11–20 of 59 posts
It’s called ’salary’. Unless this type of thing is common in your company, it sounds weird.
Maybe float the idea to your boss that you would be willing to do something like that, if dep B starts expressing a need for it.
IANAL either. I believe that UK law would be similar to that in Australia. To the best of my understanding, as an employee the IP of all work you produce is owned by the company. Even as a contractor you need rather specific contracts if your work for hire is not to be owned by the client. My first reaction is to advise you to let the idea go. The most likely outcome is that you will do a huge amount of work and then…
In the UK, if you develop it in your free time it's yours, as long as you don't use company equipment.
However! It can be a clause in your contract to say sompany owns IP developed in free time, and is enforceable. Sometime there's often an extra clause saying unless an exemption is approved by the board (I assume to stop hirers informally saying 'oh don't worry about that', being legally valid).
I have asked companies to remove that clause and had it removed.
In another company a friend of mine had a small side project that was making money when he joined, and that company were fine waiving the clause. But those were smaller companies who were reasonable, bigger companies might not wiggle.
This contract was a win-win. My company got the features they wanted as part of my normal employment, but I also got to keep the idea and monetize it outside the company if I wanted to. The company didn't need to worry about licensing if I left since I granted a perpetual right to use/modify.
Unfortunately for various reasons the project never got completed and I never monotized it, so I can't tell you the real-world outcome, but I do know we were all happy with the terms going into it.
IANAL either. I believe that UK law would be similar to that in Australia. To the best of my understanding, as an employee the IP of all work you produce is owned by the company. Even as a contractor you need rather specific contracts if your work for hire is not to be owned by the client. My first reaction is to advise you to let the idea go. The most likely outcome is that you will do a huge amount of work and then…
You're wrong. In the UK, if you develop it in your free time it's yours, as long as you don't use company equipment. However! It can be a clause in your contract to say sompany owns IP developed in free time, and is enforceable. Sometime there's often an extra clause saying unless an exemption is approved by the board (I assume to stop hirers informally saying 'oh don't worry about that', being legally valid). I have…
“You get: [these features]”
“I get: [money and the IP]”
“We measure success and payment milestones are triggered by: [Clear KPIs and deadlines]”
Make sure the 1-2 page doc has your name on it, and ask your boss for permission to drop a paper version on the desks of the higher ups.
You can be employed and enter into a separate contract.
Edit: I just re-read the original post and saw that the OP is a software engineer. Ignore everything I said. This sounds like a terrible idea. You’ll burn all your bridges if you pursue this avenue.
Your employer is unlikely to appreciate your trying this.
> hence I learnt about that software
Your employer paid for the software, and you learned about in on their time. They pay you a salary to work for them. Its really that simple.
Best I can imagine working is for you to suggest you initiate a project to build in-house tooling as an employee, and maybe try to get a bonus or promotion out of a successful outcome. But its their decision, not yours.