They sought a preliminary injunction to prevent Papermaster from working at Apple, claiming his employment violated non-competition agreement.

Five months later, after the release of new versions of the iPod and the iPhone, Apple picked up the search for a Senior VP, iPod/iPhone Division to replace Tony Fadell.

Judge Karas also found that, "Because Mr. Papermaster has been inculcated with some of IBM's most sensitive and closely-guarded technical and strategic secrets, it is no great leap for the Court to find that Plaintiff has met its burden of showing likelihood of irreparable harm.

Critics believe the opinion could have repercussions such as "expanding inevitable disclosure doctrine" to the detriment of anybody attempting to further their career in a particular field by moving to another company in the same industry.

[4] In considering whether or not the non-compete clause caused undue hardship to Papermaster, the Court weighed the agreement with IBM against the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of the SVP position.

On 27 January 2009 it was announced that Papermaster's lawsuit with IBM had been settled and that he'd take over Senior Vice President of Devices Hardware Engineering at Apple on 24 April 2009, replacing Tony Fadell, who stepped down some months earlier.

[5] The settlement requires that Papermaster make two scheduled court certifications – the first having occurred in July 2009 and another in October 2009 – to testify that he will protect IBM trade secrets.