Legal Question in Business Law in Washington

Re: Business

I have to give a typical lawyer answer; "That depends". If you have a contract with your employer, terms of the contract would govern. If you do NOT have a contract, it would depend upon whether you invented this product as part of your work for the company or on your own. If you developed the product prior to coming to work for them, or as part of an unrelated endeavor, you probably should take steps to protect your information. If you developed the product in the course of working for your employer, it probably belongs to them. You have a legal right to use the invention yourself (its called a "shop right") but that right is personal to you, and you cannot assign it to anyone else.

This question is a little bit employment law, a little bit business law, and a little bit intellectual property. I would urge you to post the question again, including more detailed information about when you invented the product, as explained above, as well as perhaps what status of the matter is with your employer (do they claim ownership? no discussions yet? or ?) and post it to the "intellectual property" category. If you do have any rights in the invention, the intellectual property lawyers are the ones that can actually tell you how to protect them.

Good luck!