Google has asked a federal judge in California to rule that Kai-Fu Lee's contract with Microsoft is unenforceable and that the researcher should be allowed to join Google unfettered by the terms of his employment deal.
Tuesday's preliminary court ruling in the battle over Dr Kai-Fu Lee has been welcomed by Google.
In a likely effort to remove local bias in favour of Google, Microsoft is attempting to shift Google's countersuit in the Kai-Fu Lee case from a California court to federal court.
Losing the services of Kai-Fu Lee for the rest of this year would have a profound effect on Google's recruiting efforts in China, the search engine company has argued in its legal battle with Microsoft.
A former Microsoft executive can immediately begin recruiting staff for a Google development centre in China, rather than waiting until after a January trial, a Washington state judge ruled on Tuesday.
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