I was co-founder of a company, and came up with a product idea. Using company resources, I completely developed all aspects of the product - the name, form factor, content, etc. The patent is filed in my name, the trademark is in my name, and the domain name is registered to me. So if the company spent money but I did the work and everything's in my name, who "owns" the ability to exploit the product? (There is no particular trade dress.) Thanks.
2007-02-04 05:53:10 · 3 answers · asked by maotalker 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Corporations
I was co-founder of a company, and came up with a product idea. Using company resources, I completely developed all aspects of the product - the name, form factor, content, etc. The patent is filed in my name, the trademark is in my name, and the domain name is registered to me. So if the company spent money but I did the work and everything's in my name, who "owns" the ability to exploit the product? (There is no particular trade dress.) There were no documents giving up any rights. Thanks.
2007-02-04 06:05:06 · update #1
Thanks, folks.
A bit more about the compensation and copyright. I was compensated, meagerly, and have since given stock back to take care of that, so I am now effectively unpaid for my entire tenure at the company. Would that strengthen my ownership of the product itself?
The copyrights weren't filed, but were listed as belonging to the company, so they might indeed own the content in its current form.
2007-02-04 09:19:33 · update #2
Typically in your line of work a company will have you sign an intellectual property agreement when you start working there. If they didn't, that's good for you. However, the only way you'll be clear is to hire an appropriate attorney to make sure you have clear rights to the developed article/item/property. It may even come down to joint ownership. Normally, the company owns whatever you develop while you work there, so it would be an uphill fight for you to make all this legally yours.
2007-02-04 06:06:42 · answer #1 · answered by mattzcoz 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As far as copyrights go, it would be a Work for Hire if you were compensated in some way while creating the product and can be refiled to reflect that. The rights would go to the company. Has anyone considered a residuals/royalties deal? Who do they have to tweak the product to maintain momentum?
2007-02-04 14:16:49 · answer #2 · answered by Amy V 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The company. I am basing my response on the fiduciary relationship in an agent-principal or simply agency relationship
2007-02-04 14:01:07 · answer #3 · answered by raqandre 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋