December 27, 2025
Sticky notes, sticky fights
They made me an offer I couldn't refuse (1997)
Apple claims a dev’s side project; commenters call foul
TLDR: An Apple employee’s sticky-notes app got scooped under employer-owns-your-work rules; he received only a quiet bonus. Commenters erupted, slamming corporate IP grabs, sharing Google horror stories, and pointing to Swiss worker-friendly laws—reminding anyone with side projects that who owns your code can hinge on where and how you build it.
An Apple dev built a sticky-notes app on his own time in the 90s, and upper management basically said, “We own it because you work here.” He didn’t get a sale, just a quiet bonus, and a crash course in how U.S. employment and copyright treat side projects. Under standard agreements, companies can claim anything related to their business, even if you made it at home. California’s Section 2870 is a carve‑out, but the catch is ‘related to the employer’s business.’ Translation: if it runs on their platform, they might call dibs. Full story here link.
Comments came in hot. One reader thundered that this should be illegal and “employees, not slaves,” while an ex-Googler called Google’s policy draconian, saying the company could be in “ANY business” at “ANY time,” so everything is theirs. Others offered survival hacks: hop jobs so claims get muddy, or air‑gap your gear and lawyer up early. Meanwhile, Switzerland showed up like a chill cousin: over there, only what you’re asked to build belongs to the company. The thread turned into a legal group chat, a therapy session, and a meme fest—cue the “evil cackle” and jokes about sticky notes that stick to your employer.
Key Points
- •Apple’s System Software group sought a notes utility for System 7.5 and offered a lump‑sum to Antler Software for “Antler Notes.”
- •Apple upper management asserted employer ownership of the utility because the developer was an Apple employee.
- •Apple appeared ready to obtain Antler Notes/Stickies at no cost; the author later received an unrelated bonus.
- •Typical proprietary information agreements assign to employers broad rights over employee inventions related to the business, regardless of time, place, or equipment.
- •California Labor Code Section 2870 limits such assignments for inventions created entirely on personal time and equipment, except when related to the employer’s business or resulting from work; the author urges consulting company legal early to seek exemptions.