to ask for the removal of a contract clause that says all the patents I produce go to the company?
I was recently offered a funded masters program in the field of mathematical modelling and computer coding. I was given a contract to sign which I subsequently declined because I was unhappy with a ...
- 89
2
votes
3
answers
2k
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"Working for another company" clause in contract
In my previous job I applied a small bit of Python code that I had previously developed during my academic studies. I made clear that the IP was mine and that, because I generated it in the past, the ...
- 169
9
votes
3
answers
1k
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I would like to purchase the rights to the software my company created but no longer wishes to maintain or use [closed]
I work for a firm which has a large in-house development arm. We have a small software package which was written by one guy 6 years ago. This software is currently used in production but the guy who ...
- 209
6
votes
3
answers
2k
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Should I share my source code with new employer? [closed]
I have been working in what could be described as a niche marine sector for the last 12 years. Over the last 5 years, I taught myself how to code in python and a few other languages.
Once I became ...
- 737
-5
votes
2
answers
215
views
Why should R&D staffs not the owner of the patent that they have developed? [closed]
I want to run a tech start-up, so I need to work with people to develop a product.
The output of product development would lead to some papers and patents.
My concern is, how can I treat with team ...
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-2
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Patent applications upon leaving a company
I'm working in a large tech company in the US. I want to know in a top tech company, what will usually happen to our submitted patents when we leave the company? What happens to the bonus and the ...
- 371
3
votes
4
answers
816
views
How to prove that I have worked on complex product design in the past?
I'm lucky enough to find myself among the several million brand new job hunters in the market. I'm still on good terms with my old employer (and wish to keep it that way of course).
I was involved ...
user47698
-1
votes
3
answers
537
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What are my rights regarding IP (in UK) when there was no written contract and business never paid fully for the code
Hope you will be able to help me here. I do not really know if this is the correct place to ask such questions.
In 2014 I started to work for a certain company – the setup was that I was hired by my ...
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-1
votes
3
answers
358
views
Do I 'own' work done separately for current employer? [closed]
I am on the payroll of a small company as a full-time employee. In my spare time I developed a small computer program that will automate a regular task done by another junior employee. This will free ...
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4
votes
3
answers
1k
views
If there was no ownership clause in my contract, do I own my work or is it company property?
Some introduction to preface: I do web design/development for a small company in Missouri. My employment contract has no language regarding who owns the work I do internally, nothing about ...
- 1,015
4
votes
4
answers
3k
views
My Company Wants to Own My Weekend Work
I work for a large hardware manufacturer in Europe. I work on the software development required for products. Since it is a hardware manufacturer I work for, which does software required to sell their ...
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votes
5
answers
655
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Do I need to relinquish the password to forms I created? [closed]
Hello everyone and I appreciate the time you've taken to read this post.
I've recently parted ways with an employer.
During my time there, I created tools to standardise how my department and the ...
user117720
8
votes
2
answers
1k
views
The Value and ownership of programming interview questions for developers
During taking interviews for developer positions, it is common to ask to provide snippets of code that fulfill specific requirements.
Therefore, recently I was asked to create an entire application ...
- 91
8
votes
6
answers
2k
views
Can I reuse the code of an application written in my spare time if it has been deployed and used in the internal company network?
I have written a small application to offer a service to all employees where I work. This was done outside of work almost 100% using my personal laptop (only small fixes were done at work mostly ...
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5
votes
4
answers
2k
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Am I entitled to royalties on a product I created but didn't think of?
I've been working (unpaid) in my off-time as an Electrical and Software Engineer to create and develop a product for a start-up company. The original idea for the product was not my idea, but ...
- 1,045
12
votes
3
answers
2k
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Compliance: Boss asked to buy software for team, that i built privately
I work in Germany in the private sector, medium size: 2000-5000 employees. I work in an IT Department.
Short Version:
Boss asked to buy software for team, that i built on my own time
I didn't build ...
- 259
7
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Asked to sign a confidentiality and non-compete contract, after working here 10+ years; how should I approach this?
Is it normal to have a generic Intellectual Property agreement without specifically naming out what is considered to be IP/Confidential?
After working as a web developer and then as a manager for ...
- 455
4
votes
2
answers
839
views
What's the process (and pitfalls) for using my open source code at work?
I don't just do software engineering as a career - I do it as a hobby as well. I now have several small open source projects, mostly released under permissive licenses.
Occasionally at work I've had ...
31
votes
6
answers
12k
views
How to approach protecting my code as a research assistant? Should I be worried in the first place?
I am an undergraduate working as a research assistant for a university, primarily alongside a supervisor. While I have my own project, my job still has me assisting my supervisor in his main research. ...
- 355
10
votes
3
answers
2k
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Is it ok to use a software at work that was previously built at home?
My question is similar to this one, but the difference is that I already had a lot of code ready when I was first asked about the task. Not sure it makes any difference though.
Is it ok to build ...
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68
votes
15
answers
26k
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Company requiring me to let them review research from before I was hired
In a bit a predicament. I recently have received media requests about some upcoming research I plan to publish. According to my company's employee handbook, I have to keep them in the loop with all ...
- 819
9
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Are my creations, made outside of office hours, the property of my employer? [closed]
I understand that this question has probably been asked many times before but, every contract is different.
Anyway, due to my company being taken over by another, we are being issued new contracts, ...
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48
votes
5
answers
16k
views
How to retract an idea already pitched to an employer? [closed]
I suggested an idea* to my boss. He didn't show much much interest to build it**, so I did it on my own. Now it is on the verge of getting funded with venture capital. My boss is now interested in ...
- 455
15
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Former Employer just sent me an IP Agreement [duplicate]
A former employer of mine (5 years ago) just sent me an email out of the blue with an updated Intellectual Property Agreement notably more complex than the one I recall signing when I started with ...
- 616
5
votes
3
answers
981
views
Can I make tutorials in my free time?
In the company I work at I was assigned a task that requires the use of a particular software. During the research phase I found that there are very, very few tutorials on how to operate it. I have ...
user100470
151
votes
12
answers
51k
views
Engineer refusing to file/disclose patents
We have a senior engineer on our team that routinely excels at his work. In addition to his regular work, our company has a patent program where engineers can write up a patent for a novel idea, and ...
- 737
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votes
3
answers
1k
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I developed code and "donated" it my workplace to speed things up. Now do they own that code? [closed]
I work at a small startup as a full stack developer. We previously used PHP to develop all of our applications and I told my boss we should eventually move to C# which he agreed. Over the coming ...
- 285
4
votes
3
answers
1k
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Dispute over the software that I used to complete my task for our company [closed]
my friend and I set up a e-commerce company together as %50-%50 partnership. My part of work was get product information from websites and keep the inventory accurate for our online store. We do not ...
- 67
7
votes
3
answers
566
views
Intellectual Property from old job [closed]
I am a team leader at a tech company. Our team are currently building up a certain area of expertise. A colleague has joined us recently and has shared with me the Intellectual Property of the same ...
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90
votes
7
answers
25k
views
What to do after an employee leaked our algorithm? [closed]
One of my company's internally developed algorithms was published online. It's a complex algorithm that took years to develop, I have a pretty good idea of which employee leaked it based on the team ...
- 729
5
votes
2
answers
890
views
I believe I have taken intellectual property
Prior to leaving my former employer, I sent to my personal email a powerpoint presentation that I wanted to use for studying and upskilling while on a break. There is no company confidential data ...
- 77
5
votes
3
answers
760
views
Blogging about techniques researched during working hours
I am a programmer for an mobile app development company, specifically for the server side. I am wondering whether it is bad to write a blog about techniques learned during working hours.
I am not ...
11
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5
answers
1k
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Disputing Intellectual Property Section in Contract
I know its pretty standard for companies to add an IP section to the contract, but the one I have received for the new job I have accepted seems pretty full on to me:
Intellectual Property 19.1 You ...
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2
votes
1
answer
377
views
How can I challenge ex-manager claiming undue credit without burning bridges?
A few weeks ago my manager from a previous company contacted me asking if he could include research I completed while working there in a conference paper he was writing. He said the paper would be an ...
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15
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6
answers
5k
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Can I take a copy of documents that I've written with me upon resignation? [closed]
I've been writing Technical Documentation for a few years at my current employment. I am currently resigning from my position and am curious: is it considered acceptable for me to take a copy of what ...
- 179
3
votes
1
answer
742
views
How can I retain intellectual property of a specific project?
I have been working on contract for 4 years developing software. (and more than a decade before that as a regular employee elsewhere) The contract is conventional in that the work I do for them ...
- 61
1
vote
2
answers
481
views
How to best pitch my side project to my boss?
Our company develops and markets a series of software products. I'm a software developer. I've been working on a side project for the last month and a half outside of working hours. This is a product ...
1
vote
2
answers
661
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How do I handle the Intellectual Property theft in office? [closed]
I have been working in a research organization for the last three years and developed a few innovative methods for practical problems.
While I was busy delivering to customers, my manager asked one ...
- 145
4
votes
2
answers
657
views
Putting experience on resume from a project that used source code without permission
I'm currently a senior at my university and am looking to graduate this upcoming summer. I've been trying to add more depth to my resume, and one of my biggest sources of experience has actually been ...
- 149
3
votes
2
answers
2k
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Adding Github repo to my resume [closed]
Besides repos for basic school projects, I have one private Git repository for an app I'm making with several friends.
That repository contains code that utilizes much more advanced programming ...
- 51
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votes
2
answers
363
views
How can I persuade my manager to include my name in the article if there's no attribution policy?
I work for a company as a copywriter. My core responsibility is to write engaging marketing content related to the product I'm advertising. Recently, I've written an article on my own initiative. I ...
- 19
103
votes
7
answers
27k
views
Former manager who left company is asking for documentation I prepared as his direct report
I've been at my place of work 5 years now, and my first manager there left around 2 years ago. (It was not on great terms.) We did not speak until a few weeks ago when he asked to get lunch. We did, ...
user76342