Where creativity ends and the law begins. This is particularly true in high-tech fields like information technology. Agree to Disagree Andy Anderson, a law partner in the intellectual property group at the law firm of Palmer and Dodge in Boston, says most companies require employees to sign agreements that outline intellectual property and non-compete restrictions. In most cases, he claims, those agreements only confirm what the law already requires.
Ownership also extends to anything developed using the employer's facilities.
Under confidentiality, Anderson explains, the employee is required to keep confidential any information concerning the company that is not public. That could mean technology, company finances, customers, products, and even development strategies. That is a common misconception, according to Boston attorney Andy Updegrove. What's more, if an employee plans to leave a job and launch a company of his or her own with co-workers, that employee can be held liable even without a written agreement. A company's ownership claim to patentable inventions and creative works or material protected by copyright, including written materials or software technology, is also fairly standard.