IBM Corp has filed a lawsuit against Seagate Technology Inc and a former IBM product development manager alleging unlawful transfer of trade secrets. The suit alleges that Seagate appointed Peter Bonyhard, a former manager of IBM’s magneto-resistive head design programme, to a key management position in Seagate’s magneto-resistive head development effort and that he and Seagate are now engaged in unlawful misappropriation of IBM trade secrets. It also alleges that Seagate is attempting to recruit other IBMers to get access to trade secrets – IBM says it developed and is the only company currently marketing magnetoresistive head technology in its disk drives.
