Ask HN: What type(s) of companies let you keep your own IP?

[intermittently]

From my (limited) experience, it seems like tech startups are the least likely to let employees keep their own IP.

I'm wondering what types of companies/which industries are the most likely to let employees keep IP over side projects they work on outside of office hours.

[mindcrime]

I am guessing it has more to do with your role at the company, than the type of the company itself. Take this for example: one might say that a company that focuses heavily on "brick and mortar" retail would be less likely to demand IP ownership than, say, Google. But I'd bet that it's more like this: If you work in retail at the Gap store at the local mall, you probably won't be asked to sign over IP rights, etc. But if you work in the Gap corporate office as the CIO or something, you probably would.

[intermittently → mindcrime]

For that example (retail shops vs. company HQ), I totally agree.

My experience could be in the minority, but at both young tech companies I've worked at so far, _everyone_ in the company had to sign over their IP (regardless of role). That's what led me to believe it was more industry-based, but maybe there is no useful generalization to go off of -- industry or otherwise?

[PaulHoule → intermittently]

I worked at one place where I was finishing up a product that was very different from what I was already working on. I wrote a description of what I was working on that was a lot like a provisional patent application and got an agreement that they did not have an interest in this.

Generally PPAs are a good way of putting a stake in the ground about who owns IP if you think a conflict will arise and they cost only about $60 to file.