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So if I had a house painting business on the side, they could take it over if they wanted to? Seems a little far fetched. I don't think "The relationship between what you do at work and at home is irrelevant" is correct, from what I've been able to gather in my research. It definitely plays a role. It may be minor, but its not irrelevant.

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Of course they cannot take over the house painting business! You did not invented any of paint, brushes, ladders or walls.

If, on the other hand, your painting business is about creating works of art rather than home improvement... they will leave you alone until some magazine labels you as "the next Picasso" or something. Then they come and sue you into oblivion, since they will out-spend you 50x in court, regardless of who is "right".

They can't take over your house painting business, because that's outside-of-work labor, which they don't own under that clause (some businesses do forbid side gigs for money).

But if you patented something related to house painting, they would own that, even if their business is completely unrelated to painting.

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