By Jim Finkle

BOSTON (Reuters) - A U.S. judge turned down a request from International Business Machines Corp to bar its former head of mergers and acquisitions from working at Dell Inc over allegations that he would disclose trade secrets.

The ruling means the executive, David Johnson, will be able to continue to work as Dell's senior vice president of corporate strategy while IBM proceeds with a lawsuit that claims he violated a non-compete agreement.

M&A is a priority for both companies, which are looking to add technologies that will differentiate their products at a time when global technology spending is slumping. Dell has said it wants to increase sales of servers, storage equipment and expand its business to large corporations -- key areas for

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