Lee Injunction and Other Legal News

A judge has allowed former Microsoft executive Kai-Fu Lee to help Google establish operations in China by recruiting non-Microsoft employees to work there but restricted him from performing many other duties, including working on search or natural-language technologies, until the case proceeds to trial. The ruling reinforces the validity of the noncompete agreement that Microsoft requires new employees to sign. However, it leaves them some leeway to work for direct competitors in closely circumscribed areas.

Microsoft also settled several legal cases in summer 2005, including one it brought against a high-profile spammer, one involving patented server acceleration technology, and one involving a trademarked name.

Lee Injunction Mostly Upheld

Lee was the vice president in charge of Microsoft’s Natural Interactive Services Division (NISD), which is charged with creating intuitive computer interfaces, from 2000 until July 2005, when he announced that he was quitting to help Google establish a research and development (R&D) facility in China.