New York Seeks to Boost Tech With IP Protections
New York tech workers might soon see better protections for their intellectual property, as a new law expanding workers’ rights awaits the governor’s signature.
Currently, employers in New York State can claim ideas, projects, and inventions made by their employees on their own personal time.
“I spent my career in the tech industry and every contract I ever signed included a provision that anything that you invent while employed at the company, belongs to the company,” said Manhattan Assembly Member Alex Bores.
Sponsored by Bores, the bill would bring an end to clauses in contracts that give employers claims to workers’ intellectual property (IP). Supporters say it would boost innovation in New York and make the state more competitive in the technology industry.
“I’ve had friends who chose to go work in California versus New York to have these labor protections, and that’s just a loss for the state of New York,” Bores said.
The bill passed in both chambers of the Legislature last June. Bores says he is confident that Gov. Kathy Hochul will sign it into law.
While examples of companies claiming IP made by their employees on personal time are scarce, advocates say that the new bill will eliminate fear of such incidents and encourage innovation.
“There’s sort of a chilling effect, where people who work at these large companies are reluctant to explore things that excite them, start-up ideas, passion projects outside of work because they’re worried that their employer will try and claim it,” said Harrison Bronfeld, 26, a software engineer for Alphabet, Google’s parent company, and coordinator of the local chapter of Alphabet Workers Union-CWA.
Before the recent wave of layoffs affecting the industry nationwide, tech-sector jobs grew 33.6% in New York State from 2016 to 2021, according to a report released last year by New York State Comptroller Tom Dinapoli. New York had 321,280 technology jobs in 2021, the third most in the U.S. Additionally, 16% of the total venture capital investments in the country went to tech start-ups around the New York City area in 2021, second only to Silicon Valley.
Legislators hope the bill will help New York compete with California, a state that already has IP protections for workers. Some supporters also believe it will increase workers’ leverage in union contracts, making IP rights one less issue they would have to negotiate with employers.
“It will play a role in organizing workers in the tech sector who are trying to settle a first contract or get towards a first contract that will help them resolve strong contracts,” said Astrid Aune, senior advisor to Queens State Sen. Jessica Ramos. Ramos chairs the Senate’s Labor Committee, and sponsored the bill in the Senate.
In June, the Legislature also passed a bill that would ban the non-compete agreements frequently found in job contracts. Supporters say these clauses also turn potential workers away from the state.
“I recently met with a group of tech people who told me that they were going to start a start-up until they realized that they all signed non-competes on the day they were hired,” said Buffalo-area State Sen. Sean Ryan. “That means one less startup for New York City.”
Both pieces of legislation are expected to be sent to the governor for her signature before the end of the year.
