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Microsoft Googles “Non-Compete Agreement”
By David Utter
Expert Author
Article Date: 2005-07-19
The maker of Windows and the Xbox has filed suit over Google's hiring of a former Microsoft executive.
Google hired Kai-Fu Lee, formerly the corporate VP of Microsoft's Interactive Services Division, to run Google's China operations.
But according to the Financial Times, Microsoft has filed suit in a Washington court to prevent Mr. Lee from becoming Google's president of China operations and head of its research and development labs there.
"Today Microsoft filed a lawsuit against a former executive and Google regarding breach of Microsoft's employee confidentiality and non-compete agreement," Microsoft spokesperson Stacy Drake said in a statement.
"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 litigation shows just how high the stakes are in the search engine business, and particularly in mainland China. With China's population rapidly embracing the Internet, and the Baidu.com Chinese-language search engine seeking an IPO and the capital it can bring, neither Google nor Microsoft can let a challenge pass by without a response.
About the Author:
David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.
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