29 July 2005

Microsoft gags Google newbie

The rivalry between the two internet giants Google and Yahoo just got that little bit more personal.

Washington state Superior Court Judge Steven Gonzalez has granted Microsoft a temporary restraining order preventing ex-Microsoft executive Kai-Fu Lee from performing any duties at new employer Google "similar" to those at Microsoft.

This follows the suit Microsoft has already filed on Lee for breaking his contract and on Google for alledgedly encouraging him to do so, both on the very day that Google announced it's new recruit. Google hit back by asking the court to declare Microsofts provision invalid on technical grounds.

Specifically, Lee has been banned from using his expertise on the Chinese search market gained during his 5 year, $1 million a year tenure at Microsoft. The ban also stops Lee from "encouraging" further Microsoft employees from abandoning their posts for Google.

The move demonstrates a number of interesting trends - the increasing sensitivity of the search giants as the marget hots up (as the lawsuits fly), the importance a relatively small number of experts are playing in developing the future of search (as the corporations fight over the industry high flyers) and finally the importance of China as the big emerging market of the future.

The judge's order sets a September 6th hearing
date and scheduled a trial date of January 9th next year. I guess Lee will have to just settle for being the world highest paid tea-boy in history (assuming Microsofts injunction doesn't stop him brewing up in a professional capacity too).

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