Mark Papermaster, the IBM exec hired to lead Apple’s iPod division, is fighting back against his former employer with a lawsuit of his own.
Earlier this month, IBM fumed when Papermaster was hired as Apple’s new chief of devices hardware engineering overseeing the iPod and iPhone. The company sued, alleging that he had violated a noncompete agreement by working for one of the “competitors.”
Last Friday, a U.S. District Judge ordered that Papermaster immediately cease working at Apple until the court could come to a decision on whether his employment breaches the contract he had signed at IBM.
Papermaster retaliated, arguing the IBM and Apple were never major competitors, and that the contract was too broad to restrict him from doing work that was unrelated to the work he was doing at IBM.
On Tuesday, the Judge also ruled that IBM put up a $3 million bond to cover costs or damages Papermaster might suffer should the injunction be proved false.
