Is my boss doing something illegal?

[Kenji4861]

Long story short, I have been developing this software at work.

My boss got a patent, got a lawyer, and started the process for putting a patent on the software idea.

One day, the boss was furious that I listened to another customer on what to add to the software and said

"you guys won't work hard for me. (bla bla) you know who's names are on that patent? You guys!"

Anyways, about a month later when he wasn;t in his office, I found a document from his lawyer. It was the patent document. It said "inventor : (boss' name)"

I didn't see my name at all. I felt tricked.. Did he do anything illegal?

 

[booger711]

what the fvck that credit stealing bastard

 

[MacBaine]

What's your contract say?

 

[neutralizer]

Since you're creating the software for your work, I think the company owns your work.

 

[agnitrate]

I believe if you work for a company, they "own" the rights to any intellectual property you create under their time/equipment.

It's like when Richard Stallman was working for MIT and they didn't want him making GNU on their time, or they would take control of it. Also, any software you create while at university in a class or while helping a professor is technically property of the school. Stupid, huh?

-silver

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: MacBaine
What's your contract say?

I'll bet it says any ideas he comes up with are company property.

 

[Kenji4861]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: MacBaine
What's your contract say?

I'll bet it says any ideas he comes up with are company property.

Yes, anything I develop here is company property, but the boss said my name is on the patent. Does that make any difference?

 

[sygyzy]

Originally posted by: agnitrate
I believe if you work for a company, they "own" the rights to any intellectual property you create under their time/equipment.

It's like when Richard Stallman was working for MIT and they didn't want him making GNU on their time, or they would take control of it. Also, any software you create while at university in a class or while helping a professor is technically property of the school. Stupid, huh?

-silver

Not stupid. It should be in the contract. It makes the most sense at Unversities. They provide you with billions in research aid and equipment, stuff that you would never otherwise have access too and probably need for your invention, idea, or breakthrough. Of course they should have the rights. Don't worry, you'll still get the praise.

 

[Kelemvor]

Shouldn't it say the COMPANIES name? If your company has one, I'd talk to your interal audit department and ask a "What if" type question to see what they say. Then if it is illegal, definitely let them know right away as he culd bring down the company.

Of course if he's the owner, then you probably can't do much.

 

[waggy]

I remember when one place sued a programmer for stuff he did on his FREE time. Since it was in his contract anything he wrote was property of the company.

I can't remember the outcome of it though.

 

[pulse8]

Originally posted by: Kenji4861

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: MacBaine
What's your contract say?

I'll bet it says any ideas he comes up with are company property.

Yes, anything I develop here is company property, but the boss said my name is on the patent. Does that make any difference?

Probably not. Just makes him a lying sack of sh!t.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

he obviously lied to you, but i dont think thats illegal. probably as ethical as you looking at his legal docs without his knowing?

edit - ya everyone else is right too, anything you come up with while at a company is basically owned by them

 

[agnitrate]

Originally posted by: sygyzy

Originally posted by: agnitrate
I believe if you work for a company, they "own" the rights to any intellectual property you create under their time/equipment.

It's like when Richard Stallman was working for MIT and they didn't want him making GNU on their time, or they would take control of it. Also, any software you create while at university in a class or while helping a professor is technically property of the school. Stupid, huh?

-silver

Not stupid. It should be in the contract. It makes the most sense at Unversities. They provide you with billions in research aid and equipment, stuff that you would never otherwise have access too and probably need for your invention, idea, or breakthrough. Of course they should have the rights. Don't worry, you'll still get the praise.

The situation at work, I can understand. However, I pay thousands upon thousands of dollars to use my university's equipment. In no way, shape, or form should they claim rights to anything I might make during the use of the time I have paid them for. That's just educational bullshit IMHO. I know that after I finish my schooling, I will have nothing to do with this 'institution' that has 'provided' me with my education. Money-grubbing bastards. :|

-silver

 

[moshquerade]

should have a company name patent, not the bosses name.

 

[tranceport]

Is the company owned soley by him? If so you are screwed. He will own what you create while working for him. Nothing you can do about it unless you create it while not at work.

 

[booger711]

Originally posted by: moshquerade
should have a company name patent, not the bosses name.

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: agnitrate
The situation at work, I can understand. However, I pay thousands upon thousands of dollars to use my university's equipment. In no way, shape, or form should they claim rights to anything I might make during the use of the time I have paid them for. That's just educational bullshit IMHO. I know that after I finish my schooling, I will have nothing to do with this 'institution' that has 'provided' me with my education. Money-grubbing bastards. :|

-silver

:thumbsup:
When are enough people going to get pissed off and demand that schools start behaving like normal businesses?

 

[richardycc]

you are only a "skilled worker." unless you came up with the idea, you are not the inventor.

 

[CPA]

Originally posted by: tranceport
Is the company owned soley by him? If so you are screwed. He will own what you create while working for him. Nothing you can do about it unless you create it while not at work.

That's what my question was going to be.

 

[DaveSimmons]

One day, the boss was furious that I listened to another customer on what to add to the software and said

At work we develop "shrink-wrap" application software with a wide customer base, so perhaps your situation is different, but in our company the boss would have a right to be annoyed by this.

We take customer requests as suggestions, and discuss them internally before deciding whether to implement the sugeestion. If you listen to suggestions from power users and implement them without thinking carefully, it's easy to ruin a product's interface by adding feautres that 99% of your customers have no use for.

That doesn't excuse the boss lying about the patent ownership. Unless your contract says otherwise it's normal for your employer to own your work, but your boss should not pretend otherwise.

 

[MeanMeosh]

for companies like ibm, usually ibm owns the patent with the inventor being the actual creators

 

[sygyzy]

Originally posted by: agnitrate

Originally posted by: sygyzy

Originally posted by: agnitrate
I believe if you work for a company, they "own" the rights to any intellectual property you create under their time/equipment.

It's like when Richard Stallman was working for MIT and they didn't want him making GNU on their time, or they would take control of it. Also, any software you create while at university in a class or while helping a professor is technically property of the school. Stupid, huh?

-silver

Not stupid. It should be in the contract. It makes the most sense at Unversities. They provide you with billions in research aid and equipment, stuff that you would never otherwise have access too and probably need for your invention, idea, or breakthrough. Of course they should have the rights. Don't worry, you'll still get the praise.

The situation at work, I can understand. However, I pay thousands upon thousands of dollars to use my university's equipment. In no way, shape, or form should they claim rights to anything I might make during the use of the time I have paid them for. That's just educational bullshit IMHO. I know that after I finish my schooling, I will have nothing to do with this 'institution' that has 'provided' me with my education. Money-grubbing bastards. :|

-silver

Do you think that the $7k a year in tuition (estimated) you pay covers all the equipment, lab time, etc you need to make a patentable idea? How does one measure this? How do you quantify assistance from your professors with dozens of years of combined knowledge? The education, motivation, tips they offer you.

I don't know the right answer or if there even is one. I am curious why you feel this way. I think it's justified.

 

[CanOWorms]

Normally that will actually invalidate the patent. You must list all the inventors responsible, not leave anyone out or include extra people that didn't provide any input. That doesn't mean you own the patent, the company would, but your name should be on there if you came up or were part of the team that made the thing. At least this is the case with a normal patent. I'm not too sure how software patents work.

Did you come up with this idea?

 

[agnitrate]

Originally posted by: sygyzy

Do you think that the $7k a year in tuition (estimated) you pay covers all the equipment, lab time, etc you need to make a patentable idea? How does one measure this? How do you quantify assistance from your professors with dozens of years of combined knowledge? The education, motivation, tips they offer you.

I don't know the right answer or if there even is one. I am curious why you feel this way. I think it's justified.

I pay about $27,000 / year. I feel that this is MORE than enough to cover classes, research (I'm not even using because after my school has a professor that makes significant breakthroughs, he goes off to other schools to teach), and any other expenses. I don't even use the school computers to develop the projects they assign. Most professors just regurgitate information from the book and draw from examples readily found on the web.

Isn't college supposed to be about teaching yourself and not relying on the professors to teach you? That's how I always thought it was supposed to be. I feel that I have taught myself a significant portion of the things I have learned there. I've learned more from the books than the professors. They are merely a medium for me to learn and get a piece of paper that says: "I know this stuff." Should they have the right to claim that since I paid them for the books, their time, their research, and their ever-increasing expenses, they own the rights to anything I do? Hell no.

Schools are a business. If I were an artist and paid for an easel using my Mastercard and then used that easel to create a masterpiece worth millions; should Mastercard have the right to say they own it since they 'paid' for the equipment that allowed me to make that? Hell no.

Don't even get me started about 'higher education'.

-silver

 

[kermalou]

lets see you are getting paid by him to develop this software, so in theory it is his software.

now if you were doing this on your own, it is yours, until then it's his.