DQ-EmployL.docx

Joe Coder an employee of Big Software Company, worked for months during company time and used Big's equipment to develop an idea that he had been nurturing. Finally, the idea came to fruition. Coder's employer laid claim to the invention (a business process similar to "One Click" shopping) on the grounds that the firm's equipment had been utilized on company time. Coder had obtained a patent on the invention and claimed that his employer had no rights to the invention at all. Who is right? How could an employer guard against such arguments in the future?