Apple's lawsuit against former chip lead could have implications for startups

We've been following Apple's lawsuit against Nuvia co-founder Gerard Williams III for a few weeks, but while this could be hugely damaging for Williams and his company, a negative outcome could also affect startup culture as a whole.

That's because, as Reuters notes, if Williams and his attorneys are unable to win out it could prevent people planning startups while they're still employed.

We need to back up a bit in order to explain, though.

The main issue that Apple has with Nuvia is that Williams allegedly spent his time planning the company during working hours while employed by Apple. He is also accused of tapping up employees while there, too.

Apple sued Williams in August, alleging that he breached an intellectual property agreement and a duty of loyalty to the company by planning his new startup while on company time at Apple, spending hours on the phone with colleagues who eventually joined the venture.

It's important to note that Apple isn't currently going after Nuvia or any of its other co-founders. It's just Williams, and it's because he planned Nuvia while employed by the company.

But the issue here is what appears to essentially be how Silicon Valley works. And Reuters uses Intel as a prime example of that.

California's long-held public policy favors employee mobility in contrast to states that allow strong non-compete agreements. That stance allowed for the "traitorous eight" who left their jobs at Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory for a rival in the late 1950s and who eventually spawned dozens of companies, including Intel Corp (INTC.O).

According to a prominent attorney, things aren't particularly clear when it comes to the law, even in San Francisco.

Even in California, there are limits, said Cliff Palefsky, a prominent San Francisco-based employment attorney. Workers can lay some plans for a competitor on their own time, but recruiting fellow employees on company time "gets a little dicey."

As we recently reported, a judge in charge of an attempt by Williams to have the suit tossed out of court has already suggested that employees can't use an employer's time to plan a new venture.

In a tentative ruling rejecting his request to toss the suit, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Mark Pierce said the law doesn't permit an employee "to plan and prepare to create a competitive enterprise prior to termination if the employee does so on their employer's time and with the employer's resources."

What all that amounts to is a complicated state of affairs. And one that could potentially change how Silicon Valley functions at a time where people seemingly set up new startups more often than they eat avocado on toast.