• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

What are my rights if I create a useful program for my company?

G

Giscardo

Senior member
I am an intern at a company, and I am working on a program that could potentially be pretty useful to them. I am working on it without anyone knowing at the moment, mostly for the use of myself and other interns to make our job easier. I had to sign a contract when I first started working there that pretty much said if I come up with anything while I work there it belongs to them. I can't seem to find it right now. But I don't think that was fair because I was in no position to turn down a job simply because I disagreed with the contract. They had unfair advantage at the time. Jobs are hard to find, and they are pretty much saying "sign this and you can work here".

I plan to host the application from my work computer, but I'm developing on my comp at home, during my personal time. What do you guys think my rights are, is there any way they can force me to hand over the source, and modify it for their own use? I came up with the idea on my own, and used concepts I have learned in school plus my own research for this.

What would be the best thing career wise? I am not planning on selling this to them anyone else at the moment. What sort of ownership can I claim over the system, can I charge them if they decide to use it officially (i.e., make it available for clients to use)? It's sort of a pet project for me and I would hate to see other people mess around with it, or someone else getting paid to work on it while they keep me as an intern.

I didn't start on it with the intent of making money or anything, I am enjoying what I learn from working on it, but still the principle of the matter, I don't want them to make money off of my work without being compensated.

Has anyone else had similar experiences and resulting advice they can give me?
 
Dude, you develop it at home, its your concept, should they ask about it jsut explain its a program you found and use to make your life easier.

its your ideas, your work, you didnt create it at work therefore its yours.

Make sure you write out a license for it and your cool.
 
Originally posted by: Giscardo
I am an intern at a company, and I am working on a program that could potentially be pretty useful to them. I am working on it without anyone knowing at the moment, mostly for the use of myself and other interns to make our job easier. I had to sign a contract when I first started working there that pretty much said if I come up with anything while I work there it belongs to them. I can't seem to find it right now. But I don't think that was fair because I was in no position to turn down a job simply because I disagreed with the contract. They had unfair advantage at the time. Jobs are hard to find, and they are pretty much saying "sign this and you can work here".

I plan to host the application from my work computer, but I'm developing on my comp at home, during my personal time. What do you guys think my rights are, is there any way they can force me to hand over the source, and modify it for their own use? I came up with the idea on my own, and used concepts I have learned in school plus my own research for this.

What would be the best thing career wise? I am not planning on selling this to them anyone else at the moment. What sort of ownership can I claim over the system, can I charge them if they decide to use it officially (i.e., make it available for clients to use)? It's sort of a pet project for me and I would hate to see other people mess around with it, or someone else getting paid to work on it while they keep me as an intern.

I didn't start on it with the intent of making money or anything, I am enjoying what I learn from working on it, but still the principle of the matter, I don't want them to make money off of my work without being compensated.

Has anyone else had similar experiences and resulting advice they can give me?
Click to expand...


If you're using their time and resources to put the program together and you signed the contract, I don't see why they won't have the right to it.

Although, if you're doing this completely on your own, with your own resource and own time, it's fair to say that it belongs to you.
 
Uh.. so what, they're going to point a gun at your head and make you turn over the source code? 😛

If you don't want to give it to them, you don't have to give it to them.. of course, it might cost you your internship if they become anal, but..
 
Originally posted by: NeoPTLD
Originally posted by: Giscardo
I am an intern at a company, and I am working on a program that could potentially be pretty useful to them. I am working on it without anyone knowing at the moment, mostly for the use of myself and other interns to make our job easier. I had to sign a contract when I first started working there that pretty much said if I come up with anything while I work there it belongs to them. I can't seem to find it right now. But I don't think that was fair because I was in no position to turn down a job simply because I disagreed with the contract. They had unfair advantage at the time. Jobs are hard to find, and they are pretty much saying "sign this and you can work here".

I plan to host the application from my work computer, but I'm developing on my comp at home, during my personal time. What do you guys think my rights are, is there any way they can force me to hand over the source, and modify it for their own use? I came up with the idea on my own, and used concepts I have learned in school plus my own research for this.

What would be the best thing career wise? I am not planning on selling this to them anyone else at the moment. What sort of ownership can I claim over the system, can I charge them if they decide to use it officially (i.e., make it available for clients to use)? It's sort of a pet project for me and I would hate to see other people mess around with it, or someone else getting paid to work on it while they keep me as an intern.

I didn't start on it with the intent of making money or anything, I am enjoying what I learn from working on it, but still the principle of the matter, I don't want them to make money off of my work without being compensated.

Has anyone else had similar experiences and resulting advice they can give me?
Click to expand...


If you're using their time and resources to put the program together and you signed the contract, I don't see why they won't have the right to it.

Although, if you're doing this completely on your own, with your own resource and own time, it's fair to say that it belongs to you.
Click to expand...

And unless they can prove otherwise...
 
That is definitely worth talking to a lawyer about.. I worked at an engineering firm and most EE's and ME's had a few patents of their own. But, I've heard stories about corporations decided a patent was marketable and then 'seizing' it and calling it their own.

A project that could mean a lot of money for your company should mean a lot of money for you if you're the one to create it. So, at least consult a lawyer on how to proceed.
 
Originally posted by: DannyBoy
Originally posted by: NeoPTLD
Originally posted by: Giscardo
I am an intern at a company, and I am working on a program that could potentially be pretty useful to them. I am working on it without anyone knowing at the moment, mostly for the use of myself and other interns to make our job easier. I had to sign a contract when I first started working there that pretty much said if I come up with anything while I work there it belongs to them. I can't seem to find it right now. But I don't think that was fair because I was in no position to turn down a job simply because I disagreed with the contract. They had unfair advantage at the time. Jobs are hard to find, and they are pretty much saying "sign this and you can work here".

I plan to host the application from my work computer, but I'm developing on my comp at home, during my personal time. What do you guys think my rights are, is there any way they can force me to hand over the source, and modify it for their own use? I came up with the idea on my own, and used concepts I have learned in school plus my own research for this.

What would be the best thing career wise? I am not planning on selling this to them anyone else at the moment. What sort of ownership can I claim over the system, can I charge them if they decide to use it officially (i.e., make it available for clients to use)? It's sort of a pet project for me and I would hate to see other people mess around with it, or someone else getting paid to work on it while they keep me as an intern.

I didn't start on it with the intent of making money or anything, I am enjoying what I learn from working on it, but still the principle of the matter, I don't want them to make money off of my work without being compensated.

Has anyone else had similar experiences and resulting advice they can give me?
Click to expand...


If you're using their time and resources to put the program together and you signed the contract, I don't see why they won't have the right to it.

Although, if you're doing this completely on your own, with your own resource and own time, it's fair to say that it belongs to you.
Click to expand...

And unless they can prove otherwise...
Click to expand...

By twisting the answer by not just saying yes or no, are you basically admitting you're stealing their time to program something for your own benefit?

 
Originally posted by: brxndxn
That is definitely worth talking to a lawyer about.. I worked at an engineering firm and most EE's and ME's had a few patents of their own. But, I've heard stories about corporations decided a patent was marketable and then 'seizing' it and calling it their own.

A project that could mean a lot of money for your company should mean a lot of money for you if you're the one to create it. So, at least consult a lawyer on how to proceed.
Click to expand...

Actually, a very similar situation came up a few days back with a friend of mine. Her father died a few years back and they were cleaning out the house. She found some of the patents that were generated as a result of her father's inventions while working at Texas Instraments. She thought her father's inventions might be worth something. However, I had to tell her that because her father worked for T.I., the patents belonged to the company. The father was rewarded "well" at the time with salary and perks ... but, one can't expect to make a claim against something that was created while working for a company.

For the original poster, I would keep your software out of the company that you are interning at. If you do any work with it while at work, the company could make a claim towards it. Also, I've come across lots of great software that never really was commercial software, but was quite good for "shareware." But, if you feel that what you can build would be useful to many companies, you might want to create some kind of marketing plan for how you would go about getting it licensed and distributed.

Best of luck !!

 
Definitley don't tell them about it and it'll never be an issue. The second you do it on the clock for them though and you loose 99% of your rights to it. I've written some pretty complex electron microscope arrays and I had to do big chunks of it on my own time all while the company retained ownership of it. They treated me well for it... my raise/quasi-promotion came a month later.

Best advice: Keep your head down.
 
Originally posted by: brxndxn
That is definitely worth talking to a lawyer about.. I worked at an engineering firm and most EE's and ME's had a few patents of their own. But, I've heard stories about corporations decided a patent was marketable and then 'seizing' it and calling it their own.

A project that could mean a lot of money for your company should mean a lot of money for you if you're the one to create it. So, at least consult a lawyer on how to proceed.
Click to expand...

I was under the assumption that most large corporations, all work (including patents) done for work belong to the company. I've heard stories where someone works & gets a patent and the company sells it for millions and the inventor gets a small bonus.
 
Originally posted by: NeoPTLD
Originally posted by: DannyBoy
Originally posted by: NeoPTLD
Originally posted by: Giscardo
I am an intern at a company, and I am working on a program that could potentially be pretty useful to them. I am working on it without anyone knowing at the moment, mostly for the use of myself and other interns to make our job easier. I had to sign a contract when I first started working there that pretty much said if I come up with anything while I work there it belongs to them. I can't seem to find it right now. But I don't think that was fair because I was in no position to turn down a job simply because I disagreed with the contract. They had unfair advantage at the time. Jobs are hard to find, and they are pretty much saying "sign this and you can work here".

I plan to host the application from my work computer, but I'm developing on my comp at home, during my personal time. What do you guys think my rights are, is there any way they can force me to hand over the source, and modify it for their own use? I came up with the idea on my own, and used concepts I have learned in school plus my own research for this.

What would be the best thing career wise? I am not planning on selling this to them anyone else at the moment. What sort of ownership can I claim over the system, can I charge them if they decide to use it officially (i.e., make it available for clients to use)? It's sort of a pet project for me and I would hate to see other people mess around with it, or someone else getting paid to work on it while they keep me as an intern.

I didn't start on it with the intent of making money or anything, I am enjoying what I learn from working on it, but still the principle of the matter, I don't want them to make money off of my work without being compensated.

Has anyone else had similar experiences and resulting advice they can give me?
Click to expand...


If you're using their time and resources to put the program together and you signed the contract, I don't see why they won't have the right to it.

Although, if you're doing this completely on your own, with your own resource and own time, it's fair to say that it belongs to you.
Click to expand...

And unless they can prove otherwise...
Click to expand...

By twisting the answer by not just saying yes or no, are you basically admitting you're stealing their time to program something for your own benefit?
Click to expand...

Um no, I haven't worked on it a single second on company time. And were you talking to me with that last comment? Cause I am not the one that said "And unless they can prove otherwise...".

I don't see the program being of much use to another company because it does something with their internal process. Does that fact alone mean that it's something that should belong to them? I think I am more concerned with the fact that they might decide to steal the project or the idea and implement made available to clients. For some reason I don't mind if everyone in the company uses it because it makes their work easier, but if they let clients use it then that seems like a different scenario. Does that make sense at all?
 
I think the main issue is that after you have gotten the patents for the code will your company be interested enough in the software to purchase it, or at least sign a contract with you binding them to usage internally only.

I think you are in a very difficult position they have all the leverage in this matter. The program is designed specifically for your company and nobody else, you have nothing backing you up in regards to competition for your product. If you do proposition them, they may feel that you are a either a savvy entrepreneur or very money hungry and an employee not looking out for the best interests of the company.

Personally I would use it to my advantage and perhaps gain a full time job out of it. Employers like when their workers take initiative and address issues that they feel are detrimental to productivity.
 
I don't see the program being of much use to another company because it does something with their internal process. Does that fact alone mean that it's something that should belong to them? I think I am more concerned with the fact that they might decide to steal the project or the idea and implement made available to clients. For some reason I don't mind if everyone in the company uses it because it makes their work easier, but if they let clients use it then that seems like a different scenario. Does that make sense at all?
Click to expand...
OK, here's my *revised* advice:

1) Keep working on the program -- at home.
2) Determine a value for your software.
3) Let your internship end when its time is up.
4) Approach the company as follows: "While working for your company, I noticed one particular process that could greatly be improved and the chances of mistakes happening from doing it manually would greatly be reduced."
5) See how they respond.

Now, as an I.T. professional myself, I've found lots of ways to improve efficiency along the way. None of the ways were "patent-worthy" - but, were good ideas for a problem none-the-less. However, as a I.T. professional, a lot of that work is expected of us. We create "fixes" for the problems that exists on a daily basis.

Enjoy !!

 
If you signed an intellecutal property agreement with them you're probably screwed. I'd talk to a patent attorney about it though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top