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A comment on Ask HN: What is your company's policy regarding side-projects?. Parent comment

Re:Ask HN: What is your company's policy regarding side-proj... by Swinx43 on Friday April 28, 2017 @06:10AM (#14218186)
That is fantastic to hear! I am also in the UK and every single contract I have signed was accompanied with clauses basically stating that the company owns anything I create while I am employed by them. This includes anything outside of work as well. I believe this is the standard terms for UK contracts. I was lucky in getting my current employer to add an addendum to my contract giving me certain exclusions to this clause, it was however a process to get it past their legal department.
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Re:Ask HN: What is your company's policy regarding side-proj... by rosbrith on Friday April 28, 2017 @07:05AM (#14218419)
Mine (also UK) is similar to what you describe, minus your addendum. It makes reference to agreeing that inventions (new software, I imagine) developed during the course of my employment must be made available to the company for its use. I've never known the company to call anyone out on this.
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Re:Ask HN: What is your company's policy regarding side-proj... by Swinx43 on Friday April 28, 2017 @08:30AM (#14218844)
Yes that is true, I have never known anyone that was called out on this. However I am sure if an invention becomes popular and really valuable that some organisations, espcially big ones, would not hesitate to give it a try.
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Re:Ask HN: What is your company's policy regarding side-proj... by nmstoker on Friday April 28, 2017 @08:58AM (#14218985)
My UK contact has no IP terms but the employer added something into the employee handbook claiming to own everything which was a problem for me as I do a number of non-work projects outside work.

I had a discussion and got a clarification on the scope and we agreed that it covered specified things with work applicability, so I'm satisfied now (will start work on the best selling novel and string of number one hits right away!).

It was important it wasn't just based on a vague ill-defined idea of "outside work" because typically a portion of what is clearly work related IP I generate doesn't happen in a formal work situation, yet I understand it as work (and am fine with that) whilst equally there is plenty of non-work IP that is just as clearly in no way work (as it doesn't relate to our line of business).

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