XPost: sci.electronics.design, alt.lasers   
   From: invalid@invalid.invalid   
      
   Phil Hobbs wrote:   
   > On 08/25/2011 05:48 PM, Joerg wrote:   
   >> Phil Hobbs wrote:   
      
   [...]   
      
   >>   
   >>>                          ... I scan backup copies often, to avoid   
   >>> disasters if the tube were to get lost--if necessary I could keep   
   >>> drawing on a printed copy.  The scanner is autofeed, and set up to put   
   >>> PDFs on two different computers via FTP, so it's pretty painless.   
   >>>   
   >>   
   >> Tube lost? ...  ... I'd be in hot doodoo if that   
   >> happened on some projects. It's all electronic and nobody can get to it   
   >> sans password.   
   >   
   > One of the things I generally insist on is that my work product not be   
   > considered client confidential information unless it's an actual product   
   > or in the process of being filed as a patent, because I need to be able   
   > to re-use stuff.   
   >   
      
   I have this clause in my standard agreement: "CONSULTANT retains the   
   royalty-free right to use an Invention and incorporate it into any   
   product in a field unrelated and non-competitive with CLIENT."   
      
   Companies have no problem with that.   
      
      
   > Clients get the benefit of all the prior stuff I can re-use, so they're   
   > generally fine with that.  Of course I do undertake not to sell the   
   > identical design elsewhere, but when you're building TIAs or laser   
   > stabilizers or that sort of thing, there's only a limited number of   
   > equivalently-good ways to do things, and I need to be able to continue   
   > to practice my profession.   
   >   
      
   Most of this wouldn't be protectable anyhow. TIAs have been around since   
   shortly after the Romans left Britain, they are essentially glorified   
   current sensors. Laser stabilizers are a bit different but even a lot   
   there wouldn't be patentable anymore, or at least not in a way that it   
   would survive a court battle. When I had my last one working I glanced   
   at it for a while and many of the tricks looked quite familiar from   
   navigation systems, in hindsight.   
      
   Special bootstrap tricks and stuff like that is mostly in your book and   
   publications already :-)   
      
   [...]   
      
   --   
   Regards, Joerg   
      
   http://www.analogconsultants.com/   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)