Int-Property rights question

[rose-cs.com]

CA.
I am writing some in-house software at work. I'm an employee, so i know this is work-for-hire, and the company owns the rights to the software. But what are my rights to my ideas???
This is wholly my development.....no company trade secrets, and most of the concepts for this software I developed before taking this job. I have areed to now non-disclosure/non-competetive agreements. I am interested in pursuing a similar commercial product on my own. I'd like to know my rights before i approach the subject at work. Thanks, Lee

 

[counsel]

It depends on the agreements you signed when you joined the company. Some agreements list your pre-existing intellectual property, which is excluded from the work-for-hire arrangement.

I would need to look at your agreements before I could advise.

 

[rose-cs.com]

Well, we have not made any agreements, verbal or written. I was not hired to write software. I was hired to track information. I just happen to be very lazy and know something of software development. So I wrote a Database application to do most of my work for me.

It is working out very well. And, in discussion, I have found that there may be a market for a similar application. The App, as written is far to specialized for commercial distribution. So, rights to the source code itself would not be a big help to me. It's the concepts, and the ideas I have put together that concern me.

This project doen't include any Company trade-secrets, although the could in the future decide this software amounts to a trade-secret. The company is not in the software buisness, so they probably wont be marketing anything commercially.

Thanks, Lee