Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Utah

Re: CopyRight Violation and Enforcement (Software)

Your question is loaded with legal issues that would need to be analyzed to give you a proper answer.

First, were you an independent contractor or employee of your company? If you were an independent contractor then the next step would be to determine if any agreements or actions deemed your creation a work made for hire. If you were an employee then the question is, "was the software created within the scope of your employment".

As you can see, this is a fact intense analysis. Likely, your company is taking the position that it owns the rights to the software and can recreate or create derivatives of it since the big company is not overly concerned with your attempt to assert your rights.

You really need to involve a lawyer to analyzed all of the facts and figure out your chances.

Re: CopyRight Violation and Enforcement (Software)

It primarily depends on your relationship with the company. Did you create the software on a "work for hire" basis, or did you retain the intellectual property rights to the software? Did you license the software to the company, assign (sell) it, or create it as part of your regular employment duties? These are the types of facts an attorney needs to obtain before advising you.

Re: CopyRight Violation and Enforcement (Software)

If you've created a new application based on preexisting software (e.g. Filemaker, Wordperfect, etc.), and you do not have an agreement with the originating software company, your options are limited. I assume you had no NDA or non-circumvent agreements with anyone. The facts of your case may suggest another possibility, but you'd need to contact me to discuss further.