Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

Re: Can the employer force me to sign invention assignment after I have quit

For any agreement to be binding, there must be "consideration", which just means that you have to get something in return. Are they offering you something in exchange for your signing the agreement?

In addition, if you sign something because there is a gun pointed at your head, then the agreement is not binding because it was coerced. Are they really forcing you to sign? How? By holding your cat hostage?

I am not sure I understand at all why you would sign such an agreement. Please feel free to call me on the telephone or send email elaborating your reason for believing that you have no choice about whether to sign.

I can be reached at (650) 566-8500.

Re: Can the employer force me to sign invention assignment after I have quit

As the other attorney pointed out you do not have to sign the agreement..but you should consult an attorney...and get those contracts reviewed.

Re: Can the employer force me to sign invention assignment after I have quit

First, there is no law or legal principle that requires an ex-employee or ex-contractor to sign something upon severing his or her relationship. So, you aren't required either by law or conscience to sign something they tender to you.

Next, whether an agreement someone is "forced" to sign is valid or not depends upon the degree of compulsion. Clearly, a gun to the head results in no agreement because of the extreme duress. On the other hand, many forms of economic duress would not render the agreement unenforceable. For example, manufacturers under long-term supply contracts sometimes have to agree to amendments to accept reduced prices under threat of this or that consequence for not agreeing, and the changes have been upheld by courts on various grounds.

More important, however, in your situation, is whether you or the employer/contractor already owns the economic rights to your work product during the period of your service with them. It is entirely possible that the "agreement" you've been asked to sign amounts to little more than an acknowledgment by you that the party that paid for your efforts is entitled to the fruits.

I do not express an opinion as to whether this is so or not, but I do urge you to consult with an intellectual property attorney near you to whom you can describe your working arrangement and the nature of the inventions and obtain an informed opinion on ownership.