IBM, Apple Settle Fight Over Former Big Blue Exec

A lawsuit that had barred former IBM executive Mark Papermaster from leading Apple's iPod and iPhone engineering teams has been resolved, the companies said Tuesday.

CNBC.com

Papermaster will resume his work as senior vice president of devices hardware engineering starting April 24, after settling a lawsuit with IBM that had forced him to take a court-ordered hiatus, Apple said.

An Apple spokesman would not divulge details of the settlement. Papermaster could not be reached immediately for comment.

In a statement, IBM said it had resolved its lawsuit against Papermaster on terms that protect its proprietary and confidential information, and had agreed to his April 24 employment start date at Apple.

A New York federal court will monitor Papermaster, who would be required to certify in July and in October "that he has complied with his legal obligations not to use or disclose IBM's confidential or proprietary information," IBM said.

The court will have oversight, including compliance enforcement, until Oct. 24, 2009, the one-year anniversary of Papermaster's departure from IBM.

Apple first announced Papermaster's hiring in November.

Days later, a federal judge ordered Papermaster to stop working at Apple because he might have been violating a noncompete agreement with IBM, where he had worked for 25 years.

In court filings, IBM said that, before leaving the company, Papermaster agreed not to work for a competitor for a year.

Papermaster's lawyers argued that forcing him to sit out of the electronics industry for a year would damage his career and force him to forfeit a "dream job" at Apple. They also contended that his work for the two companies was different.

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