Did Orkut swipe his own code for Google?
Daniel Terdiman asks whether Google swiped Orkut code when engineer Orkut Buyukkokten joined Google. Additionally, Affinity Engines (which Buyukkokten co-founded) claims that Orkut promised that he wouldn't develop a competing social network service for Google.
Employment Issues Raised: Many employment agreements include language saying that any inventions or intellectual property made by an employee automatically are assigned to their employer. However in some cases where the company asserted rights, the employee may claim to have developed the application on their own time. According to this, "California labor laws state that things developed on your own time and on your own equipment do not get handed over to your employer. However, there's also an exception to that rule. If the work you've done relates to R&D work being done at the company, they might have a claim to it."
As more facts are discovered it will be interesting to see how this case plays out. Of course in this context, the facts are going to be the major determining factor as they usually are in employment matters.
Employment Issues Raised: Many employment agreements include language saying that any inventions or intellectual property made by an employee automatically are assigned to their employer. However in some cases where the company asserted rights, the employee may claim to have developed the application on their own time. According to this, "California labor laws state that things developed on your own time and on your own equipment do not get handed over to your employer. However, there's also an exception to that rule. If the work you've done relates to R&D work being done at the company, they might have a claim to it."
As more facts are discovered it will be interesting to see how this case plays out. Of course in this context, the facts are going to be the major determining factor as they usually are in employment matters.
