Question about Intellectual Property
11 15 Apr 2016 16:12 by u/bongler8
so i currently have an internship and don't get a whole lot of work, so i've been thinking about coding a few apps in my spare time for practice. i know if i do any work whatsoever on my company machine they can claim my IP, but if i bring in my personal laptop and work on that, could they still claim the IP? i'm not sure if it matters that i'm being paid or not.
10 comments
8 u/individualin1984 15 Apr 2016 18:02
You probably signed a document that spells that out for you. Most of them carry the verbage of if the company does it or wants to do it, it belongs to them. Also anything done while being paid by them, belongs to them.
6 u/WhiteRonin 15 Apr 2016 16:59
Possibly, if you are on company time then they could probably say they paid you to do that.
If say use that available time to study and do work at home that you don't want to give them.
2 u/rwbj 15 Apr 2016 19:34
It's going to be stated in the contract. In the US the developer of code has an inherent copyright on that code. So companies will 'always' require you to waive this right. Some tend to get over zealous though and do things like claim ownership of all code you write while an employee for them. You could write some code while on a month long vacation in the Bahamas, and they could still claim ownership of it. Check with your company. If you think the software stands a very good chance of being able to be commercialized then check with a lawyer instead.
2 u/MagicalCentaurBeans 15 Apr 2016 20:55
Doing it on company time is pretty much the key factor here. I honestly wouldn't, and if I did, I sure as hell wouldn't tell anyone/network the machine.
2 u/GumbyTM 16 Apr 2016 09:22
Build the app. If it's worth "stealing" they'll probably off you a job.
If they steal it and don't offer you a job you know you have the skills but don't want to be there anyway.
And if now one cares, keep working as an intern until you figure out what they really want.
This is a normal career path in this industry.
2 u/OpenSource 16 Apr 2016 09:23
If you want to make your own projects, don't do it at work.
1 u/LordHuggington 16 Apr 2016 02:04
I'm going to avoid answering the question and instead recommend finding something to do to contribute instead of doing personal work on the company's time. If you don't have anything to work on, find some. In tech, there's always something to work on. If you've gone to literally every manager and HR person in your building and exhausted the options, fine, but I doubt that to be the case. This way you learn something, it reflects positively on you, and you're not crossing into any ethical gray area.
-2 u/pushthis 15 Apr 2016 23:56
use encrypted drive at work. dont talk about what you are doing. this is theright answer