Can I Be Fired For Refusing To File a Patent?

An anonymous reader writes "I am a developer for a medium-sized private technology company getting ready for an IPO. My manager woke up one morning and decided to patent some stuff I did recently. The problem is, I'm strongly opposed to software patents, believing that they are stifling innovation and dragging the technology industry down (see all the frivolous lawsuits reported here on Slashdot!). Now, my concern is: what kind of consequences could I bring on myself for refusing to support the patent process? Has anybody been in a similar position and what was the outcome?"

Re:Well...

[Anonymous Coward]

It's challenging for an organization such as his to measure success. For example, how can we reasonably estimate how many people they've taught to understand, appreciate, and assert their constitutional rights during copyright encounters? The best way to measure this is to count positive outcomes, which can be sorted into two general categories: objective (i.e. numerical) and anecdotal.

From a numerical standpoint, I like to measure success with informing management of the patenting process by counting how many people have decided not to patent their software, ultimately releasing it as free software.

By that measure they've done pretty darn well for an organization with the available full-time staff people and a five-figure budget! But it's always the anecdotal success stories that melt my heart and show me that we are changing people's lives for the better.

Patent something else first

[illama]

Just patent the process of firing someone for refusing to file a patent.

Then they'll have to license the technology to be able to use it against you.

Frivolous patents are evil.

Consider sabotage...

[Anonymous Coward]

You do face a possibility of being fired for refusing to go along with their demands. As others have mentioned, you can be fired for damn near anything -- even if you don't live in a "right to work^H^H^H^Hbe fired" state, they can still make up a reason and fire you.

They are looking to you to provide them with the basis for their IP (imaginary property) when they file their patent -- so you may want to make sure the patent is as indefensible as possible. Throw in lots of obvious prior art, don't explicitly cite references to it, just make sure it's clear to anyone who's looking that there's no originality. True, it may still lead to litigation in the future, but you'll be giving innovation the best possible chance to prevail.

Re:Firing -- religious objection

[Alain Williams]

IANAL, but I'm pretty sure there's only a small set of things you can't be fired for in the US, like race, and anything else is legal.

You can't be fired for religious belief. Join the church of GNU. it already has a saint [softpanorama.org]

Why?

[WindBourne]

Did FSM command this?

Re:Better approach

[shutdown -p now]

So... can I be fired for finding prior art to a company's patent? ;)

Re:Better approach

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, I don't think you want a trial...

Re:Well...

[theshowmecanuck]

This comment sounds like the next generation of those spam bots that make paragraphs of random words _sort of_ look like a coherent thoughts. It's getting close, but work on it some more.

Re:Well...

[Pseudonym]

I'm so glad we're on the same page. You're the kind of innovative, can-do individual we need to enhance our organisational synergy.

We must calendar some face-time to discuss how better to engage our value customers with a view to leveraging our key threshold activities to achieve ongoing transformation.

Re:Well...

[toriver]

Someone probably yelled BINGO! after that last sentence, so he stopped.

Re:You can't cheat an honest man

[pcolaman]

If he isn't telling you the truth, it is because you don't want to hear the truth.

You can't handle the truth!

Signed, Jack Nicholson.

Re:Well...

[gyrogeerloose]

I'm guessing that's because he's a patent attorney.