Has anyone been successful in navigating Non-compete/IP clause? (US - NY)

IBM
oRAM26

Go to company page IBM

oRAM26
Sep 8, 2020 7 Comments

Hi Everyone!

For context, I’m working on a side project and about to apply for accelerators.

IBM, my employer has a pretty intense Non-compete/IP clause saying anything we develop while employed at IBM is owned.

Looking through different accelerator applications, I see some founders have had it expunged from their employers. I am not sure how they managed to do that as they are already current employees.

Has anyone had experience of doing that? I’m afraid this may be a huge pain in the ass in our future path for our side project (e.g. getting investments, accelerators etc). For instance, YC wants you to upload a video publicly with the founders as a part of the application process...

I’d appreciate any guidance or tips. Thank you for reading!

#startup #VC #accelerators #help #legal #ip #contract

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  • IBM
    oddblockV2

    Go to company page IBM

    oddblockV2
    Consult the employee handbook for your country (I’m assuming it’s US?). It’s on W3.
    I fought a prior employer on the IP battle. I won one, lost one. That employer didn’t care about IP though. There’s no way in hell I would fight against the IP machine that is IBM.
    Sep 8, 2020 1
    • IBM
      oRAM26

      Go to company page IBM

      oRAM26
      OP
      Thank you for your input. That’s crazy you actually had to fight them on IP battle. Of course, definitely don’t want to upset IBM..

      I think for now the smartest thing will be to have my other co-founder take all the public credit (he’s in school) and for me to paint myself to be a silent partner until we get enough revenue... not sure if itd be being dishonest to investors if we say so though.
      Sep 8, 2020
  • I think this is beyond the "ask the interwebs" territory and in the "I need a real lawyer" territory.
    Sep 8, 2020 1
    • IBM
      oRAM26

      Go to company page IBM

      oRAM26
      OP
      Yeah haha I consulted with a lawyer and he said do not tell IBM - they will say no. But I wanted to see if anyone was any successful in it :) just scraping for glimpse of hope
      Sep 8, 2020
  • Amazon
    wcRf23

    Go to company page Amazon

    PRE
    IBM
     wcRf23
    Back at IBM, I mentioned my fun little project to my manager and he turned it in to legal and I had to quit. All because IBM sponsored something in the field so it was a “plausible conflict of interest.” I made <$50 a mo on it. RIP
    Sep 8, 2020 2
    • IBM
      oRAM26

      Go to company page IBM

      oRAM26
      OP
      Thank you for your input. That’s insane! If you don’t mind me asking...but did you have to consult with your manager? Was it something you could go directly to HR about? Actually thinking about it now that would’ve been worse I guess.

      And wow... how was it after quitting though? Did you make sure Amazon doesn’t include that clause in your contract? How did you manage your side thing after quitting?
      Sep 8, 2020
    • Amazon
      wcRf23

      Go to company page Amazon

      PRE
      IBM
       wcRf23
      I mentioned the project offhand and he was pretty aggressive and asked me a ton of questions about it and then went to legal. I didn’t bother going to HR because, like I said, wasn’t a lot of money and was just a passion project. In fact, it wasn’t even a coding thing... I quit, so I’m not involved with the project anymore, haven’t thought too much about going back since I haven’t been involved for about a year now. Still a bit sour about it though, lol
      Sep 12, 2020