Apple Wins Battle Against IBM As Papermaster Heads To Cupertino

A legal battle between IBM and Apple over an ex employee of IBM, currently employed to serve as Apple’s new boss for devices and hardware engineering has been settled, Apple said on Tuesday. 

IBM’s former vice president of blade development, Mark Papermaster will take charge as the new chief of iPhone and iPod hardware development teams from April 24. 

Back in October, IBM sued Papermaster, by saying that Papermaster had access to some of the highly confidential IBM know-how and trade secrets, along with business plans, disclosure of which could affect the company. 

In its lawsuit, IBM indicated the non-compete agreement penned by Papermaster in 2006, in which he was agreed to not to work with any of the IBM’s competitor for at least one year if he ever left the company. 

In November, a US District Court forbade Papermaster to immediately stop work in November, in the wake of the concerns that he might reveal IBM’s trade secrets to Apple.

According to IBM, a New York federal court will watch over Papermaster, who would be necessitated to confirm after every three months after his joining “that he has complied with his legal obligations not to use or disclose IBM's confidential or proprietary information”. 

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