By ELIZABETH M. GILLESPIE, Associated Press Writer
A former Microsoft Corp. executive who defected to Google Inc. cannot immediately perform the job Google hired him to do, a judge ruled Thursday, saying Microsoft has a well-grounded fear that leaked trade secrets could hurt its business.
Superior Court Judge Steven Gonzalez granted a temporary restraining order barring Kai-Fu Lee from working at Google on any product, service or project similar to those he worked on at Microsoft, including Internet and desktop search technology.
Google, which hired Lee to lead a research and development center it will soon open in China, asked for a more specific list of tasks Lee can and cannot perform. Microsoft agreed to provide the court with a recommended list by Monday.
In a statement e-mailed after the ruling, Google lawyer Nicole Wong called the judge's decision "only a temporary measure to maintain the status quo and to give the court more time to fully consider the parties' positions.
"We are confident that once the judge has done so he will side with Google and Dr. Lee. Microsoft will not prevail in their intimidation campaign."
Microsoft spokeswoman Stacy Drake said the ruling would stand until Sept. 6, the date Gonzalez set for a hearing on a motion for a preliminary injunction that could make the restrictions on Lee's work at Google last until the case goes to trial.
"We felt we needed to take this step to protect our sensitive business information and to ensure that Google and Dr. Lee honor the confidentiality and noncompetition agreements he made when he started working here," Drake said.
Gonzalez set the trial for Jan. 9.
Microsoft sued Lee and Google last week, claiming that by taking the Google job, Lee was violating an agreement he signed in 2000, barring him from working for a direct competitor in an area that overlapped with his roles at Microsoft.
Lee and Google, which countersued, say he is not a search expert and that he had only limited involvement in Microsoft's China operations since 2000, the year he signed the agreements at the heart of the dispute.
Most recently a vice president working on speech recognition in Microsoft's server and tools division, Lee headed up the creation of the company's research center in Beijing in the late 1990s and later worked in the MSN search unit.
Microsoft said it paid Lee handsomely and would not have hired him if he had not promised to honor confidentiality and noncompetition agreements. The company said Lee made more than $3 million over nearly five years, and that he earned more than $1 million last year.
Google claims that Lee has not disclosed any Microsoft secrets, and that it has repeatedly told Lee not to betray Microsoft's confidence.
In court documents, Google said a conversation Lee had with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates suggests that the software company is becoming increasingly concerned about Google siphoning away talent - and perhaps intellectual property.
In a July 15 meeting, Lee said, Gates told him, "Kai-Fu, (CEO) Steve (Ballmer) is definitely going to sue you and Google over this. He has been looking for something like this, someone at a VP level to go to Google. We need to do this to stop Google."
Drake earlier declined to comment on Gates' statement directly, saying that the company's concern is that Lee has knowledge of highly sensitive information.
Microsoft and Google, along with Yahoo Inc., are locked in a fierce battle to dominate Internet search technology, both online and through desktop search programs. Google has launched new services, including e-mail, that compete with Microsoft offerings.
Microsoft:
NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at