[blackkettle]

My point was not actually about the ultimate result of replication. This guy undoubtably performed an indirect marketing coup for his company by engaging competently on this tangentially related topic and then following through.

In my experience though, if he had made any effort to link those two things prior to doing this - e.g. by proposing this as an internally sponsored marketing stunt - it would probably have been rejected.

[DarmokJalad1701]

Eh, I have met the CEO of Varda. They are very much a startup and have that startup energy. One of the founders of Varda has been very vocally supportive of this on Twitter as well.

[mtillman]

Of course, this is all Varda IP as they’re in California and anything a head of research performs that generates IP is owned by the employer.

[jasonjmcghee]

Is that a law in California? My understanding of the labor law is that California protects employees, so that if they sign a contract assigning IP to the company (which is almost a sure bet today, but not a law afaik- please correct me otherwise) they are actually protected such that it only applies if:

- using company resources, such as time, hardware, or office space, unless otherwise stated.

Clearly the case here, but my understanding of this law doesn’t align with how you described it.