RE: [Nolug] Professional Question

On Thu, 2004-08-05 at 18:22 -0500, Chris Reames wrote:
> > Innovative ideas that you thought of at the office?
> >
> Yes, to a degree, I worked for a company previously owned by some of the
> same people.
> This company no-longer exists, yet these people claim that their current
> company has sole ownership of my knowledge.

If the new company bought the IP of the old company, then they
very well might have "ownership" of any clever ideas you had
while working on company time at the previous business.

> My understanding of the way this business works is based on general
> information and common sense.

What's "common sense" to you may seem stupid to someone else.

> Ok, lets try this...Somebody at work gives you a blank piece of paper and
> asks 'What can you do with this?'.
> You take the paper and fold it into a hat. You've never folded a paper hat
> and they've never had a paper hat.
> ( big point, they don't pay you to fold paper into hats {ie programming} )
> Who owns the idea of folding the paper hat? Who owns the hat if they say
> its stupid?
>
> Thats the delima I'm facing.
> Also, if I can fold a piece of paper into anything else, they want to own
> that as well.

If The Man said to you 'What can you do with this?', and you did
something with it, on company time, it's theirs. Doesn't matter
whether you were hired to program computers or not.

Now, if you kept on "doing stuff" to blank pieces of paper after
hours, on your own time, that depends on what ever agreements you
signed when you were hired.

See a labor lawyer.

-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ron Johnson, Jr.
Jefferson, LA USA
PGP Key ID 8834C06B
"And I'm hiding in Honduras, I'm a desperate man. Send lawyers,
guns and money!"

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