Ex-employee calls Microsoft spying lawsuit 'desperate'

The former Microsoft employee accused of stealing company information is disputing Microsoft's version of events, saying the lawsuit against him is "a desperate attempt" to force him to abandon a patent infringement case.

"Microsoft's complaint against me in Washington is shameful and a desperate attempt to put pressure on me and my family from continuing to pursue our legal rights in the federal court in Los Angeles," said Miki Mullor in a statement he issued Friday.

Mullor, who was employed by Microsoft from November 2005 to September 2008, was sued by the company earlier this month for allegedly downloading documents related to a Microsoft antipiracy technology used by computer makers to lock Windows to their PCs. According to Microsoft, Mullor used his position to locate and download documents pertaining to the technology, dubbed "OEM Activation 2.0," because he planned to file a patent infringement lawsuit against the company.

Mullor failed to divulge that he was the CEO of Ancora Technologies Inc., when he was hired, Microsoft alleged. In July 2008, Ancora sued Dell Inc. , Hewlett-Packard Co. and Toshiba Inc., three of Microsoft's biggest hardware partners, over their use of OEM Activation 2.0, which Ancora said infringed on a patent it held to similar technology. Microsoft later joined the lawsuit, siding with Dell, HP and Toshiba.

Microsoft fired Mullor last September after allegedly finding evidence of his unauthorized downloading.

According to Mullor, however, he is the injured party. In 2003, a year after he was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,411,941 , he said he met with Microsoft to talk about the technology. "[I] had several discussions with a Microsoft lawyer and employees of Microsoft's Anti Piracy Group about my invention and the benefits Microsoft could realize by using it," Mullor said. "Microsoft declined and said they had no interest in my invention."

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