Intellectual Property

My husband is an IT Adminstrator/Programmer for a company that invents, manufacturers and markets machines worldwide. They were having difficulty selling their latest project due to an inefficient POS component that was the brainchild of one of the owners. My husband recommendations for improving the component were rejected. For the next several weeks, on weekends and evenings at home, my husband designed a new POS component from the ground up. It was completely different from the existing - a whole new invention. The company initially rejected it but would not give it back to my husband who knew, from his contacts in the industry, that there was a market for it. With zero interest in marketplace with the current project, the company decided to try my husband's POS component. Almost immediately they won a multi-million dollar contract with a US company. Their stand is that anything an employee invents is their property and therefore he is not entitled to any compensation. Is this true in this case?

[msg]

That normally is true if as part of his work or anything related...even if done at home.

But have counsel review the history carefully.