IBM Sues Former M&A Chief

Websphere Journal is reporting that IBM has sued its former M&A chief, David Johnson, for taking a job with Dell Computers. The suit is based on a 2005 non-compete agreement signed by Johnson–IBM accuses Johnson of misappropriating trade secrets.

Key graph:

“the complaint against Johnson says the information he possesses is “among the company’s most competitively sensitive information, is carefully guarded, not made accessible to the public or IBM’s competitors, and is disclosed even to IBM employees on a strict ‘need to know’ basis.”

Johnson knows what companies and technologies IBM plans to invest in, when, what ROI it expects and what it may divest.”

It appears that IBM is basing its claims on the “inevitable disclosure doctrine” as there are no actual allegations of misappropriation. This will bear watching…

---

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• IBM Tries For A Second Bite at the Apple (or Dell in this case)
• If Only They Were All This Easy – IBM ex-Employee Cops to Theft