New York (NY) – A U.S. District Court judge reportedly blocked Apple from employing Mark Papermaster, a fomer IBM executive, because of concerns of a violated non-compete agreement Papermaster has with IBM.
Several news services, including Reuters, are reporting that New York Federal District Judge Kenneth Karas ordered Papermaster to "immediately cease his employment with Apple Inc until further order of this court." Apple announced last week that 56-year old Papermaster would follow iPod creator Tony Fadell, 39, and lead the iPod and iPhone engineering teams. On Friday, the company said that the former IBM executive would stop working or Apple for now.
"We will comply with the court's order but are confident that Mark Papermaster will be able to ultimately join Apple when the dust settles," a spokesman quoted by Reuters said. Papermaster can submit objections by Tuesday and will appear for a hearing on November 18.
It is unclear whether Papermaster, who has about 25 years of knowledge of IBM hardware designs and most recently had access to critical information as vice president and as one of the firm’s top 300 executives, in fact could violate a non-compete agreement by working for Apple. If Apple in fact is working on its own Power-based processors for its mobile devices then it may be somewhat obvious that Papermaster’s knowledge of IBM designs would be an advantage for Apple.
Apple has been the destination of for some of important employees of IBM in the past, which could also be a reason for a certain tension between the two companies. For example, Donald Rosenberg, who was senior vice president and general counsel of IBM, joined Apple as senior vice president and general counsel In November of 2006. However, Rosenberg left Apple less than a year later to become executive vice president and general counsel at Qualcomm.
Several news services, including Reuters, are reporting that New York Federal District Judge Kenneth Karas ordered Papermaster to "immediately cease his employment with Apple Inc until further order of this court." Apple announced last week that 56-year old Papermaster would follow iPod creator Tony Fadell, 39, and lead the iPod and iPhone engineering teams. On Friday, the company said that the former IBM executive would stop working or Apple for now.
"We will comply with the court's order but are confident that Mark Papermaster will be able to ultimately join Apple when the dust settles," a spokesman quoted by Reuters said. Papermaster can submit objections by Tuesday and will appear for a hearing on November 18.
It is unclear whether Papermaster, who has about 25 years of knowledge of IBM hardware designs and most recently had access to critical information as vice president and as one of the firm’s top 300 executives, in fact could violate a non-compete agreement by working for Apple. If Apple in fact is working on its own Power-based processors for its mobile devices then it may be somewhat obvious that Papermaster’s knowledge of IBM designs would be an advantage for Apple.
Apple has been the destination of for some of important employees of IBM in the past, which could also be a reason for a certain tension between the two companies. For example, Donald Rosenberg, who was senior vice president and general counsel of IBM, joined Apple as senior vice president and general counsel In November of 2006. However, Rosenberg left Apple less than a year later to become executive vice president and general counsel at Qualcomm.