IBM vs Papermaster: Papermaster Countersues

Mark Papermaster, a former IBM executive barred from taking a job at Apple, has countersued IBM claiming the noncompete agreement he is allegedly in violation of is too broad and unenforceable.

According to ComputerWorld, Papermaster says the non-compete agreement he signed in 2006 while working for Big Blue was "unreasonably broad" because it endeavored to stop him working for "any company that engages in competition with his former business unit to any extent, even if Mr. Papermaster will not be working for the part of the company that does."

ComputerWorld reports that Papermaster’s lawyers say that because the deal is governed by the laws of state of New York, while Papermaster lives in Texas and Apple is based in California, the agreement is unenforceable.

"Both states hold that such non-competition agreements are unenforceable as a matter of public policy," the countersuit said.

The reports come following last weeks’ news that the former vice president of microprocessor technology development at IBM may receive compensation if the ban on his working at Apple is revealed to be unfair. The parties last week were focusing on the setting of a bond by IBM, a procedure that is typical in the early stages of an injunction and is designed to make sure either party can be compensated if the injunction is found to be unjust.

Papermaster was hired to head the iPod and iPhone division at Cupertino-based Apple.

Read the full story on ComputerWorld.