the worm that turned
10-06-2009, 10:44 PM
If you were ever in any doubt about the use of square brackets in contracts check out this attempt of their use in an agreement I recently signed:
"I will immediately disclose to ##### any discovery or invention conceived by me (solely or jointly with others) [as a result of and] during the course of my work for ##### and acknowledge that, subject to the provisions of the Patents Act 1977 (as amended, re-enacted or consolidated from time to time) and any other relevant legislation for the time being in force, as between ##### and me, any such inventions or discoveries shall be the property of ##### as absolute beneficial owner."
So if you remove the wording in the square brackets it COMPLETELY changes the terms of the contract, stating that any discovery or invention conceived by me during the course of my work (i.e. while under contract), regardless of whether it was as a result of my work with said company, would be the property of the company!!
Naturally I removed the square brackets from the contract and converted it to a pdf before signing. Didn't hear anything from them as a result of amendment - not surprising really!!
As that guy from Police 5 said - keep your eyes peeled (followed by strange hand gesture across his face!).
"I will immediately disclose to ##### any discovery or invention conceived by me (solely or jointly with others) [as a result of and] during the course of my work for ##### and acknowledge that, subject to the provisions of the Patents Act 1977 (as amended, re-enacted or consolidated from time to time) and any other relevant legislation for the time being in force, as between ##### and me, any such inventions or discoveries shall be the property of ##### as absolute beneficial owner."
So if you remove the wording in the square brackets it COMPLETELY changes the terms of the contract, stating that any discovery or invention conceived by me during the course of my work (i.e. while under contract), regardless of whether it was as a result of my work with said company, would be the property of the company!!
Naturally I removed the square brackets from the contract and converted it to a pdf before signing. Didn't hear anything from them as a result of amendment - not surprising really!!
As that guy from Police 5 said - keep your eyes peeled (followed by strange hand gesture across his face!).