Motorola to settle lawsuit against former COO

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Motorola Inc said on Monday it has agreed to settle a non-compete lawsuit against its former president and chief operating officer, who will become head of Nortel in November.

The terms of the settlement require former Motorola COO Mike Zafirovski to pay the company US$11.5 million and to show that he is protecting Motorola's trade secrets.

Zafirovski also is restricted from internal and customer activities that could lead to him to use and share information to Nortel's advantage.

Nortel, one of the world's biggest telecom equipment suppliers, said earlier this month that it was in talks with Motorola to resolve the dispute before Zafirovski took office on 15 November.

Motorola had asked for an injunction to prevent Zafirovski from working there for two years after his 29 July departure, and for the return of US$11 million from him.

The two companies compete in the wireless network equipment market, and Nortel buys components from Motorola that it uses in certain products.

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