Boss with No Ethics....or is it Shrewd Business? 1

[bigmig]

So we have been working on a prototype project over the past 18 months. This project pretty much single handedly kept our company from closing the doors this winter, and definitely kept my paycheck coming (a bit irregular but still coming). Our client had us sign nondisclosure documents, and had conversations early on that he wanted to pay us hourly, and that there was no way he would sells us part of any patent or idea. He wanted full rights to the design, both physical and conceptual (sorry if I'm not using the right words here). In short, the project was his, and he wasn't selling any of it to us through discounted rates etc and he made this clear to us by saying he would pay hourly.

With a couple bumps and blips, he has kept his word and paid.

Well this morning the client stops by and tells us how one of his business partners was trying to double cross his patent idea by going behind his back. The client explained how his patent was still protected and how the past partner and friend was now the equivalent of dog poo.

At lunch, I bring this up at a birthday luncheon as small talk. My boss casually replies that the client hasn't seen anything yet, and that my boss is planning on filing a concept patent over the top of our client without our client knowing it because my boss feels "we have been a big part of this thing happening".

My mouth hits the floor. First of all, I don't want to go into or get feedback about how "your boss can't do that", "patent laws" etc. My point is that my boss apparently has no problem sticking his foot right up the post end of the client who has single handedly kept me and my family eating last winter.

My boss is a pretty good guy for the most part,so this totally caught me off guard. He has made some "screw you" business decisions with me, others in our company, friends, contractors and now this client, so I should rephrase that I am 90% caught off guard.

I work for my boss as a "get it done" engineer, so I have a ton of daily contact with this client but don't make the "big decisions". In fact, I am mostly the person working with him. If he gets a hint that my boss would even think this, I can't even describe the shame I would feel looking the client in the eye right before he fires us.

I feel like telling my boss that if he does that I will quit on the spot. I don't want to work for anyone who can stab his client in the back.

 

[PhilBW]

If there is a patent dispute, one of the first things the patent attorneys will do is create a paper trail. Whether or not your boss or the other partner can pull this off depends on what the paper trail looks like. Whoever can provide the earliest form of indisputable evidence that the idea was theirs will win.

If the case goes to court, they will pull everyone remotely related to the project into court to testify. If you tell the truth in court, that won't set well with your boss, and you probably won't have the option of working for him any more.

Besides, if he would screw a client, he would also screw his employees. It's time to find a different job.

 

[KENAT]

Slightly different angle, if the boss goes ahead with this and it gets messy...

Any way you can work directly for the client since you seem to be the one that has a relationship with him?

Do you have any non compete agreement or similar covering you?

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[btrueblood]

"Our client had us sign nondisclosure documents"

Depending on the wording of the NDA, your boss is likely to have his a** handed to him on a platter, should he go forward with his stated intentions.

"Multiple times I was told "we can't pay you this week until we get a check from the client""

That's illegal in many jurisdictions, unless you were working as a contractor, and not an employee.

 

[ivymike]

when working with outside design firms, it has been my experience that contracts have three options for intellectual property rights:
1) Design house keeps 'em all
2) Design house and client negotiate on case-by-case basis as things come up, but generally "they keep theirs and we keep ours"
3) Client keeps 'em all

Usually the design house proposes (1) and our lawyers change it to (3), and because they want the money they take it on those terms with no further discussion.

I can imagine a situation where both sides were inexperienced enough not to have recognized the importance of an IP rights agreement, and where the prize seems big enough for the design house to want to argue (1), especially where the cash flow is spotty from the client. It's possible that (1) is a starting point for negotiations with the intent of reaching (2) or (3+$$).

Not sure anything illegal is afoot, since I don't know what the terms and conditions were when the scope of work was sold and the PO issued. If it was more like (3), then your boss is asking for it.

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[ivymike]

just spotted the bit about "I don't want to go into or get feedback about how "your boss can't do that", "patent laws" etc."... guess I got distracted in some of the other posts.

Yeah, your boss might be a dishonest jerk. Seems like many of 'em are.