On Thu, Feb 12, 2015 at 7:36 AM, Skeeve Stevens <skeeve+nanog@eintellegonetworks.com> wrote:
Actually Bill... I have two (conflicting) perspectives as I said.... but to clarify:
1) A customer asked 'Can you make sure we have the IP for the network design' which I was wondering if it is even technically possible....
Hi Skeeve, IANAL but I play one when I can get away with it. This is usually covered as, "Contractor agrees to provide Customer with all documents, diagrams, software or other materials produced in the course of the contract. Contractor shall upon request assign all ownership of such materials to Customer. Contractor shall retain no copies of said material following termination of the contract." So yes, it's technically feasible.
2) If I design some amazing solutions... am I able to claim IP.
If it's copyrightable (a "solution" may be), then as a contractor (not an employee) the copyright vests in you. If the contract states that you agree to transfer it to the customer then you breach the contract if you don't. If the contract says the copyrights are theirs then at least that part of the contract is probably void. Barring W2 employment copyrights nearly always vest in the individual who first put them in to a tangible form. There are explicit and narrow exceptions in the law. Preface of a book. That sort of thing. It's unlikely you'll run afoul of any of them. Lawyers get this wrong shockingly often. IP doesn't vest in the customer and can't be transferred until it exists. The creator is a W2 employee. The contractor agrees to transfer it following creation. Just about everything else is void. If the contract doesn't say one way or another then the lawyer who wrote it was asleep at the wheel. However... the techniques used to produce the solution usually classify as ideas. You may be bound under non-disclosure terms to not share ideas produced for the customer within the scope of the customer's system but ideas are never property. You can't own them and neither can the customer. Regards, Bill Herrin -- William Herrin ................ herrin@dirtside.com bill@herrin.us Owner, Dirtside Systems ......... Web: <http://www.dirtside.com/>