Apple 'Suffocates the Creation of New Technologies,' Claims Former Chip Designer Being Sued for Breach of Contract

[velocityg4]

they can’t prevent you from competing after you leave the company, but they can prevent you from competing while you work at Apple.

Competing with Apple can include soliciting other employeess to compete after leaving apple. I think that’s what they’re arguing.

it’s hard for tech people to become founders because of their salaried work contract under nonsensical laws that argue that you’re always working for your employer and as such, any preparation to found a company in your free time could already be considered competition and breach of contract.

The problem for Apple to overcome. In general Non-Compete Agreements are not legally enforceable in California. Same goes with Non-Solicit Agreements (neither for customer or employee poaching). There are some narrow exceptions.

Whether he signed a contract or not is moot if the contract is not legally enforceable. It will be up to the courts to decide how much if any parts of the contract can be enforced. Which his lawyers will likely lean on.

 

[Jvanleuvan]

Do you think HP still has that policy? Answer: Hell no.

These nostalgia stories by Wozniak was at a time when Corporate America didn't ever see people owning computers.

So just stop bring this crap up. There is zero relevance to reality.

Having worked at NeXT and Apple I can assure you you can go do your own projects. You just have to get them signed off by the Legal Team and others to determine if what you plan to do isn't already being developed at Apple.

Several of my friends have their own companies today. Several of those geniuses have recently returned to Apple to fix what they see has been broken since the bulk of the NeXT guard left to live on their newfound riches.

This guy is a fool who should have known long ago that his approach won't hold up in court, but he seems to not mind trashing his own reputation in hopes to tarnish Apple a bit.

There are plenty of projects someone of his stature could have pursued after he left Apple. NDAs are what we are talking about here. The man will be dealing with Intellectual Property theft and more by trying to work on his project(s) under the umbrella of Apple, then take members involved in CPU design with him.

He's going to lose this case.
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Wrong. NDAs don't preclude someone from leaving a company and then later starting their own projects inside their fields of expertise. Try again.

This is NOT a NDA (non DISCLOSURE agreement) this is a NON COMPETE clause which have been used to prevent workers working in a "similar" position at a competitor - Even Jimmy Johns used a Non-Compete clause to prevent fast food workers from leaving and working at even Subway or Togos. (this was eventually struck down)

 

[gridlocked]

Is he using trade secrets (he helped design) or is the mere threat of someone at his level going off on their own a threat in and off itself?

I agree with another poster in that there isn't enough info to make an informed decision here.

 

[gsurf123]

People have fuzzy memories about what you can and cannot take with you when you leave a company. It really gets fuzzy when you start working on your future companies product at your current company. If someone is paying you then they own everything you design/make/patent that is related to their business.

 

[Mick-Mac]

I thought that the state of CA had laws preventing (or invalidating) these kind of agreements. Say you were a PhD student and specialized in something very narrow that Apple valued. They hired you but then you later left - with an agreement like Apple's in place, all that money you sank into your education is now down the drain. CA deemed that illegal. If everybody did this the world would be in gridlock. When I took an early retirement package from my company (where part of the deal was salary continuance based on years of service) the best they could do would was get me to sign something saying I wouldn't work at any of about 10 specific companies while my salary continuance was in force. I recall HR saying any global prevention of me working in my area of specialization was simply unenforceable. I would, of course, have to respect my previous employer's IP and trade secrets.

 

[SeattleMoose]

When you go to work for just about any big tech/aerospace/government they make you sign confidentiality agreements, etc. These are legally binding on YOU. If you don't like it, don't sign it and seek employment somewhere else. This guy signed and now doesn't want to live up to his end of the bargain. Cry me a river.....

 

[dk001]

If the guy was using his company issued phone while employed at Apple or texting those still at Apple's work numbers there is no privacy. If he was using his own personal phone and communicating to others personal numbers there is no way Apple could legally have obtained those texts unless the other people voluntarily shared them with Apple.

Even going through Apple's on campus wifi?

 

[ss2cire]

On the surface it doesn't seem right... but reading more into it, both companies seem to be in the wrong one way or another....

 

[CarlJ]

But not making the actual hardware. I think that's the point. However, while I doubt Apple would do that, but I'm curious to see what an Apple-design datacenter server (and other backend, infrastructure-type hardware for that matter) would be like nowadays. I know they made the xServe, but that died 10 years ago.

I suspect they will, eventually, make their own server hardware, and running on ARM chips (not the current A-series chips and not chips optimized for mobile use - something optimized for a server farm - hardware that excels at low power is a good thing when you have hundreds or thousands of servers in a facility to both power and keep cool. So, yeah, I see a future with Apple making ARM architecture chips for servers.

 

[Baymowe335]

So Apples policy is if you previously worked at the company, you should go bake cookies for a living and maybe work on a farm?

I believe him too, because I was following a thread about former Apple employees who were nowhere near this guys level of power, they couldn’t even develop an app on the side, have a YouTube channel or do anything related to tech outside of Apple. Sorry, but Apple needs to be reigned in, Steve Jobs use to work at HP and so many other employees who worked at different tech companies before joining Apple.

The fact that you can’t do it the other way is ridiculous.

Welcome to large companies. This is standard even for people at a MUCH lower level than this dude and at many different Fortune 100 companies.

You sign a restrictive covenant that is typically very broad and gives the Company the option to come after you if they want. And guess what? No option to sign or not. They make you sign it, or you lose your job.

 

[techwhiz]

Apple doesn't do business in the area where he wants to go so this is simply Apple being *******s.
Apple doesn't do data centers so this is a joke. I hope he wins

Exactly.
Apple doesn't sell processors on the open market.
Non-compete agreements in Ca. are against good public policy and are not usually enforceable unless the company plans the pay the person to sit on the sidelines.

They didn't claim he stole anything. They claim his line of work is in direct competition, which is a flat out lie.
They are mad because he left and elf's up their schedules.

I work as a chip design engineer and if every company did this, you would be held hostage.

 

[entropys]

Just so I'm clear... he solicited employees from Apple for his new company, then sues Apple because they are luring his staff away.

Hypocrisy much?

I think the issue, at least according to Apple, is that he organised and lured others to his new venture while he was still employed by and paid by Apple.

 

[TheShadowKnows!]

"Apple VP Tony Blevins, known as the "Blevinator," is the negotiator that will stop at nothing to ensure Apple a favorable deal."

Gerard Williams III was, simply, Blevinated./s

 

[Swift]

So Apples policy is if you previously worked at the company, you should go bake cookies for a living and maybe work on a farm?

I believe him too, because I was following a thread about former Apple employees who were nowhere near this guys level of power, they couldn’t even develop an app on the side, have a YouTube channel or do anything related to tech outside of Apple. Sorry, but Apple needs to be reigned in, Steve Jobs use to work at HP and so many other employees who worked at different tech companies before joining Apple.

The fact that you can’t do it the other way is ridiculous.

Not everybody. Somebody with knowledge that was developed by a team at Apple that included him. Generally, a company holds the patent of everything the employee invents, although the big techs pay a lot in stock to senior employees. You make tons of money if you're good, and less if your product is just okay. And, startups overwhelmingly fail. That's why it started as military spending, then more peaceful as a build-out of the national infrastructure. The Internet > Eisenhower highways. I think we have to continue to make the basics something that has to be public finance, because it HAS to belong to us.

So, as other people say, it really depends on the exact facts of the particular case. If he took some secret with him, and his company's new "invention" looks a lot like the Apple chips, it could be something he'll lose. But I believe a decade or so ago, California outlawed non-compete clauses, and since most of the industry is here, you can't say people who are leaving not to join a competitor for x years. That's an illegal contract. So... I'll reserve judgment until the courts come down on it.

I'm not sure what's happening with your YouTube people, but that isn't this.

 

[Bin Cook]

This is almost universally true in tech. I work for a company that does some research. Thats not my job I am more boring, but if I did decide to invent something they own it. I cannot get any new jobs without their permission. If I leave I cannot compete with them for 5 years. Very common stuff.

might be common but doesn’t make it right. Staggered so many Americans are happy to be owned by corporations.

 

[HudsonSteele]

A Non-compete clause is a Non-compete clause. They have term limits so he can begin a new career at some point. Now, does Apples argument hold up about forming his company before he left? It depends on if he had conversations with future partners at work or used work resources to do ANY research or recruiting for said new business. All in all, It will be interesting to see how the details shake out.

 

[Analog Kid]

Sounds like a minor labor dispute amplified by the fact that "Apple suffocates new technologies" gets a lot of clicks...

This isn't the first person to leave Apple-- if they have a habit of vindictive behavior it shouldn't be hard to find.

 

[Carnegie]

Re: California law not enforcing non-compete clauses

Apple isn’t accusing Mr. Williams of violating his contract by competing with Apple after he left the company. Apple is accusing Mr. Williams of, among other things, violating his contract by competing with Apple while he was still working for Apple. Apple claims his employment contract prohibited him from competing against Apple while he was working there.

I’m no expert on California employment law. But I would hope that California wouldn’t consider such no-competing-while-working-for-us clauses unenforceable.

 

[nvmls]

The issue is not Apple but U.S. laws which feed these greedy corps oppression practices. In countries with strong work laws, this kind of behavior could be sued & corps penalized, aside from who hires the most expensive lawyers.

 

[I7guy]

The issue is not Apple but U.S. laws which feed these greedy corps oppression practices. In countries with strong work laws, this kind of behavior could be sued & corps penalized, aside from who hires the most expensive lawyers.

What? Did you read what the complaint is? Or are you speaking in general?

 

[Freeangel1]

I wonder how much further they can develop their ARM chip for the iPhone or the Mac in the future? We are entering the 5MM chip design process. Can they really continue to shrink the size of processors any more without loosing and gaining performance? unless they start doubling up on chips, bridging 2 5MM chips together I see the END in sight for the continued shrinking of the processor. And this is BAD news for APPLE to loose a LEAD chip designer and have him start his own company. Jonny Ives LEFT and lots of other great TALENT left APPLE. this is a very bad sign for the future. I see APPLE Technology stagnate in the next 2 or 3 years. with macOS possible discontinued in favor of an IOS run laptops and iPads . After all , the companies for some reason want you to store all your data on THEIR CLOUD instead of locally on a hard drive or SSD

 

[4jasontv]

they can’t prevent you from competing after you leave the company, but they can prevent you from competing while you work at Apple.

Why not? Other industries do it all the time. Ask a doctor or a lawyer that works for a practice if they can quit tomorrow and set up shop across the street. No, of course not. They sign non-compete clauses that prevents them from directly competing for 1 to 2 years after they leave. In most places it’s only a few dozen to a few hundred miles. Apple tells you before you start what the duration and location is. That’s good enough.

 

[ipponrg]

Why not? Other industries do it all the time. Ask a doctor or a lawyer that works for a practice if they can quit tomorrow and set up shop across the street. No, of course not. They sign non-compete clauses that prevents them from directly competing for 1 to 2 years after they leave. In most places it’s only a few dozen to a few hundred miles. Apple tells you before you start what the duration and location is. That’s good enough.

It’s been beaten like a dead horse. Read California labor laws

 

[4jasontv]

It’s been beaten like a dead horse. Read California labor laws

Why would California laws apply outside of California?

 

[ipponrg]

Why would California laws apply outside of California?

Because the ruling happened in Santa Clara which is in California. Maybe I misunderstood your post because it seems you’re trying to reach for something that is irrelevant to the article