IBM decided to take to court Mark Papermaster, its vice president of microprocessor technology development, because the chip guru is in the process of switching sides. He will soon join Apple Inc., Cnet and AppleInsider reported.

According to the Cnet report, the Big Blue filed suit against his vice president in order to prevent him from joining Apple and divulging trade secrets related to IBM's Power chips and server products. IBM filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Papermaster, 26, has knowledge of "significant and highly confidential IBM trade secrets" that would "irreparably harm" the company if divulged to a rival company such as Apple Inc., IBM wrote in the complaint. According to the complaint, Papermaster has been Big Blue’s top connoisseur for the power microprocessors and the VP of the company’s blade server development unit. Papermaster, who is also a member of IBM's "elite" Integration & Values Team, resigned on October 21.

"Recently, Mr. Papermaster informed his superiors at IBM that he intended to accept a position at Apple," IBM's complaint states.

IBM claims that Apple is one of its competitors in developing servers, PCs and microprocessors, probably referring to Apple's Xserver line of servers and its purchase of P.A. Semi.

The Big Blue reportedly offered Papermaster a bigger wage, but it wasn’t enough for him to change his mind and stay. Papermaster decided to begin working with Apple starting November.