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Google Messes with Microsoft

Knew that Search Hire Would Cause Trouble, Documents Allege
By Search News Desk
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August 6, 2005 05:15 PM EDT
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 13,758
Don't Mess with Microsoft. That should probably be a bumper sticker. Yet Google has reportedly tried this strategy recently, in hiring away search specialist Dr. Kai-Fu Lee from Redmond. Newly unsealed court documents apparently reveal that
Google anticipated that it would face legal wrangling with its emerging search rival.

Google apparently had a "Plan B," in which Lee would be given a year's worth of paid leave during which he could sit out his noncompete clause. 

The previously relatively obscure Dr. Lee started Microsoft's research lab in China and is expected to do the same for Google in China as well. Both Google and Lee are asking the court to find the noncompete clause invalid, although the most recent court decision has granted Microsoft a temporary restraining order that prohibits Lee from doing what he was hired by Google to do.


Dr. Kai-fu Lee

Published August 6, 2005 – Reads 13,758
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SEO/SEM Journal News Desk 08/06/05 04:58:48 PM EDT

Google Messes with Microsoft. Newly unsealed court documents apparently reveal that Google knew it would be in for a fight when it hired away a top search specialist from Redmond. Messing with Microsoft? This is an idea that has been tried by many over the years, with a low success rate.