Microsoft has filed a lawsuit against Google and one of
its former senior executives after its ex-employee joined the
search giant.
Microsoft is alleging a breach of the confidentiality and
non-compete clauses in the employment contract signed by
Kai-Fu Lee .
Lee, a former corporate vice-president of Microsoft’s natural
interactive services division, accepted a position with Google to
lead its China R&D centre.
Microsoft said, “We are asking the court to require Dr Lee and
Google to honour the confidentiality and non-competition agreements
he signed when he began working for Microsoft.
“As a senior executive Dr Lee had 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.”
Microsoft said it was seeking to protect its “intellectual
property”. The court will have to decide whether this includes the
company’s business strategies.
Google said, "We have reviewed Microsoft's claims and they are
completely without merit.
“Google is focused on building the best place in the world for
great innovators to work. We're thrilled to have Dr Lee on board at
Google. We will defend the company vigorously against these
meritless claims and will fully support Dr Lee."
Following the recent launch of its dedicated MSN Search service,
Microsoft is competing more fiercely with Google in the search
engine market – and for the advertising revenue that comes with
it.