- Apple has filed a lawsuit against Gerard Williams III, a former employee who oversaw the development of Apple’s A-series chipsets
Apple has filed a lawsuit against Gerard Williams III — who is a former employee who oversaw the development of Apple’s A-series chipsets, according to court documents that were published by The Register. Williams departed from Apple earlier this year to launch a semiconductor company called Nuvia.
The initial complaint was filed back in August. And the document claims that Williams bragged about starting a new company with technology based on his work at Apple. Williams indicated that Apple needed this technology and would not have a choice, but to acquire the company. Apple also alleges that Williams knew that it was an unethical move and even told some co-workers that the new venture was running in stealth mode.
And Apple had filed a motion to the Santa Clara Superior Court in California that Williams broke his employment terms by secret using “Apple’s resources to start a competing venture on Apple’s dime.”
“This case involves a worst-case scenario for an innovative company like Apple,” wrote Apple in its filing. “A trusted senior director with years of experience, and years of access to Apple’s most valuable information, secretly starts a competing company leveraging the very technology the director was working on, and the same teams he was working with, while still employed by Apple.”
Apple is seeking an injunction and is seeking punitive damages, according to Axios.
Back in November, Nuvia raised $53 million in Series A funding. Nuvia’s other co-founders include John Bruno, P. Eng. and Manu Gulati. Both of them previously worked at Apple as chip engineers as well. And Google hired both of them from Apple before they went off to start Nuvia with Williams.
In a countersuit, Williams alleges that Apple is violating his privacy by monitoring his text messages with his co-founders along with other Apple employees. The documents for the countersuit features
“Apple, an early beneficiary of the creative forces that formed and continue to drive Silicon Valley, has filed this lawsuit in a desperate effort to shut down lawful employment by a former employee. Taken as true, Apple’s allegations would require any employee—not just an officer or board member—to disclose to Apple his or her plan to form a new company, and a failure to make this disclosure would be a breach of contract and a violation of the employee’s ‘duty of loyalty’ Additionally, under Apple’s theory, if one Apple employee speaks to (or texts) another employee conveying criticisms of Apple’s strategies or decisions, that discussion is itself a purportedly unlawful ‘solicitation’ to leave Apple. To further intimidate any current Apple employee who might dare consider leaving Apple, Apple’s Complaint shows that it is monitoring and examining its employees’ phone records and text messages, in a stunning and disquieting invasion of privacy,” says Williams’ countersuit document.
Nuvia is not the only company that Apple sued for allegedly using its technology. For example, Apple sued Corellium in August for replicating iOS. And back in 2008, Apple sued Psystar for selling unauthorized Macs (known as “Hackintosh”).
