11–20 of 28 posts
If this is all the detail you can provide, you should just go ahead and get off the internet and talk to a lawyer.
Don't hand over anything. Take a copy of your employment agreement to a lawyer before you say another word about this to your employer.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nope never worked on it during work hours. It was coded at my home in my personal desktop. Its not related to anything with what the company is into. They are just looking at it as a future product of the company,
Yippie! Try to look at them as a "first customer". Good job!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yippie! Try to look at them as a "first customer". Good job!
Thank you. :-) They would be the first and last then I guess, cant quit my job and cant search for more clients alone.
1. if you are developing something, even tough as side project on your offtime, it is usually own by the company you work for (it will be on your employment contract most of the time)
2. On the other hand, if you think you can make money on your project, and based on what i heard in_California
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-compete_clause#Exceptions_-...
Non-compete agreements are automatically void as a matter of law in California, except for a small set of specific situations expressly authorized by statute.
3. but the company is going to argue that you get the idea of developing the side project based on your current project
4. so at the end its a matter of getting what you want from the company vs. making the situation into a terrible one.
You can ask for promotion with more money, or options and even run the project as a stake holder.
that all depends on how you and your company react to each other.
Now the details:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_for_hire
You should read your contract with them. As a rule of thumb, if you are in an "innovative" job, that is you were hired to invent, than they might have a claim. Nevertheless, if you want to keep the job you will have to settle, but they don't know it? or do they? I don't know the details... Can the project run at all w/o you? Are you essential to maintaining it? You can negotiate anything. Cash, future share of an exit/profits etc. Look at their demand as a starting point of the negotiations.
Your wording is very vague but I'm going to assume when you say 'your firm wants your home-project', you mean they want to buy it, rather than they are demanding you hand it over under some kind of IP rights squabble. Do you want cash and/or stock for the sale? Or, do you want a %age of future royalties of the sale (that might tricky if they want to incorporate it into a bigger product). (Or a combination of both cas…
You left out some important information. Are they trying to force you to give them your home-made/side project as they believe they are entitled to the software due to your employment? Or, are they interesting in purchasing the product?
Your wording is very vague but I'm going to assume when you say 'your firm wants your home-project', you mean they want to buy it, rather than they are demanding you hand it over under some kind of IP rights squabble. Do you want cash and/or stock for the sale? Or, do you want a %age of future royalties of the sale (that might tricky if they want to incorporate it into a bigger product). (Or a combination of both cas…
I am in the initial stages of the talks. The manager has mentioned about money being involved, I was looking for a "%age of future royalties of the sale" kinda thing. Yes the product can be of more than $20K as per me.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am in the initial stages of the talks. The manager has mentioned about money being involved, I was looking for a "%age of future royalties of the sale" kinda thing. Yes the product can be of more than $20K as per me.
Having faced a similar dilemma in the past back when I was an student, the advice I got was that any kind of royalty-based agreement could easily get me screwed depending on how it was structured (and the company likely has more experience than you do on drafting such agreements). For example if the royalty is based on number of licenses sold, they can just give it away for free to customers and charge them a "mainte…
A simple cash deal is probably something you can do yourself, or with very little assistance. Anything more complicated requires an experienced attorney.
Happy ending: My friend and his colleagues eventually got their money in arbitration.