> Prior to this the contract let the employer claim rights over all IP I created unless specifically exempted.
Makes more sense now. Even in that case, I have many questions regarding the quoted parts in the article. Especially regarding the “demarcation of hours of work”, why would the burden of proof be on the employee? Employer is supposed to keep track of hours of work. If they cannot prove that employee developed the IP during company time, then it shouldn't belong to the company. But then, law and justice are very different things.
> if I wrote a novel about unicorns and rainbows, that wouldn't be owned by the company, but if I wrote software, it would.
I would say that software is too general to be applicable, and yet there's this anecdote somewhere else on this thread [0].
It is pretty common in most US states to own ip developed outside work hours.
The concept is pretty simple: by default, your employer is paying you for the ideas you generate, and this could happen at home.
Imagine you work in cold fusion research and you spend your days performing tests and reading papers. If you have a dream and wake up with a solution, this is part of what your employer has been paying you for, and the time of day is irrelevant.
In case I couldn't make it clear so far, I defend that either of the following conditions should hold for employer to claim rights: (a) IP is developed using company resources (time, equipment, etc.) or (b) IP is within the scope of company's business.
> your employer is paying you for the ideas you generate, and this could happen at home.
If employer's idea is about company's business, then yes, I would say that the company owns the rights. If not, employer owns the rights.
I'm not sure if ideas count as IP though. If I had an idea at work about a business that is outside the scope of my company's, to whom the rights belong?
Makes more sense now. Even in that case, I have many questions regarding the quoted parts in the article. Especially regarding the “demarcation of hours of work”, why would the burden of proof be on the employee? Employer is supposed to keep track of hours of work. If they cannot prove that employee developed the IP during company time, then it shouldn't belong to the company. But then, law and justice are very different things.
> if I wrote a novel about unicorns and rainbows, that wouldn't be owned by the company, but if I wrote software, it would.
I would say that software is too general to be applicable, and yet there's this anecdote somewhere else on this thread [0].
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/context?id=32885772