> Whew, this thread grew much larger than I thought. I would like to thank all
> those people who either emailed me directly or to the list. It seems that
> this would perhaps be an issue I'd like to take up with my lawyer as almost
> all respondents said either "... although I'm not a lawyer..." , "I'm not
> 100% sure of the law but .....", ".....unless that agreement is illegal",
> etc.

Don't see "your" lawyer. See an "IP lawyer". I've seen too many
contracts that have very unrealistic IP clauses drawn up by standard
lawyers to their clients' advantage.

In regard to the "ownership of ideas"; if the idea constitutes a
"method" in the context of Patent law and is part of a "work for
hire", then that too, belongs to the hirer. It isn't covered by
copyright but if you were to Patent it, the hirer would have grounds
to contest and would most likely win.

I'm not a lawyer either and this is worth what you are paying for it.

Steve.

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Steve Baldwin                Electronic Product Design
TLA Microsystems Ltd         Microcontroller Specialists
PO Box 15-680, New Lynn      http://www.tla.co.nz
Auckland, New Zealand        ph  +64 9 820-2221
email: steveb@tla.co.nz      fax +64 9 820-1929
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