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Is my IP safe from poaching if I DO NOT work under an employment agreement?
So, we’ve learned in “today’s post”:http://gigaom.com/2008/03/07/the-dangers-of-a-startup-democracy/, that “moonlighting” to found your startup can be a risky proposition if you work under a contract or labor agreement with your current employer.
*But what, if anything, do you have to worry about if you DO NOT have an employee agreement?* Is your startup’s IP automatically safe from corporate “poaching” if you have no employer-employee contract with your current (but future ex-) boss? What other concerns remain for the founder who launches a side business under these conditions?
Source URL: http://gigaom.com/2008/03/07/the-dangers-of-a-startup-democracy/
I discussed this point at considerable length with my lawyer after I found my business thrown into some very unusual circumstances.
IP law rules that unless a contract has been entered into to the contrary, the IP is the property of the inventor. In the case of software – where the inventor has not shared his source code, there is no practical way anyone else can ‘take’ your invention off you – therefore there is no burden on you – and legally, you own the stuff anyway.
Keep in mind this is Australian Legislation but I should imagine it would be the same in the states – and that my experience is purely in the software context.}