gillies@m.cs.uiuc.edu (06/14/89)
It is standard to sign away your creative genius while working for a company.
It is NOT STANDARD to sign away everything in the year AFTER
employment. Cross out that paragraph & sign.
Xerox has employees
(1) Agree to non-disclosure of Xerox proprietary info
for 2 years following termination of employment.
(2) Agree that all inventions developed while
working for Xerox are property of Xerox.
Most intelligent places will not hire you without such an agreement.
According to a court ruling, you are entitled to use the knowledge you
learn in your new place of employment, IF the knowledge is related to
your livelihood. For instance, it's a no-no for a Xerox network
software hacker to quit, in order to design the mechanical systems of
a new generation of photocopiers, based on knowledge of trade secrets
gleaned while at Xerox. He is working outside his livelihood.
On the other hand, the employee COULD use the knowledge learned in
their livelihood (software). This is how the employees of Adobe
Systems could design a new Laser-printer language (PostScript)
immediately after leaving Xerox. They had worked on the design of
Interpress at Xerox.