IBM slaps Apple with a lawsuit for recruiting top chip designer -- like they were going to use him anyways
In broad, soap operatic strokes of the finest sort, IBM and Apple are at each other's throats over Apple's latest recruit: IBM's vice president of microprocessor technology development. Improbably named Mark Papermaster, the man in question is responsible for IBM's blade server division, and IBM is pretty sure there's a non-compete in there somewhere, especially with Apple's recent acquisition of PA Semi, a chip developer with PowerPC technology similar to IBM's -- IBM has filed lawsuits both against Apple in California (a state traditionally indifferent to non-competes) and against Papermaster in New York. We're not going to get into all the sordid details, but just because IBM and Apple are very, very angry at each other right now doesn't mean they're mad at you. Probably.
