taken from source:
When is a startup a conflict of interest with existing job?
At least in Switzerland, you have to be very cautious about what of the things you create during your employment belongs to your employer. If you do not especially ask for the contract to include only results of your work for the company, all your private inventions and achievements not only in your field of employment can be claimed by the employer. It happened to a friend of mine that even the rights on a published book of poems were taken by his employer, another one lost the rights to a new bicycle break he invented. Both were programmers.
Some employers insist on 100% of your work time, including private work. They then claim that all achievements have been made during their time.
Rare cases I agree. And maybe its different where you live. Just read your contract very carefully.
“things you create during your employment belongs to your employer” - is this the default (i.e. with no other agreements in place) rule? In the states, that’s not the default, but it can be written into contracts and it has held up in court. – Alex Papadimoulis Oct 12 ‘09 at 16:46
It’s a little more wordy,but the standard clause boils down to this in front of the court. It is one of the things that usually are missed by people - which does not matter in most cases, but when you are successful with your startup suddenly might. – malach Oct 13 ‘09 at 4:34