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Apple’s new iPhone chief Mark Papermaster claims he didn’t violate IBM contract

Friday, November 07, 2008 - 03:16 PM EDT

"Apple's newly appointed chief of iPod and iPhone engineering said his move to Cupertino does not violate a noncompete contract he signed with former employer IBM because Apple and IBM are not competitors," Paul McDougall reports for InformationWeek.

"'To the best of my knowledge, IBM does not design, manufacture or market consumer electronic products,' said Mark Papermaster, in a court document filed Thursday. 'Instead, IBM focuses on high-performance business systems such as information technology infrastructure, servers and information storage products, and operating systems software,' Papermaster noted," McDougall reports. "'Apple, on the other hand, is in the business of designing, manufacturing and marketing consumer-oriented hardware and related products,' said Papermaster, in documents filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan."

"'I do not recall a single instance of Apple being described as a competitor of IBM during my entire tenure at IBM,' Papermaster stated. The executive claims that he was not actively looking to leave IBM until he was headhunted by Steve Jobs' company and offered 'a once in a lifetime opportunity,'" McDougall reports.

"Papermaster was part of IBM's elite Integration & Values team until last month, and is a top expert in IBM's Power microprocessor architecture. Big Blue claims Papermaster signed a noncompete contract that forbids him from joining a rival tech vendor within a year of ceasing employment at IBM," McDougall reports. "IBM sued Papermaster last week. The company is asking the court to enjoin Papermaster from working at Apple."

"In his response, Papermaster says his new job at Apple does not require him to work directly with P.A. Semi assets or technology," McDougall reports.

"IBM said it offered Papermaster 'a substantial increase' in his compensation package to stay with the company," McDougall reports. "The efforts were to no avail."

Full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Let's see: head up the world's next great platform or keep designing effing blade servers for IBM?

Not a tough choice.

This'll all work out eventually.