Intellectual Property rights as a subcontractor

You likely have a breach of contract claim and not an intellectual property claim, although the terms of the contract would surely be the most relevant factor in this determination. The agency, and it may matter whether this is a Federal, state or private agency, likely will contend you, not they, breached and that the breach occurred when you walked out on them. Surely the contract was for the delivery of software ideas and designs, so the agency likely has a claim to that, and you indicate you were paid, just not in full. You claim, if any, cannot rest on patents if you have none and you do not mention any. Ideas are not patentable, anyway, only inventions which have been reduced to practice and filed in proper form with the US Patent and Trademark Office within the required timeframes and are new, useful and not obvious to PHOSITRA (person having ordinary skill in the relevant art). So I doubt you have a patent claim. You might have a copyright claim, as an original computer program may be a work of art subject to copyright protection. However, your facts suggest you did not have a program but rather only ideas and designs, neither of which was reduced to tangible form. Ideas and designs, not reduced to tangible form, are not sufficient to trigger copyright protection. You might have trade secrets, but it appears you contracted them away. If this was a Federal agency, they and not you will have the data rights under whatever procurement contract was signed, and you cannot enjoin the US Government from use of an invention, even one that is patented. Rather you can only collect reasonable and entire compensation (for patents, that means a "reasonable royalty". However, as noted above, it seems you have no valid patent to assert under 28 USC 1498 to get such compensation. Thus, it appears you only have a contract claim and are unlikely to have any ability to prevent either the "agency" , its contractor, or its subcontractors from using your ideas or designs. And, when you "walked away", there is a good chance you lost your contract claim and failed to mitigate the damage that caused. Indeed, you are asking if you can inflict greater damage. The agency, on the other hand, appears to have mitigated damages by hiring another to complete the job which you abandoned. My best guess is that it is YOU not the agency, that would have to pay damages. And that is bolstered by the fact that the agency probably has the resources to defend against any claim and to counterclaim for such damages, while you are here asking for free advice on and thus likely not in the best financial position to take on an agency. You need to get a contract attorney's advice on this contract. It is likely NOT an intellectual property issue but rather a contract issue and be prepared to find out it is you not the agency that has the greater liability.

I definitely believe that you have enough of an interest at stake to consult an intellectual property lawyer. This question reveals layers of complexity — you were a subcontractor, so there could potentially be three people claiming an ownership interest in the product. Analyzing each party's interest is dependent on a galaxy of facts that are not appropriate to delve into here. Find an IP lawyer and talk.

You were hired to create these designs, so I doubt very much that your contract with the agency makes your work for the end user client anything but a "work for hire" that's owned by that agency or their end user client. Even if they owe you money, that wouldn't change the grant of rights regarding the proceeds of your work that you were hired to do. Lawsuits seeking injunction ijunctions are very expensive, and I question that 2 days worth of work is worth that kind of legal investment. Start out consulting an IP lawyer to get all the documents you've signed reviewed and to discuss all the details of your situation.

You have received great advice. But I have a different take on this. I do not think you have any economically viable claim here. You worked for only two days, and you were paid in part. The only possible claim would be for breach of contract, but the agency will probably assert that your work was incomplete or unsatisfactory in some way, And there is something wrong with your story that makes me suspect that you do not have clean hands here---you say "They renegged on the original terms, so I walked away and never completed it. But you admit that after two days you provided "their client with an estimate and a specification/design". If you provided an "estimate" to their client after two days, then how exactly did they "renegge" on the original terms? Until you provided the estimate, how could there be any enforceable terms? Were the original terms in writing? Agencies of the government almost never engage in oral agreements---so if you really had an enforceable agreement with the agency, why did you walk away after two days. And you admit that after you "walked away", the agency retained a different contractor to finish the work? Of course they did. They were entitled to do so because you walked away. Further, how do you know that they are rolling out "my design and software specs". You mean they are rolling out the ideas that you discussed with the agency when you presented your estimate--but these ideas are probably not protected by IP law. Ideas are a dime a dozen. IP laws protect people who take an idea and make it work---in this case, creating the actual software. No offense but my guess is that there is a lot more to this story than what you state in the question, and the parts that you omit will not be flattering to you. If you want to pursue this, you need to retain IP counsel and lay out all the facts and details---even the facts and details that may make it harder for you to sustain your case.

When you consult your own IP attorney, talk to them about whether you did enough to draft and file your own patent application on the work and whether you are obligated to assign that application to the agency and/or the their client. Because if there is enough for your own application and if you are not obligated to assgn it to either of them, then that might be a way for you to capitalize. There are a lot of "if's" and my gut thinks this probably won't pan out for you; but it might be worth asking / answering the questions. Best of Luck!