A small software company LimitNone has sued Google for about $1 billion in damages. The case was filed stating that Google reneged on a partnership with the firm and misappropriated its trade secrets for the benefit of Google Apps online service.

Particularly, the lawsuit concerns LimitNone software ‘gMove’ that is built to allow people move email, calendar and contacts information stored in Microsoft Outlook to Google’s online service.

The suit states that Google originally assisted LimitNone develop, promote and sell the product, and assured that it wouldn’t provide a competing product, but later stepped back by offering its own tool ‘Google Email Uploader’ to premier-level Google Apps users.

The lawsuit also states that Google deprived the software company of a $950 million opportunity by providing Google’s competitive product without charge as a part of its ‘premier’ Google Apps package.  This is with reference to gMove priced at $19 per copy, and Google’s earlier prediction that there were 50 million users potentially. LimitNone had shared confidential details about technical and sales-forecast with Google.

It would have been impossible for Google to solve its long-standing Microsoft Outlook-to-Gmail conversion problem, had it not known gMove confidential information and trade secrets, the lawsuit said.

Moreover, the suit claims that Google’s product copied gMove’s appearance, feel, functionality and distribution model, which includes many unique and proprietary operations. It added that in May this year, Google changed its user interface, thereby breaking gMove compatibility and forcing the firm to give customer refunds.

The complaint charges Google of misappropriating trade secrets from LimitNone and violating fraud law by forcing LimitNone to share secret information, which Google utilized to create its competing product.