By Kate Fazzini

IBM was alarmed when Mark D. Papermaster, a 26-year veteran assigned to an "elite" unit with access to closely guarded information about the company's technology and business strategies, told his superiors that he planned to take a job with Apple Inc.

Employment lawyers say that the unusual dispute involving two industry titans illustrates the increased willingness of employers, driven by rough economic times and a deepening interest in protecting proprietary information, to litigate over noncompete agreements in New York courts.

In the IBM case, Papermaster signed a one-year noncompetition agreement. The agreement acknowledges that "the disclosure of any (confidential information including expansion plans, client data and trade secrets, among other information) could place the Company at a serious competitive disadvantage and could do serious damage, financial and otherwise, to the business of the company."

To read the complete article from New York Law Journal click here.