Judge puts hold on ex-Microsoft exec work for Google

[Bill Gates]

A Washington state judge on Thursday temporarily blocked a former Microsoft Corp. vice-president from heading up rival Google Inc.'s new research center in China.

The ruling by Kings County Superior Court Judge Steven Gonzalez marked a small victory in a wider battle to keep Kai-Fu Lee from working at Google.

Microsoft sued Lee and Google last week, claiming the former head of its Beijing research and development center had violated his employment contract by agreeing to take a job at Google.

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