The recent case was totally off the charts stupid... The guy had an idea... never exercised it... totally in his free time.. nothing developed on it... His company was acquired and off he went as an asset.. At some point he says, I want to go do something else with my life and develop one of my ideas...
The brass says oh and idea huh... interesting... we own your mind.. Then sue him for something that has 0 relationship to his body of responsibility, job detail, their industry, their products, etc... So yes, IP baloney has gone too far... I emailed the guy and said I felt bad that our legal system has become such a tragedy... Even offered to drop a few bucks his way to help him out... The company in this matter was Alcatel... -paris -----Original Message----- From: Ryan Kime [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2002 3:33 PM To: CF-Talk Subject: RE: Intellectual property (was RE: programmer vs. developer) If you look at some of the IP agreements, some employers state that ANYTHING conceived, developed, etc while employed with said company it the sole property of said company. Wasn't there a case in the news lately about a company that won the rights to an employee's ideas (even off-the-clock) he had during his tenure at the company? I think they sued him for not disclosing his idea. -----Original Message----- From: Haggerty, Mike [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2002 12:42 PM To: CF-Talk Subject: RE: Intellectual property (was RE: programmer vs. developer) Wow, that is restrictive! What if you wanted to work on a freelance project outside of work, maybe for charity or something. Does the company own that code and do you have it in writing that they do? M -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2002 1:08 PM To: CF-Talk Subject: RE: Intellectual property (was RE: programmer vs. developer) "little shops" don't really have an intellectual property agreement, but none the less... their term of "everything you develop for us" is rather broad in scope... some assume that it also covers off-hour times, some assume that as a salaried employee, you're never 'off', you're just not at your desk (e.g. You've been given permission to physically leave the building). ~Todd On Thu, 29 Aug 2002, Matt Liotta wrote: > You should have signed an intellectual property agreement when you > were hired. It details you rights in this regard. As with all legal > matters, you are advised to seek counsel from a professional. > > Matt Liotta > President & CEO > Montara Software, Inc. > http://www.montarasoftware.com/ > V: 415-577-8070 > F: 415-341-8906 > P: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > > Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2002 9:02 AM > > To: CF-Talk > > Subject: Intellectual property (was RE: programmer vs. developer) > > > > <quote> > > "Finally, I think this expectation that most of us have about being > > a programmer 24/7 demonstrates the relative immaturity of our field; > after > > all, it really should be just like any other job, instead of being a > hobby > > that you happen to get paid for. Sure, it's nice to enjoy your work, > but > > work is just one part of the life of a well-rounded person." > > > > Dave Watts, CTO, Fig Leaf Software > > </quote> > > > > Dave, > > > > Curious question for you. To those of us that enjoy programming as > > a hobby and actually do research on our own outside of work time. > > How > does > > intellectual property fit into this. The reason why I bring this up > is > > because well, due to the immaturity of most comapnies wanting their > > developers to work 24/7, basically anything I concieve of is by > > right > of > > employment contract, theirs. In their eyes, a salaried employee is > > something akin to a ... well... a wageslave. > > > > Take the little company I work for. They'd love it if I worked for > them > > 24/7. The partners would get a kick out of it, especially if they > could > > purchase another SUV within a few months. However, I have been > hesitant > > to hand over anything, but at times, I've had no choice due to the > lack of > > time they give me for a particular project. My methodology for > example. > > The project manager basically scoped out what he felt my co-worker > > and > I > > were developing, asked me to read this over and ... published it on > the > > intranet. At the same time, I'm thinking to myself, why did I just > > do that? What did I gain from it? I got no recognition for it, I > > got nothing. So, if I were to ever break away from my current job, > > I'd be pretty screwed if they found out that I'm still using 'my' so > > called methodology for future clients. > > > > I'm very concerned about the future and maturity level of the so > called > > "internet/development" companies out there. How does figleaf handle > > creative ideas like this? > > > > Case in point, Branden Hall. I'm sure he cranks out actionscripting > code > > all day long and posts code left and right and handles what he can > > to > help > > people out. How does Figleaf distinguish between his intellectual > > property and commercial value? Does Branden run every little script > of > > code over to someone at figleaf and ask for permission to release > > it? > If > > Figleaf uses his code that he wrote on his time, does he get > compensated? > > recognized? Does Figleaf automatically by default suck in his code > into > > their intellectual property library because it was used that one > > time? > > > > Just curious, > > ~Todd > > > > -- ============================================================ > > Todd Rafferty ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) - http://www.web-rat.com/ | > > Team Macromedia Volunteer for ColdFusion | > > http://www.macromedia.com/support/forums/team_macromedia/ | > > http://www.flashCFM.com/ - webRat (Moderator) | > > http://www.ultrashock.com/ - webRat (Back-end Moderator) | > > ============================================================ > > > > > ______________________________________________________________________ Signup for the Fusion Authority news alert and keep up with the latest news in ColdFusion and related topics. http://www.fusionauthority.com/signup.cfm FAQ: http://www.thenetprofits.co.uk/coldfusion/faq Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/cf-talk@houseoffusion.com/ Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists
