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Non-Compete Agreement Beyond Term of Employment?
stellar7 writes "I work in IT for a large company. They have recently asked me to sign a new non-compete and confidentiality agreement. I signed an agreement when I began employment, but now they want me to sign an updated one. Behind the link are a few paragraphs from the new agreement. It states that the company has a royalty-free license to any 'Invention' I create including up to six months after leaving (and the company fully owns any Invention that relates to the company in this same period). Has anyone signed a similar agreement that reaches beyond the end of employment and includes things not related to the business?"
A. Employee shall promptly and fully disclose in writing to [Company] any inventions, improvements, discoveries, operating techniques, or "know-how", whether patentable or not (hereinafter referred to as "Inventions"), conceived or discovered by Employee, either solely or jointly with others, during the course of Employee's employment with [Company], or within six (6) months thereafter.
B. Employee shall, on the request of [Company], and hereby does, assign to [Company] all of Employee's right, title and interest in any of the Inventions which relate to, or are useful in connection with, any aspect of the business of [Company], as carried on or contemplated at the time the Invention is made, whether or not Employee's duties are directly related thereto. [Company] shall be the sole and absolute owner of any of the Inventions so assigned. Employee shall perform any further acts or execute any papers, at the expense of [Company], which it may consider necessary to secure for [Company] or its successors or assigns any and all rights relating to the Inventions, including patents in the United States and foreign countries.
C. [Company] shall be the sole judge as to whether the Inventions are related to or useful in connection with any aspect of the business of [Company] as earned on or contemplated at the time the Invention is made and as to whether patent applications should be filed in the United States or in foreign countries.
D. [Company] shall have the option of taking a permanent, royalty-free license to manufacture, use, and sell any of the Inventions conceived or discovered by Employee during the course of Employee's employment with [Company], or within six (6) months thereafter, that are not assigned to [Company] under paragraph B. of this Agreement.
A. Employee shall promptly and fully disclose in writing to [Company] any inventions, improvements, discoveries, operating techniques, or "know-how", whether patentable or not (hereinafter referred to as "Inventions"), conceived or discovered by Employee, either solely or jointly with others, during the course of Employee's employment with [Company], or within six (6) months thereafter.
B. Employee shall, on the request of [Company], and hereby does, assign to [Company] all of Employee's right, title and interest in any of the Inventions which relate to, or are useful in connection with, any aspect of the business of [Company], as carried on or contemplated at the time the Invention is made, whether or not Employee's duties are directly related thereto. [Company] shall be the sole and absolute owner of any of the Inventions so assigned. Employee shall perform any further acts or execute any papers, at the expense of [Company], which it may consider necessary to secure for [Company] or its successors or assigns any and all rights relating to the Inventions, including patents in the United States and foreign countries.
C. [Company] shall be the sole judge as to whether the Inventions are related to or useful in connection with any aspect of the business of [Company] as earned on or contemplated at the time the Invention is made and as to whether patent applications should be filed in the United States or in foreign countries.
D. [Company] shall have the option of taking a permanent, royalty-free license to manufacture, use, and sell any of the Inventions conceived or discovered by Employee during the course of Employee's employment with [Company], or within six (6) months thereafter, that are not assigned to [Company] under paragraph B. of this Agreement.
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God, I hate that. It's she.
but if you really prefer to sign away your freedoms than to stay unemployed for a couple of months, then that explains why the US is so screwed up.
Anyway. I must believe you don't work in USA then, because I've never seen an IT job without a non-compete requirement in the last 13 years of my career.
The only difference between this non-compete and non-competes I've signed is their claim of ownership on new products developed after termination, however I've seen non-competes laying claim on very general things from everything created after hours to things created on your personal desktop. First, it's a bullshit scare tactic. Second, signing doesn't mean you're signing your freedoms away. Here, if a contract violates the law, it's unenforceable regardless of your signature. And third, you really have no choice but to sign if you plan to work in USA. I suppose you could find a very small IT company that doesn't push non-competes, but it'll be hard to find that. You won't be unemployed for a "couple of months", you'll be unemployed for YEARS with that sort of search criteria.
Why do you suppose they get you to sign "non-compete" documents? It's because it's bloody easy to compete if you've got any balls. The US corporate structure is based around keeping people with confidence out, because blustery people who show their throat when they're challenged can be owned heart and soul, and that's what they want.
Of course, your attitude is very consistent with a chip-on-the-shoulder-feminist, and these sorts of power structures are heaven on earth for such, so it's not surprising you'd look at it that way.
If you really want to help out, why don't you go pop out some babies so we don't need to have our asses wiped by robot in 40 years time like the Japanese?
-1 Uncomfortable Truth
This just in: You undermine your credibility when you expose your prejudices. Your hostility betrays you.
Waiting for ad.doubleclick.net...
Wow, you're absolutely right, because no one in this country is obliged to work for a company at all -- they're perfectly free to starve to death instead! That's why the government should never step in to prevent companies from discriminating on the basis of race, religion, or gender. Those silly non-white people don't have to work at an office, after all -- they could wash white people's windshields at traffic lights. And women can always just be housewives! And as for me personally, sure I drag my ass into work every day to make money for some slimeball thousands of miles away because ... I WANT TO! It's totally, totally voluntary!
I'm sure glad you opened my eyes to how "freedom" doesn't apply at work at all. I think I'll go in today and ask my boss if he has any more ridiculous conditions I can sign, like maybe giving away all the intellectual property that my descendants might create.
[OK, this is where you say "But you could quit your job if you really wanted to...." And then you pretend like there's so much work opportunity in this world that anyone who wants to can easily find a job that just exactly suits them. Or that anyone in America who's willing to put in the effort can start out sweeping chimneys and end up owning a huge business empire. Oh, sorry, I'm putting words in your mouth -- if you're not as completely, utterly, universally stupid as your original post led me to believe, I apologize.]
I'm awake! The answer is BONK!