[intermittently]

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]

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.