The Internet search giant Google's ambitions in China suffered a blow on Friday when a US court ruling blocked its move to employ a top Chinese executive from Microsoft.

Judge Steven Gonzalez with the Washington State superior court granted a temporary restraining order on Friday stopping Kai-fu Lee, a Microsoft vice-president, from joining Google in the near future.

Microsoft sued both Google and Lee last Tuesday, with Google saying on Wednesday that it had recruited Lee as head of its Chinese operation to lead a research and development centre in China.

Microsoft say that, by agreeing to work for Google, Lee violated a non-competing clause in his contract with them.

Judge Gonzalez acknowledged that Microsoft has "well-grounded fears" that its trade secrets may be leaked to Google after their employment of Lee.

Lee, the highest ranking Chinese employee at the world's biggest software firm, used to be in charge of Microsoft's development of search technologies and founded its development centre in China.

The court ruled on Friday that Lee should not work on any products and services at Google which are similar to those he worked on with Microsoft.

The software company is expected to submit a list of work that Lee can carry out for Google on Monday.

Microsoft spokeswoman Stacy Drake was quoted by Associated Press as saying the restraining order would last until September 6, when the court holds a hearing on whether to restrict Lee from working at Google until the case is tried. The trail is set for January 9.

Google said in a statement on Friday that it has no intention of setting Lee to work on jobs in breach of his contract with Microsoft and waits for a list from the software giant.

Xiang Ligang, a Chinese technology industry observer, said there should be both competition and regulation in the employment market and those who break the rules will be punished by the market.

The court's ruling has been seen as a preliminary victory for Microsoft, blocking the employment of Lee by Google for at least a limited period of time. Microsoft is developing its own search technologies and several former Microsoft employees have been taken on by Google. The delay of Lee's employment at Google adds to the uncertainties surrounding Google's development in China, which has been preparing a formal launch of its Chinese operation and a development centre to penetrate into the Chinese search engine market.

Source: China Daily