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US judge temporarily bars former Microsoft exec from Google work
(AP)
Updated: 2005-07-29 16:51
A former Microsoft Corp. executive who defected to Google Inc. cannot
immediately perform the job Google hired him to do, a US judge ruled, saying
Microsoft has a well-grounded fear that leaked trade secrets could hurt its
business, AP reported.
On Thursday, Superior Court Judge Steven Gonzalez granted a temporary
restraining order barring Kai-Fu Lee from working at Google on any product,
service or project similar to those he worked on at Microsoft, including
Internet and desktop search technology.
Google, which hired Lee to lead a research and development center it will
soon open in China, asked for a more specific list of tasks Lee can and cannot
perform. Microsoft agreed to provide the court with a recommended list by
Monday.
In a statement e-mailed after the ruling, Google lawyer Nicole Wong called
the judge's decision "only a temporary measure to maintain the status quo and to
give the court more time to fully consider the parties' positions.
"We are confident that once the judge has done so he will side with Google
and Dr. Lee. Microsoft will not prevail in their intimidation campaign."
Microsoft spokeswoman Stacy Drake said the ruling would stand until September
6, the date Gonzalez set for a hearing on a motion for a preliminary injunction
that could make the restrictions on Lee's work at Google last until the case
goes to trial.
"We felt we needed to take this step to protect our sensitive business
information and to ensure that Google and Dr. Lee honor the confidentiality and
noncompetition agreements he made when he started working here," Drake said.
Gonzalez set the trial for January 9.
Microsoft sued Lee and Google last week, claiming that by taking the Google
job, Lee was violating an agreement he signed in 2000, barring him from working
for a direct competitor in an area that overlapped with his roles at Microsoft.
Lee and Google, which countersued, say he is not a search expert and that he
had only limited involvement in Microsoft's China operations since 2000, the
year he signed the agreements at the heart of the dispute.
Most recently a vice president working on speech recognition in Microsoft's
server and tools division, Lee headed up the creation of the company's research
center in Beijing in the late 1990s and later worked in the MSN search unit.
Microsoft said it paid Lee handsomely and would not have hired him if he had
not promised to honor confidentiality and noncompetition agreements. The company
said Lee made more than $3 million over nearly five years, and that he earned
more than $1 million last year.
Google claims that Lee has not disclosed any Microsoft secrets, and that it
has repeatedly told Lee not to betray Microsoft's confidence.
In court documents, Google said a conversation Lee had with Microsoft
Chairman Bill Gates suggests that the software company is becoming increasingly
concerned about Google siphoning away talent _ and perhaps intellectual
property.
In a July 15 meeting, Lee said, Gates told him, "Kai-Fu, (CEO) Steve
(Ballmer) is definitely going to sue you and Google over this. He has been
looking for something like this, someone at a VP level to go to Google. We need
to do this to stop Google."
Drake earlier declined to comment on Gates' statement directly, saying that
the company's concern is that Lee has knowledge of highly sensitive information.
Microsoft and Google, along with Yahoo Inc., are locked in a fierce battle to
dominate Internet search technology, both online and through desktop search
programs. Google has launched new services, including e-mail, that compete with
Microsoft offerings.
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