A U.S. Interior Dept. contract to use Microsoft Corp.'s cloud computing products may have violated the law, according to a judge for the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

The complaint was raised by Google, which sued the U.S. Interior Department in October over its decision to consider only Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Suite for a contract to provide email and collaboration technology to the department's 88,000 employees.

Judge Susan Braden said at a Thursday hearing that there is justifiable basis for her to find violations of procurement laws, reports Bloomberg.

In January, Braden ordered the agency to hold off awarding the contract Microsoft while she reviewed the case. Her decision is expected next week and could result in hiring an independent expert to determine if Google's "Google Apps for Government" product would meet the agency's requirements.

In the complaint filed in Washington, Google said it wasn't allowed to bid on the $59 million cloud computing contract, but contends that its services would meet agency requirements, citing security and reliability issues with Microsoft's online suite.

Microsoft products were named the standard for the Department of Interior in September 2002, a status that was reaffirmed in July 2010, according to the Google complaint.

Google's complaint highlights the increasing rivalry between the tech giants as they compete to provide productivity technologies to governments and companies.