Court blocks new Apple exec from going to work
By Troy Wolverton
San Jose Mercury News
Article Launched: 11/07/2008 05:11:58 PM PST
Apple's move to shake up its iPod and iPhone management team has been put on hold.
A federal court judge on Friday granted a preliminary injunction requested by IBM that ordered Mark Papermaster to cease working for Apple until further notice.
Apple hired Papermaster away from IBM last month to head hardware engineering for its handheld gadgets. IBM subsequently sued Papermaster, who had signed a non-competition agreement with Big Blue in 2006, charging him with violating that agreement.
Kenneth Karas, a U.S. district court judge in the southern district court of New York, where the case was filed, didn't immediately explain his ruling, saying he would release a full opinion in the future. He scheduled a follow-up meeting later this month to map out a time line for the case.
IBM was pleased with the decision, company spokesman Doug Shelton said.
"Mr. Papermaster's employment by Apple is a violation of his agreement with IBM against working for a competitor should he leave IBM," Shelton said.
Apple and Papermaster will comply with the order, Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said.
But he added that Apple is "confident that Papermaster will be able to ultimately join apple when this dust settles."
Papermaster and his attorneys did not respond to requests for comment.
On Tuesday Apple announced that it had hired Papermaster and that Tony Fadell, formerly senior vice president of its iPod
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