I work for a company as a software developer. During the last couple of months I have noticed a demand among our customers for a niche piece of software.
Unfortunately as I am fully loaded working on paid projects my boss cannot afford to take me off paid work to spend time working on a piece of software that might/might not sell.
Herein is my dilema. Personally, I would love to write this software as it will give me the opportunity to learn some new .net skills I've been avoiding for some time. It will also challenge me (creatively) which is the main reason I'm a developer. All good things.
I am considering offering the boss a deal. I will design and develop the software at my own cost and in my own time and allow my boss to sell it. I will take X% of each sale as payment for my up front effort. My problem is this. If the software proves to be a good seller I will want to be able to sell it myself away from my current company (via an internet portal of sorts).
My question is this. How do I protect myself? If this is software that my company would normally develop and i've come up with the idea as a result of working for this company how does this intellectual rights issue come into play? As remote as the possibility is, how do I protect myself from my current company claiming the software as their own IF it becomes popular???
Unfortunately as I am fully loaded working on paid projects my boss cannot afford to take me off paid work to spend time working on a piece of software that might/might not sell.
Herein is my dilema. Personally, I would love to write this software as it will give me the opportunity to learn some new .net skills I've been avoiding for some time. It will also challenge me (creatively) which is the main reason I'm a developer. All good things.
I am considering offering the boss a deal. I will design and develop the software at my own cost and in my own time and allow my boss to sell it. I will take X% of each sale as payment for my up front effort. My problem is this. If the software proves to be a good seller I will want to be able to sell it myself away from my current company (via an internet portal of sorts).
My question is this. How do I protect myself? If this is software that my company would normally develop and i've come up with the idea as a result of working for this company how does this intellectual rights issue come into play? As remote as the possibility is, how do I protect myself from my current company claiming the software as their own IF it becomes popular???