Microsoft sues Google, former employee over hiring

Microsoft stepped its rivalry with Google  up a notch Tuesday, filing a lawsuit against the search company over Google's hiring of a former Microsoft employee.

In a complaint filed Tuesday in the King County Superior Court in Washington, Microsoft alleges that Kai-Fu Lee, who joined Google Tuesday to spearhead new research and development efforts in China, is violating a noncompetition agreement signed when he was hired at Microsoft. Until Monday, Lee was corporate vice president of Microsoft's Natural Interactive Services Division.

"We are asking the Court to require Dr. Lee and Google to honor the confidentiality and non-competition agreements he signed when he began working for Microsoft," the software giant said in a press statement. "Creating intellectual property is the essence of what we do at Microsoft, and we have a responsibility to our employees and our shareholders to protect our intellectual property. As a senior executive, Dr. Lee has direct knowledge of Microsoft’s trade secrets concerning search technologies and China business strategies. He has accepted a position focused on the same set of technologies and strategies for a direct competitor in egregious violation of his explicit contractual obligations."

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Microsoft stepped its rivalry with Google  up a notch Tuesday, filing a lawsuit against the search company over Google's hiring of a former Microsoft employee.

In a complaint filed Tuesday in the King County Superior Court in Washington, Microsoft alleges that Kai-Fu Lee, who joined Google Tuesday to spearhead new research and development efforts in China, is violating a noncompetition agreement signed when he was hired at Microsoft. Until Monday, Lee was corporate vice president of Microsoft's Natural Interactive Services Division.

"We are asking the Court to require Dr. Lee and Google to honor the confidentiality and non-competition agreements he signed when he began working for Microsoft," the software giant said in a press statement. "Creating intellectual property is the essence of what we do at Microsoft, and we have a responsibility to our employees and our shareholders to protect our intellectual property. As a senior executive, Dr. Lee has direct knowledge of Microsoft’s trade secrets concerning search technologies and China business strategies. He has accepted a position focused on the same set of technologies and strategies for a direct competitor in egregious violation of his explicit contractual obligations."

Among other things, Microsoft is asking the court to prevent Lee and Google from undertaking any actions that violate Lee's noncompete employment agreement with Microsoft, as well as from "disclosing or misappropriating" any of Microsoft's trade secrets or proprietary information, according to the complaint.

Microsoft also is requesting that the court to prohibit Lee or anyone at Google from possibly luring other Microsoft employees away from the company, as well as from destroying any documents, whether written or electronic, that relate in any way to Microsoft's and Google's employment of Lee.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.