Judge Grants Preliminary Injunction Against Former IBM Employee Joining Apple

The New York Southern District Court has ordered in a preliminary injunction that a former employee of IBM, Mark Papermaster, immediately cease working with his new employer, Apple. He was appointed by Apple as the head of Apple’s iPod and iPhone division.

IBM alleged in its complaint that Papermaster, by joining Apple, violated a non-compete agreement and confidentiality obligations that he signed in favour of IBM in which he agreed not to work for a competitor of IBM for a period of one year after leaving IBM. IBM alleged that Papermaster had in his possession significant and highly confidential trade secrets and know-how, as well as highly sensitive information regarding business strategy and long-term opportunities and that IBM would suffer irreparable harm if he failed to comply with his non-competition and non-solicitation obligations.

Papermaster denied in his declaration that Apple was a competitor of IBM, as IBM sold its personal computer division to Lenovo in 2005 and was no longer in the PC business. Papermaster also noted that IBM focuses on the business industry while Apple is a consumer-oriented company, and that he was hired to act solely as a product manager and was not hired to develop technology across product lines.

For additional information, visit:

http://lawday.ca/articles/show/judge_orders_executive_to_stop_work

Volume VI

Judge Grants Preliminary Injunction Against Former IBM Employee Joining Apple