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08.11.05
Everybody’s Still Kai-Fu Fighting—Recycle Bin Revelations
 By
Jason Miller
Dr. Kai-Fu Lee, the center of a legal rhubarb between Google and Microsoft, left
a tidy trail of bread crumbs to the Recycle Bin of his old Microsoft-stationed
computer. In it, Microsoft's legal team reportedly dug up some interesting communication
between Lee and Google.
When Lee defected to Google last month, he sparked a legal conniption from Microsoft
as the software leviathan said, or rather shouted, that Lee was in violation of
his non-compete agreement.
Want to share your thoughts on Google, Microsoft, and Dr. Lee? Discuss
this topic at WebProWorld.
Upon inspection of Lee's Recycle Bin, Microsoft says a document was found outlining
the terms of an agreement between the star researcher and Google. The document
indicates that Google expected litigation after hiring Lee to run Google China.
Microsoft alleges the document also states that should the company take legal
action to prevent Lee from taking up his post at Google, the Internet search company
was prepared to place Lee on paid leave for up to a year.
Google has taken a two-pronged approach in its defense, saying that a) Dr. Lee's
work with Microsoft was in speech recognition technology and not in the field
of search; b) non-compete agreements are not recognized by California law.
Microsoft has since won two rounds in court. The first when Dr. Lee was prevented
from working for Google until at least September 6th and quite possibly until
the conclusion of the trial, set for January. The second came as Microsoft successfully
filed for a change of venue in California, moving the case from state level to
federal level court.
If the allegations are true, Google obviously thought Lee to be a valuable asset
to the corporation and was willing to give him a one-year vacation if necessary
while the two companies fought it out in court.
About the Author:
Jason L. Miller is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. |
