Created that awesome app on your time? Worked on an open source solution at home? It might not actually be yours... [A warning]

Open Search News - A Warning To All Open Source Developers With Pet Projects

Most IT jobs have a “pre-invention assignment agreement” that states any project you created during your time in that position belongs to the company.  Arguments have been made stating that this agreement should not apply to open source developers and The UK Register agrees in the article, “Hey, Open Sourcers: Who’s Your Code’s Daddy?”  Tim Fox used to work for VMware and his special open source project was Vert.x. He quit VMware and began working at open source promoter Red Hat and he thought Vert.x would tag along with him.  He was very, very wrong.

VMware’s lawyers claimed ownership for the company and served Fox a cease and desist letter. ...

This has always concerned me too. Before I did any work, any project, including this blog, I made it very clear to my employer that it was mine and had them acknowledge that fact. If you've signed an IP (Intellectual Property) contract, or think you might have, double-check and get proof that what you think is yours, your employer thinks is yours too...