Does the Invention Agreement I signed for my current employer give them blanket ownership over everything I create?
August 6, 2025
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No, the Invention Agreement does not give them blanket ownership over everything you create on your own time. It only covers things that:
- Relate to the company’s business, or
- Use company equipment, materials, or confidential info.
So, if what you create is truly outside those bounds — different type of work, on your own time, with your own tools — they wouldn’t have a claim to it.
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What is the scope of the Invention Agreement I signed for my current employer?
I understand your concern about the invention agreement you signed. Can you please tell me if there are specific inventions or ideas you are worried about being covered by this agreement?
Nothing specific at this time. Although generally speaking, the inventions I would be concerned about would be related to Minecraft (both creating Add-On scripts and YouTube videos).
Have you reviewed the terms and conditions of the invention agreement to see if there are any limitations or restrictions mentioned regarding the scope of the agreement?
I have, and it seems that I would retain all rights to Minecraft/YouTube content, since it is not directly or indirectly related to what my employer offers its customers.
Is there anything else the employment lawyer should know before I connect you? Rest assured they’ll be able to help with your invention agreement.
No.
Welcome and thank you for your questions. My name is Gurney, and I'm the attorney who will be assisting with your question. I'm happy to draw on my years of experience as an attorney and former prosecutor to offer some guidance. It should only take 3–5 minutes for me to reply. Do you have a copy of that agreement?
Yes, I do.
Right, if you can share that, then I could see what is the scope of the Invention Agreement you signed for your current employer. The answer to that question is going to be in that agreement.
Okay, I uploaded the file here: [HYPERLINK]
I wanted to avoid any issues because of a copy/paste error on my part.
Also, I signed a non-compete agreement and a confidentiality agreement. Let me know if you think either of those may be relevant. If they are, I’ll upload them too.
For additional context: I’m a software/data engineer mainly spending my days designing, developing, and maintaining data pipelines/processes. Part of that does involve programming/coding.
Thank you for clarifying and for sharing the agreement.
The scope of this Invention Assignment Agreement is fairly broad. It covers any “Creation” — which includes inventions, discoveries, software, data processes, designs, and improvements — that you come up with during your employment if it either:
- Relates to the company’s business, or
- Uses the company’s materials, equipment, or confidential info.
So, if you write code, design data pipelines, or develop new processes during your regular work — even at home, if it’s related to company work — the company owns those creations.
If you use prior work that you made before you joined the company (for example, an old algorithm or data process you built years ago), and you incorporate it into the company’s product, they get a permanent license to use it — but not ownership.
There’s also a 3-month window after you leave where if you invent something that relates to the company’s business or is based on company info/resources, you must notify them.
Your non-compete and confidentiality agreement could very well tie into this — especially the confidentiality one, since it can affect what you can work on for yourself or for other companies.
Yeah, I think it does. But just to clarify one thing. It does not give them blanket ownership/rights over things I create outside of work hours (we work from home); it only gives them rights/ownership over things that a reasonable person would associate with my employer’s business?
I also added the other two agreements I mentioned, if you wouldn’t mind looking them over.
I just don’t want to start investing my time into something outside of work hours and in the long run have it pulled from me.
You’re thinking about this exactly the right way.
No, the Invention Agreement does not give them blanket ownership over everything you create on your own time. It only covers things that:
- Relate to the company’s business, or
- Use company equipment, materials, or confidential info.
So, if what you create is truly outside those bounds — different type of work, on your own time, with your own tools — they wouldn’t have a claim to it.
Bless, thank you!
