[pferde]

To answer you, the key part of your reply is: "...that may compete with current r&d or future r&d".

It seems to me that they are afraid (or at least unwilling) to compete on even grounds, despite likely having more budget than a single random employee competing in their free time.

[mitchty]

Or their lawyers are extremely good at getting employment contracts drawn up. Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by paranoid lawyers that got the c levels ears.