Intellectual property of created content

[Lewis.Young]

Hi All,

Just asking for a bit of advice regarding the intellectual property of some content i've created.

I've been working with Inventor for a UK company for about 4 years, over that time i've created hundreds of renders, custom appearance/material libraries, macro tools etc..

The majority of the renders are of the products, and I was explicitly tasked to create them, so I'm assuming they own that. However, the libraries/macro tools are things i've created out of my own interest (with no instruction from the company and not detailed in my job spec) which are now being used by employees to speed things up.

So, can i legally remove my code and the libraries from the work PC/server drive? I appreciate that this might not be the best place to ask, but this example is quite specific and i'm hoping someone else has gone through a similar situation

Lewis Young
Windows 7 x64 - 32GB Ram
Intel Xeon E5-1620 v2 @ 3.70GHz
nVidia Quadro M2000 - 4GB
Inventor Professional 2017.3
Vault Basic 2017
3ds Max 2018

[Ray_Feiler · Accepted solution]

Did you create the libraries/macro tools at their location using their hardware/software while on the clock?

If the answer is yes, they own it all. Otherwise, better to ask a lawyer.

[Mark.Lancaster · Accepted solution]

@Lewis.Young 

No matter if you did this on your time or at work..  If you used company asset (computer/software) to create that content, most companies view that content as their..   But we are not lawyers or don't know your company guidelines and etc.

[Lewis.Young]

@Mark.Lancaster @Ray_Feiler Thanks for the advice guys. The content was made on my personal PC outside of work and then brought into work on a memory stick, so i'm pretty sure i'd be in the right to take it back.

But yeah, i'll definitely talk with a lawyer to give myself some peace of mind before I tell the company!

Lewis Young
Windows 7 x64 - 32GB Ram
Intel Xeon E5-1620 v2 @ 3.70GHz
nVidia Quadro M2000 - 4GB
Inventor Professional 2017.3
Vault Basic 2017
3ds Max 2018

[johnsonshiue]

Hi Lewis,

Indeed, seeking professional legal advice is better. Another thing to watch out is that somebody can claim that the skills you accumulated to create the content were part of the company's properties.

Best wishes,