Ask HN: How to ensure I don't lose IP rights to side project to current company?
Hey HN, would appreciate your help getting started on navigating this dilemma.
The summary:
I started working for a company in Boston in October of last year full-time and doing some freelancing starting in February, a few months before I signed my offer. When I did sign, I signed a pretty standard IP agreement assigning everything I did for them during working hours to them. It wasn't super aggressive compared to ones I've seen before.
During my freelancing time before I signed (mostly, some time after starting after hours), I built an application that leaned on an idea that I implemented for the company while I was freelancing and white-labelled it. It’s not anything to do with their core business at all. I was mostly bored and wanting to build a portfolio project, but also wouldn't have minded generating a few bucks. Definitely wasn't looking to make the side project my full-time game, rather just to generate a few hundred $$$ extra each month. Fast forward to about 5 months at this company and now my little SaaS has about 10 or 11 users and a few are paying!
The problem: I'd like to go further with it but I am concerned about IP rights. I had dinner the other night with one of our 3 founders, we are on pretty good terms and definitely don't have an adversarial relationship. I brought this up for the first time and he told me that as long as this wasn't me trying to basically start another company full-time while working for him, he wouldn't mind it. That's cool, but now I'm in a bit of a pickle: I have his word, but legally, things may get a bit dubious later on.
Should I: A) Amend my offer letter stating this IP, then backdate/re-sign it together? B) Draft a short statement assigning all IP to me that he can sign?
The issue is this: To hire a lawyer to consult me on this would cost far more than I ever plan to make in a year from this software, hence why I'm here asking for advice.
Thanks HN!
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"Should I: A) Amend my offer letter stating this IP, then backdate/re-sign it together? B) Draft a short statement assigning all IP to me that he can sign?"
If you aren't a lawyer, chances are that you're going to make mistakes drawing up this kind of contract.
An hour's worth of a lawyer's time is a few hundred dollars. You may not be expecting to make that much on the software in a year, but if you get lucky and it turns into a successful business, you'll be very upset if your IP gets taken away.