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by readyrnot 6460 days ago
They have filed a provisional patent and this is an interesting point. Again however I've not been paid ever for anything. Never at any point have I declared that I would relinquish ownership of the code. The recent one sided contract they gave me had these terms in there. I obviously didn't sign that.
2 comments

I think you might be over-reacting to these provisions. It's entirely normal that you sign over ownership of the code to the company in exchange for your equity. That's in every form stock agreement. Are you using an experienced startup lawyer? It sounds like maybe you are not. You don't need a big fancy law firm, but you do need a lawyer who is very familiar with startups and standard terms. You should confirm that your lawyer has worked with many clients who have negotiated with startups.
> It's entirely normal that you sign over ownership of the code to the company in exchange for your equity. That's in every form stock agreement.

Yeah, but he's being asked to sign over ownership, in order to begin the process of receiving equity. If he signs that, they have every opportunity to screw him, which they do not have now.

all my lawyer did back in the day was structure equity for Internet companies. He worked for one of the top firms. Trust me this guy is an ace in the hole. He like me is worried these guys have lied before and are doing it once again.

Were not asking for anything outrageous, we just want to know what is In the stock agreement. When you're told sign here and well tell you by those that have lied multiple times, that is the problem

They have filed a provisional patent and this is an interesting point.

I agree. That is an interesting point.

http://www.google.com/search?q=patent+fraud+%22must+be+the+i...

The person requesting the patent must be the inventor