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If I come up with an idea that will create a new stream of income for a company I work for, who owns the idea?

Idea threads

HoustonRealtor

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If I come up with a business idea, and the company I work for is in the same industry, is it "mine" or the "company's" intellectual property?
 
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WJK

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If I come up with a business idea, and the company I work for is in the same industry, is it "mine" or the "company's" intellectual property?
Talk to your attorney. It should be based upon State law and your contractual arrangement with your company. Your handle as "HoustonRealtor" hints that you are an independent contractor -- which may be your way out. You must also ask yourself how aggressive your boss and your company are at enforcing any right they have. Your attorney can advise you on moving forward. Have you thought about a joint venture with your company? That's another possibility. If it is RE related, I'm not sure that there's much left that hasn't been tried in the past...
 

alexkuzmov

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If I come up with a business idea, and the company I work for is in the same industry, is it "mine" or the "company's" intellectual property?
What kind of contract do you have with the company? Does it say something about intellectual property?
 

sparechange

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Felix Dennis talked about this in his book, the company will own the idea, not you
 
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Kid

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Felix Dennis talked about this in his book, the company will own the idea, not you
That's most common - basically if you have idea even when you got it "after hours" its still company's.

But maybe there are some local laws in Houston that regulate that as @WJK said.

If you already work for them and already have that idea then try to talk to boss -
they own the idea so all you can do is to get involved in executing it and ask for a share of additional profits based on friendly agreement.
 

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