Skip Links

Network World

  • Social Web 
  • Email 
  • Close

(Comma separation for multiple addresses)
Your Message:

Judge orders newly hired Apple VP to stop work

Former IBM exec blocked from running iPod, iPhone engineering teams.
By Gregg Keizer , Computerworld , 11/10/2008
  • Share/Email
  • Tweet This
  • Comment
  • Print

A federal judge on Friday ordered a former IBM executive who was recently hired by Apple to stop working for the company, court documents showed.


IBM sues to block executive's move to Apple


U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth Karas ruled that Mark Papermaster, who was announced as Apple's new vice president of devices hardware engineering only last Tuesday, must "immediately cease his employment with Apple Inc. until further order of this court." Karas did not explain his reasons for the order, saying only that he would issue an opinion at a later date.

Friday's move was the result of an IBM motion for a preliminary injunction designed to block Papermaster's move to Apple. On Oct. 22, IBM sued Papermaster, claiming that a noncompetition agreement he signed in 2006 bars him from working for competitors for a year after leaving the company. According to IBM, Papermaster had information of "highly confidential IBM trade secrets" that would "irreparably harm" the company if he's allowed to work for Apple.

Apple hired Papermaster to run its iPod and iPhone engineering group. The same day that Apple announced Papermaster's hire, it also said that Tony Fadell, who has been credited with jump-starting the company's iPod business, was leaving his position as senior vice president in charge of the player, but would remain as an adviser to Jobs.

Papermaster, a 26-year veteran of IBM, had been the vice president of blade server development until he resigned Oct, 13. According to court documents IBM filed last month, Papermaster "is in possession of significant and highly confidential IBM trade secrets and know-how, as well as highly sensitive information regarding business strategy and long-term opportunities." If Papermaster took the Apple job, IBM maintained, he would be a violation of his noncompetition agreement.

In a response filed with Karas on Thursday, the day before the judge ruled against him, Papermaster countered IBM's claims.

"Apple hired Mr. Papermaster not because of any specific knowledge or experience he gained at IBM, but for his general skill as an engineer and his strong management skills," the memorandum submitted to Karas read. "Nothing about his new job will implicate any trade secrets from IBM."

Papermaster's objection to the proposed injunction also claimed that "Apple and IBM are not even competitors," arguing that Apple is focused on consumers while IBM targets businesses, particularly large companies.

He also alleged that IBM did not restrict his access to the IBM network or ask him to clean out his desk and leave immediately when he first gave notice on Oct. 13 but instead accepted his two-week notice. "After Mr. Papermaster informed IBM that he had accepted a job at Apple, IBM allowed him to continue working at IBM for two entire weeks, with unfettered access to all of his files and to IBM's entire computer network -- hardly what one would expect when an executive is leaving for a competitor," Papermaster's filing said.

"Given its conduct, IBM's claim that it will suffer irreparable harm or hardship due to 'inevitable disclosure' of 'trade secrets' is absurd," Papermaster continued.

  • Share/Email
  • Tweet This
  • Comment
  • Print

Partner Content

Gartner 2009 Magic Quadrant for Job Scheduling

Gartner has positioned BMC CONTROL-M in the Leaders Quadrant of their "2009 Magic Quadrant for Job Scheduling." The report assesses the ability to execute and completeness of vision of key vendors in the marketplace. Read a full copy today, courtesy of BMC Software.

Download whitepaper

Dell's SMART Approach to Workload Automation

Read a compelling case study by EMA, Inc. to learn how Dell uses BMC CONTROL-M to cut cost and increase productivity with workload automation.

Download whitepaper

Workload Automation Cost Savings 2 Minute Video

A major computer manufacturer uses BMC CONTROL-M and just four people to schedule and run over 85,000 jobs every month. By switching to BMC CONTROL-M, they more than quadrupled the workload without adding a single staff member.  See how in this 2-minute video overview.

Go to video

Comments (1)
Login
Forgot your account info?

IBM isn't closeBy MikeM on November 12, 2008, 10:19 amWhat sort of trade secrets would IBM have for an iPod? Jobs would be personally offended and probably refuse to use any even if offered.

Reply | Read entire comment

View all comments

Add comment
Anonymous comments subject to approval. Register here for member benefits.
Have a NetworkWorld account? Log in here. Register now for a free account.

Videos

rssRss Feed