Judge puts hold on ex-Microsoft exec work for Google
Fri Jul 29, 2005 04:20 AM ET
By Alexandria Sage
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Washington state judge on Thursday temporarily
blocked a former Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research)
vice-president from heading up rival Google Inc.'s (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile,
Research) new research center in China.
The ruling by Kings County Superior Court Judge Steven Gonzalez marked a
small victory in a wider battle to keep Kai-Fu Lee from working at Google.
Microsoft sued Lee and Google last week, claiming the former head of its
Beijing research and development center had violated his employment
contract by agreeing to take a job at Google.
Microsoft and Google are directly competing in Web search and also have
begun competing for talented people.
Google plans to open a new facility in China later this year to develop new
technologies and attract computer science researchers. A final location has
not yet been chosen.
The world's largest software maker claimed Lee was privy to propriety
information regarding the company's search technologies and business
strategies in China.
While at Microsoft, Lee, a former Carnegie Mellon University researcher who
previously worked for Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile,
Research) , managed groups developing speech recognition and other
interactive technologies for computers.
In granting a temporary restraining order requested by Microsoft, Gonzalez
forbade Lee from working on Google projects or research relating to search
technologies, natural language processing or speech technologies, and
business strategies that would be "competitive" with fields he studied
while at Microsoft.
A trial is scheduled for January 9, 2006, although Google may contest the
temporary restraining order in September.
Gonzalez also prohibited Lee from disclosing trade secrets or proprietary
information learned while he was employed at Microsoft and it forbade
Google from "attempting to induce" Microsoft employees to work for Google.
Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, said his legal team was trying to
enforce the terms of Lee's contract rather than stopping his employment at
Google altogether.
"In our industry, intellectual property rights need to be protected," Smith
said after the ruling.
Google, which had earlier called Microsoft's lawsuit "a shocking display of
hubris," downplayed the importance of the ruling, calling it a "temporary
measure to maintain the status quo."
"We're gratified that the judge recognized that all Google and Dr. Lee have
to do is avoid having Dr. Lee do anything competitive with what he did at
Microsoft," said Nicole Wong, Google's associate general counsel. "As we
have said all along, we have no intention of having him do that."
Google had argued that Microsoft's lawsuit was an intimidation tactic
designed to prevent employees from leaving Microsoft. The company
separately has countersued Microsoft in California, asking a court to
invalidate the Microsoft contract.
In a sworn declaration filed on Wednesday, Lee said that Microsoft Chairman
Bill Gates told him during a meeting on July 15 that he would be sued,
adding that the company needed "to stop Google."
A Microsoft spokeswoman said she could not verify Gates' statement but said
it would be "not surprising, given the fact that Google is a direct
competitor. Dr. Lee is taking his knowledge of our search technology and
China business strategies to work for them."
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