My questions are:
Does the use of the "and/or" in the contract mean that the contract
is binding if only one of the stated conditions is met? (I'm employed
by the company but don't meet any of the other conditions.)

Can a company claim intellectual property that is created
independently by an hourly employee that isn't related to the
company? (I do tech support but develop software as a hobby which is
completely unrelated to anything I do for the company.)

Would signing this contract potentially cause me to face legal issues
as I develop software completely unrelated to the company? (If one of
my software programs proves very lucrative will they have sufficient
grounds to bring a successful suit against me?)

Would signing this contract keep me from being able to contribute to
GPL (think GNU/Linux) software? (It is important to me that I be able
to contribute to GPL software without worry that anything I
contribute might be owned by my employer and thus impossible for me
to donate.)

Your comments are appreciated, your legal expertise is begged.

Boyce,
You need to get the company to agree in writing that they are not and
will not take an interest in your "hobby" software.
Yes, that is exactly what and/or means in this context
No, since the company has told you no already. But you would be wise to

this in writing and read this carefully
Probably not since they have agreed verbally that they have no interest in
work that is unrelated to your job.
See the above comments.
If this issue is really important then discuss it with your attorney. The
advice of internet strangers will be general, not specific. And these
strangers will have opinions but may not have any expertise.
Good luck,
Dave M.

I work for a company that was merged with an even larger company this
year. Employees are now required to sign an agreement "as a condition
of employment" with the new company that includes a very troublesome
intellectual property clause.
The contract uses the words "and/or" with the / symbol to indicate
that anything created with company resources or with company owned
intellectual property or while the employee is employed by the
company will belong to the company. Further it indicates that all
intellectual property that the employee may own will belong to the
company and that the employee must surrender all rights to any
intellectual property at the company's request.
I've been reassured that the company does not want rights to
intellectual property that I have that is not company related. I
want to continue to have the right to create new intellectual
property that isn't company related (and doesn't use company
resources or company owned intellectual property...etc) without
having to worry about my rights to retain ownership of that
intellectual property.
I live in Texas but I understand that the contract for California
employees has an exclusion for that sort of thing.
My questions are:
Does the use of the "and/or" in the contract mean that the contract
is binding if only one of the stated conditions is met? (I'm employed
by the company but don't meet any of the other conditions.)
Can a company claim intellectual property that is created
independently by an hourly employee that isn't related to the
company? (I do tech support but develop software as a hobby which is
completely unrelated to anything I do for the company.)
Would signing this contract potentially cause me to face legal issues
as I develop software completely unrelated to the company? (If one of
my software programs proves very lucrative will they have sufficient
grounds to bring a successful suit against me?)
Would signing this contract keep me from being able to contribute to
GPL (think GNU/Linux) software? (It is important to me that I be able
to contribute to GPL software without worry that anything I
contribute might be owned by my employer and thus impossible for me
to donate.)
Your comments are appreciated, your legal expertise is begged.