Apple files suit against one of the founders of chip design startup Nuvia

Nuvia, a new chip designer founded by three former Apple Executives, has already hit its first roadbloc: a lawsuit from one of the biggest companies in the world.

Nuvia's three founders each had a hand in designing chips for Apple, including the ones that power the latest iPhones. Apple hasn’t taken too kindly to its former employees evolving into contemporary competitors, however; the Colossus of Cupertino is suing one of Nuvia’s founders, Gerard Williams III.

Williams left Apple in February of 2019 with two other Apple executives to found Nuvia Inc. Apple apparently frowns upon leaving its walled garden to compete against its silicon business; Williams found himself the target of a lawsuit filed by Apple in August. Apple claims that Williams breached his employment contract by pursuing a business that is “competitive with or directly related to Apple’s business or products,” according to legal documents. Apple has also claimed that Williams solicited other Apple employees to leave the company and follow him to Nuvia.

Williams is biting back. He claims that Apple has engaged in a “stunning and disquieting invasion of privacy” by reading his personal and private text messages. Williams also denied directly soliciting other Apple employees for opportunities at Nuvia, stating that in “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.”

Williams is trying to get the case thrown out. A hearing scheduled for January 21, 2020, will decide whether Apple’s complaints have any merit.

What do you think? Is Apple desperately trying to cut the knees from a competitor, or is Williams in the wrong? Let us know in the comments below.