Kai-Fu Lee Can Work at Google, Says Judge   - 1,939 Views,

In the continuing saga of Microsoft suing Google for their poaching Dr. Kai-Fu Lee to come work for Google, and Kau-Fu Lee being stopped from starting his job at Google by the Court, today the Court issued an order ruling that Dr. Lee can start his job at Google, with some restrictions, pending the outcome of the trial.

Washington Judge Steven Gonzalez wrote that “Microsoft has not sufficiently shown that it has a clear legal or equitable right to enjoin Dr. Lee, pending trial, from establishing and staffing a Google development facility in China,” adding that, at least for now, Kai-Fu Lee may not work on anything which requires using the confidential knowledge he gained or developed while working at Microsoft, particularly as relates to search, speech recognition, and natural language processing.

Following the ruling, Microsoft issued a statement saying that “We are pleased with our victory in court today. The court entered an injunction that restricts the work Dr. Lee can do for Google, preventing him from working on speech, natural language and search technologies, as well as setting the overall research and development course for Google China. Today’s injunction is broader than the Temporary Restraining Order, which was granted to Microsoft in July, and imposes further restrictions on Dr. Lee’s activities in China. The injunction restricts Dr. Lee to limited interviewing and site location activities.

We are gratified that the court found Dr. Lee “misled Microsoft� and misused confidential information, even while he was still employed by Microsoft.

Dr. Lee was hired to serve as the President of Google China’s operation, and today’s injunction severely restricts his ability to perform the role for which he is hired.”