Smart people...HELP. Intelletual property suit
This could be big or it could be nothing. Please give your opinions on this scenario. I've heard of celebrities winning these cases but what about a plain old nobody?
This is realy happening but facts are modified to protect the case:
-A guy takes a lowly job at a brand new restaurant.
-He is given tips by the managment based on the total money made that day.
-The tips are basically a percentage of the take even though quite low.
-The biz is struggling to survive so tips suck.
-He then realizes a layout flaw in the biz that prevents more customers from comming in and buying.
-This flaw is quite easy to fix and requires no investment and can be undone in seconds.
-He makes the suggestion to the owner but no dice.
-He makes the suggestion to the manager and is told "Hell no".
-He then makes the suggestion to the owner again and finally it gets done.
-First day it's done the biz has record sales. 50% more profit.
-Profits continue to rise but lowly guy finds another job and leaves.
Issue: Since management and owner squashed the initial suggestion for months, despite it taking only a few seconds to do, it was clear they did not have the intellectual insight to make this move without him.
Therefore can he claim intellectual rights to this new biz layout no matter that it is very simple?
And if so then what amount of money could he claim. For example: can he claim he's still entitled to the tip money as it was increased by his suggestion or can he claim it's bigger than that since the biz is noew grossing 500% more than before he was employed.
This is a good one!! Maybe it's a stretch. What do you think?
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