Microsoft said in a statement: “Creating intellectual property is the essence of what we do at Microsoft, and we have a responsibility to our employees and our shareholders to protect our intellectual property.”
It added: “As a senior executive, Dr Lee has direct knowledge of Microsoft’s trade secrets concerning search technologies and China business strategies. He has accepted a position focused on the same set of technologies and strategies for a direct competitor in egregious violation of his explicit contractual obligations."
Microsoft is asking the Court to require Dr Lee and Google to honour the confidentiality and non-competition agreements (known as restrictive covenants in the UK) that Dr Lee signed when he began working for Microsoft.
Google has made no comment on the suit as yet.
