Google and Microsoft Corp have ended their legal wrangling over the defection of Taiwan-born researcher Lee Kai-fu to the search engine firm in July that at times degenerated into a bitter public spat between the two technology giants.
A terse statement from Google released Thursday said the two firms had entered into 'a private agreement that resolves all issues to their mutual satisfaction'. It added that 'all parties have agreed to make no further statements to the media'.
An even shorter statement from Microsoft said: 'Microsoft is pleased with the terms of the settlement.'
Microsoft sued Mr Lee and Google in Washington's King County Superior Court in July, claiming his recruitment to build and head Google's China research and development centre violated the one-year non-compete clause he signed as a Microsoft employee.
The court imposed a preliminary injunction in September restricting the kind of work Mr Lee can do for Google, including his areas of specialty in search and speech processing technologies, pending a full trial on January 9.
Google countersued Microsoft in California to prevent it from enforcing the non-compete clause.
It is not clear to what extent the restrictions on Mr Lee have been lifted following the settlement between the two firms. He is employed as Google China's president for engineering, product and public affairs.