contract-law
What does &#39;pursuant&#39; entail?
<p>I have an employment contract I'm signing and there's a clause for <em>Assignment of Inventions</em> that states <em>pursuant to California Labor Code 2870</em>.  Does this imply that if I don't live in California, this clause still applies?</p>

<p>Here's the full paragraph from the document:
<a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/oRZt2.png%5C" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/oRZt2.png%5C" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>I just means <em>according to</em>.</p>

<p>As written, and with the information given, it's not clear that any party to the contract would be bound by California law generally, regardless of where the party lives or is located. However, reason would dictate that the contract is laying out the exception to the Assignment to Inventions in black and white so that everyone is clear, and the purpose of this language is to emphasize that the exception exists because California law requires it. It also means that, even if the language wasn't there, the exception would still apply.</p>

<p>You might ask, of all the laws that govern this relationship, why is this one included, with the <em>pursuant to</em> language? The reason is that another law requires it!</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><strong>2872.</strong>  If an employment agreement entered into after January 1, 1980, contains a provision requiring the employee to assign or offer
  to assign any of his or her rights in any invention to his or her
  employer, the employer must also, at the time the agreement is made,
  <strong>provide a written notification to the employee that the agreement does
  not apply to an invention which qualifies fully under the provisions
  of Section 2870</strong>. In any suit or action arising thereunder, the burden
  of proof shall be on the employee claiming the benefits of its
  provisions.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Circling back to the question of who does the law apply to, and under what law are the parties bound, that should be laid out somewhere else in the contract. Quite frankly, the question of which laws bind a party to a specific contract starts to look like legal advice.</p>
