Hi Andy, I read your other post and I see your point. Actually, perhaps we are talking about different things. I was under the impresion that Peter's patent was for something very special and out of the ordinary. If it is just for a simple,standard product of the company (i.e., I design a new type of alarm for a clock/radio ) then the person wouldn't deserve much more than their usual salary. However, if Peter invented a new type of transistor(the other end of the spectrum - a patent that the company only gets every few years or more rarely),and he is being paid,say,$35K a year,I think a large bonus is in order. In the case of Lucent/Bell Labs,where such innovations are more commonplace, perhaps the inventor IS being empolyed to do such on a regular basis and large profit-sharing is not needed.However, I would expect a better salary than $35K for such a person. The truth in this case is probably somewhere in-between. Sean At 06:10 PM 8/25/99 -0400, you wrote: >Sorry to break you in mid-sentence there, Sean. > >If you think like that, you will have a very hard time finding a good job >that you will be pleased with over a long period. > >Read my other post. I've been on both sides of this. > >>but makes good business sense,i.e. every good >>inventor will want to come work for them. > >That is true. However, the other side of it is that your company may not >be in business too long if they treated everybody too well. > >The only places I know of where this is done, and pretty close to "right," >is with certain government functions. The US Navy has a very good policy >to encourage its scientists to invent, likewise (I believe, don't know >firsthand) is NASA. Someone else mentioned that his university (is AU I >think) is good about it. > >Something to note - none of these institutions is known for high pay. Good >bennies, yes, poor pay. > >The other thing is that they aren't likely to go out of business any time soon. > >Things to keep in mind. > >Andy > >================================================================== >Andy Kunz Life is what we do to prepare for Eternity >------------------------------------------------------------------ >andy@rc-hydros.com http://www.rc-hydros.com - Race Boats >andy@montanadesign.com http://www.montanadesign.com - Electronics >================================================================== > | | Sean Breheny | Amateur Radio Callsign: KA3YXM | Electrical Engineering Student \--------------=---------------- Save lives, please look at http://www.all.org Personal page: http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/shb7 mailto:shb7@cornell.edu ICQ #: 3329174