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A comment on Ask HN: Who here has built a profitable startup while keeping their day job?. Parent comment

Re:Ask HN: Who here has built a profitable startup while kee... by drb91 on Wednesday September 26, 2018 @02:52PM (#18079093)
IANAL, but I believe at least in California, emmployers have no right to IP that is unrelated to work IP and developed on your personal time on a personal laptop. If it is in a contract it should be unenforcable.

The key here is having a clear demarcation between work and personal projects.

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Re:Ask HN: Who here has built a profitable startup while kee... by dragonwriter on Wednesday September 26, 2018 @02:56PM (#18079127)
“Personal time” isn't a clearcut concept for non-hourly employees, and I'm pretty sure the “unrelated” but applies to job duties (which can be quite expansive) not just existing work IP.
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Re:Ask HN: Who here has built a profitable startup while kee... by ryandrake on Wednesday September 26, 2018 @03:55PM (#18079649)
Also NAL, but my understanding (even in CA) is it comes down to whether or not there is a conflict of interest. Say you work for Amazon and want to write software for controlling drones. Is there a conflict of interest? Does Amazon make drones? Maybe? Maybe they will? Do/will they use drones and purchase drone software? I’m already seeing dollar signs (legal fees) flying past my eyeballs here. Why would anyone risk that kind of legal exposure, even if they are “really sure” they are right?
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