Microsoft Sues Google For Exec Poaching

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Microsoft Sues Google For Alleged Exec Poaching
Chris Noon, 07.20.05, 6:24 AM ET


In your face. Microsoft sued the search engine giant Google yesterday, accusing it of pilfering an executive to head up a new research lab in China. The software leviathan said Kai-Fu Lee's contract prohibited him from taking a job with a competitor within a year of leaving Microsoft and accused Google of "intentionally assisting" Lee. "Google is fully aware of Lee's promises to Microsoft, but has chosen to ignore them, and has encouraged Lee to violate them," Microsoft said in its lawsuit.

Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ), headed by Chairman Bill Gates, is tussling with Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people )and Yahoo! (nasdaq: YHOO - news - people ), for greater shares of the search engine market: Google has already rolled out new services, such as e-mail, to compete with Microsoft offerings.

Lee, who oversaw development Miscrosoft's Internet search technology, had been drafted by Google on Monday to run its research and development center in China, which will open in the third quarter of 2005--something which really narks Microsoft: "What makes this a particularly egregious violation, is that he's been hired to work in a position that's absolutely in direct competition with the work he was doing at Microsoft," grumbles the lawyer.

So no love lost between the two companies--one of Microsoft's lawyers said Lee had given no indication he planned to honor confidentiality and non-compete agreements he inked at Microsoft: "To the contrary, they're saying, 'In your face,'" the lawyer told The Associated Press. Google said it had looked through Microsoft's allegation and vowed to "defend vigorously against these meritless claims". More ...

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