Proprietary Information and Developments 9.1 The Consultant will not at any time, whether during or after the termination of this Agreement for any reason, reveal to any person or entity any of the trade secrets or confidential information concerning the organization, business or finances of the Company or of any third party which the Company is under an obligation to keep confidential, except as may be required in the ordinary course of performing the Consultant Services to the Company, and the Consultant shall keep secret such trade secrets and confidential information and shall not use or attempt to use any such secrets or information in any manner which is designed to injure or cause loss to the Company. Trade secrets or confidential information shall include, but not be limited to, the Company's financial statements and projections, expansion proposals, property acquisition opportunities and business relationships with banks, lenders and other parties not otherwise publicly available.
Proprietary Information and Inventions You agree to execute, deliver and be bound by the provisions of the Proprietary Information and Inventions Agreement attached hereto as Exhibit C.
Confidential Information and Inventions (a) The Executive recognizes and acknowledges that in the course of his duties he is likely to receive confidential or proprietary information owned by the Company, its affiliates or third parties with whom the Company or any such affiliates has an obligation of confidentiality. Accordingly, during and after the Term, the Executive agrees to keep confidential and not disclose or make accessible to any other person or use for any other purpose other than in connection with the fulfillment of his duties under this Agreement, any Confidential and Proprietary Information (as defined below) owned by, or received by or on behalf of, the Company or any of its affiliates. “Confidential and Proprietary Information” shall include, but shall not be limited to, business plans (both current and under development), client lists, promotion and marketing programs, trade secrets, or any other confidential or proprietary business information relating to business operations of the Company The Executive expressly acknowledges the trade secret status of the Confidential and Proprietary Information and that the Confidential and Proprietary Information constitutes a protectable business interest of the Company. The Executive agrees: (i) not to use any such Confidential and Proprietary Information for himself or others; and (ii) not to take any Company material or reproductions (including but not limited to writings, correspondence, notes, drafts, records, invoices, technical and business policies, computer programs or disks) thereof from the Company’s offices at any time during his employment by the Company, except as required in the execution of the Executive’s duties to the Company. The Executive agrees to return immediately all Company material and reproductions (including but not limited, to writings, correspondence, notes, drafts, records, invoices, technical and business policies, computer programs or disks) thereof in his possession to the Company upon request and in any event immediately upon termination of employment.
(b) Except with prior written authorization by the Company, the Executive agrees not to disclose or publish any of the Confidential and Proprietary Information, or business information of any other party to whom the Company or any of its affiliates owes an obligation of confidence, at any time during or after his employment with the Company.
Proprietary Information and Inventions Agreements The Company shall require all employees and consultants with access to confidential information to execute and deliver a Proprietary Information and Inventions Agreement in substantially the form approved by the Company’s Board of Directors.
Proprietary Information and Inventions Agreement The Company shall require all employees and consultants to execute and deliver a Proprietary Information and Inventions Agreement substantially in a form approved by the Company’s counsel or Board of Directors.
Confidential Information and Non-Competition 13.1 The Executive acknowledges and agrees that in performing the duties and responsibilities of her employment pursuant to this Agreement, she will occupy a position of high fiduciary trust and confidence with the Corporation, pursuant to which she will develop and acquire wide experience and knowledge with respect to all aspects of the Business carried on by the Corporation and its Related Corporations, and the manner in which such Business is conducted. It is the express intent and agreement of the Executive and the Corporation that such knowledge and experience shall be used solely and exclusively in furtherance of the Business interests of the Corporation and its Related Corporations, and not in any manner detrimental to them. The Executive therefore agrees that, so long as she is engaged by the Corporation pursuant to this Agreement, she shall not engage in any practice or business that competes with the Business of the Corporation or its Related Corporations. It shall not be considered a violation of this Section 13.1 for the Executive to be involved as an investor or shareholder in securities issued by corporations that compete directly or indirectly with the Business, provided that such investment does not constitute more than 5% of the outstanding securities of a business or corporation whose shares trade on a recognized stock exchange.
13.2 The Executive agrees that during the Term, and following the termination of the Executive's employment for any reason, she shall treat confidentially all Confidential Information belonging to the Corporation or its Related Corporations, and shall not use or disclose the Confidential Information to any unauthorized persons, except with the prior express written consent of the Corporation, or otherwise as required by law.
13.3 The Executive further acknowledges and agrees that pursuant to the terms of this Agreement, she will acquire Company Property which is and shall remain the sole and exclusive property of the Corporation. Upon termination of the Executive's employment and this Agreement for any reason, the Executive shall return to the Corporation all Company Property, together with any copies or reproductions thereof, which may have come into the Executive's possession during the course of or pursuant to this Agreement, and shall delete or destroy all computer files on her personal computer which may contain any Confidential Information belonging to the Corporation, or its Related Corporations.
13.4 Notwithstanding the provision of 13.2 and 13.3, the Executive shall be permitted to disclose Confidential Information as required by law, regulation, government body or authority or by court order.
13.5 The Executive acknowledges and agrees that the Corporation would suffer irreparable harm in the event that any Confidential Information or other knowledge and experience acquired by the Executive in relation to the business of the Corporation were disclosed to a competitor of the Corporation or used for a competitive purpose for a reasonable period of time following the termination of her employment. Accordingly, the Executive agrees that in the event her employment with the Corporation is terminated for Cause by the Corporation, or in the event that the Executive voluntarily resigns her employment with the Corporation, neither she nor any employee or agent of the Executive shall, for a period of three (3) months from the Termination Date:
(a) be engaged, either directly or indirectly in any manner including, without limitation, as an officer, director, shareholder, owner, partner, member, joint venturer, employee, independent contractor, consultant, advisor or sales representative, in any business or enterprise which competes with the Business of the Corporation or any Related Corporation, as such business was conducted as of the Termination Date, with the exception that the Executive may be involved as an investor or shareholder in securities issued by corporations that compete directly or indirectly with the Business, provided that such investment does not constitute more than 5% of the outstanding securities of a business or corporation whose shares trade on a recognized stock exchange;
(b) solicit, entice or attempt to solicit or entice, either directly or indirectly, any customer or prospective customer of the Corporation or any Related Corporation as at the Termination Date, to become a customer of any business or enterprise which competes with the Corporation or any Related Corporation for any business as such business was conducted by the Corporation or any Related Corporation as at the Termination Date; or
(c) solicit or entice, or attempt to solicit or entice, either directly or indirectly, any employee of the Corporation or any Related Corporation as at the Termination Date, to become employed by or connected with any business or enterprise which competes with the Corporation or any Related Corporation for any business as such business was conducted by the Corporation or any Related Corporation as at the Termination Date. The restrictions set out in this Section 13.5 shall apply only within North America or to any business that directly relates to North America.
13.6 The Executive acknowledges and agrees that the Corporation will suffer harm in the event that the Executive breaches any of the obligations under this Article 13, and that monetary damages would be difficult to quantify and may be inadequate to compensate the Corporation for such a breach. Accordingly, the Executive agrees that in the event of a breach or a threatened breach by the Executive of any of the provisions of this Article 13, the Corporation shall be entitled to seek, in addition to any other rights, remedies or damages available to the Corporation at law or in equity, an interim and permanent injunction, in order to prevent or restrain any such breach or threatened breach by the Executive.
13.7 The Executive hereby agrees that all restrictions contained in this Article 13 are reasonable and necessary to protect the legitimate proprietary interests of the Corporation, and will not unduly restrict her ability to secure comparable alternative employment following the termination of her employment for any reason. If any covenant or provision of this Article 13 is determined to be void or unenforceable in whole or in part, for any reason, it shall be deemed not to affect or impair the validity of any other covenant or provision of this Agreement, which shall remain in full force and effect.
13.8 The provisions of this Article 13 shall remain in full force and effect notwithstanding the termination of this Agreement for any reason.
Confidential Information; Inventions (a) The Executive shall not disclose or use at any time, either during the Period of Employment or thereafter, any Confidential Information (as defined below) of which the Executive is or becomes aware, whether or not such information is developed by Executive, except to the extent that such disclosure or use is directly related to and required by the Executive’s performance in good faith of duties for the Company. The Executive will take all appropriate steps to safeguard Confidential Information in Executive’s possession and to protect it against disclosure, misuse, espionage, loss and theft. The Executive shall deliver to the Company at the termination of the Period of Employment, or at any time the Company may request, all memoranda, notes, plans, records, reports, computer tapes and software and other documents and data (and copies thereof) relating to the Confidential Information or the Work Product (as hereinafter defined) of the business of the Company or any of its Affiliates which the Executive may then possess or have under Executive’s control. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Executive may truthfully respond to a lawful and valid subpoena or other legal process, but shall give the Company the earliest possible notice thereof, shall, as much in advance of the return date as possible, make available to the Company and its counsel the documents and other information sought, and shall assist the Company and such counsel in resisting or otherwise responding to such process. Nothing in this Agreement prohibits Executive from reporting possible violations of federal law or regulation to any governmental agency or entity, or making other disclosures that are protected under the whistleblower provisions of federal law or regulation. Executive does not need the prior authorization to make any such reports or disclosures and is not required to notify the Employer of such reports or disclosures.
(b) As used in this Agreement, the term “Confidential Information” means information that is not generally known to the public and that is used, developed or obtained by the Company or its Affiliates in connection with their businesses, including, but not limited to, information, observations and data obtained by the Executive while employed by the Company or any predecessors thereof (including those obtained prior to the Effective Date) concerning (i) the business or affairs of the Company (or such predecessors), (ii) products or services, (iii) fees, costs and pricing structures, (iv) designs, (v) analyses, (vi) drawings, photographs and reports, (vii) computer software, including operating systems, applications and program listings, (viii) flow charts, manuals and documentation, (ix) data bases, (x) accounting and business methods, (xi) inventions, devices, new developments, methods and processes, whether patentable or unpatentable and whether or not reduced to practice, (xii) customers and clients and customer or client lists, (xiii) other copyrightable works, (xiv) all production methods, processes, technology and trade secrets, and (xv) all similar and related information in whatever form. Confidential Information will not include any information that has been published (other than a disclosure by the Executive in breach of this Agreement) in a form generally available to the public prior to the date the Executive proposes to disclose or use such information. Confidential Information will not be deemed to have been published merely because individual portions of the information have been separately published, but only if all material features comprising such information have been published in combination.
Protection of Confidential Information; Non-Competition 4.1. Executive acknowledges that:
(1) As a result of his current employment with the Company, Executive will obtain secret and confidential information concerning the business of the Company and its subsidiaries and affiliates (referred to collectively in this Article 4 as the “Company”), including, without limitations, financial information, designs and other proprietary rights, trade secrets and “know-how,” customers and sources (“Confidential Information”).
(2) The Company will suffer substantial damage which will be difficult to compute if, during the period of his employment with the Company or thereafter, Executive should enter a business competitive with the Company or divulge Confidential Information.
(3) The provisions of this Agreement are reasonable and necessary for the protection of the business of the Company.
4.2. Executive agrees that he will not at any time, either during the term of this Agreement or thereafter, divulge to any person or entity any Confidential Information obtained or learned by him as a result of his employment with the Company, except (i) in the course of performing his duties hereunder, (ii) to the extent that any such information is in the public domain other than as a result of Executive’s breach of any of his obligations hereunder, (iii) where required to be disclosed by court order, subpoena or other government process or (iv) if such disclosure is made without Executive’s knowing intent to cause material harm to the Company. If Executive shall be required to make disclosure pursuant to the provisions of clause (iii) of the preceding sentence, Executive promptly, but in no event more than 72 hours after learning of such subpoena, court order, or other government process, shall notify, by personal delivery or by electronic means, confirmed by mail, the Company and, at the Company’s expense, Executive shall: (a) take reasonably necessary and lawful steps required by the Company to defend against the enforcement of such subpoena, court order or other government process, and (b) permit the Company to intervene and participate with counsel of its choice in any proceeding relating to the enforcement thereof.
4.3. Upon termination of his employment with the Company, Executive will promptly deliver to the Company all memoranda, notes, records, reports, manuals, drawings, blue-prints and other documents (and all copies thereof) relating to the business of the Company and all property associated therewith, which he may then possess or have under his control; provided, however, that the Executive shall be entitled to retain one copy of such documents for his personal use and records.
4.4. During the period commencing with the start date of employment under this agreement and terminating three years after termination of employment: (A) Executive, without the prior written permission of the Company, shall not, anywhere in the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong SAR and Taiwan, (i) enter into the employ of or render any services to any person, firm or corporation engaged in any business which is directly in competition with the Company’s principal existing business at the time of termination (“Competitive Business”); (ii) engage in any Competitive Business as an individual, partner, shareholder, creditor, director, officer, principal, agent, employee, trustee consultant, advisor or in any other relationship or capacity; (iv) employ, or have or cause any other person or entity to employ, any person who was employed by the Company at the time of termination of Executive’s employment by the Company (other than Executive’s personal secretary and assistant); or (v) solicit, interfere with, or endeavor to entice away from the Company, for the benefit of a Competitive Business, any of its customers. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Executive shall not be precluded from investing and managing the investment of, his or his family’s assets in the securities of any corporation or other business entity which is engaged in a Competitive Business if such securities are traded on a national stock exchange or in the over-the-counter market and if such investment does not result in his beneficially owning, at any time, more than 5% of any class of the publicly-traded equity securities of such Competitive Business; provided, however, that for a period commencing with the start date of employment under this agreement and terminating three years after termination of Executive’s employment (except for investments in a class of securities trading on public markets), Executive shall refer to the Company for consideration (before any other party) any and all opportunities to acquire or purchase, or otherwise make equity or debt investments in, companies primarily involved in a Competitive Business if such opportunities becomes known to Executive while he is the Chief Executive Officer of the Company. If the Company determines not to exploit any opportunity referred to in the foregoing sentence, the Company shall determine what, if anything, should be done with such opportunity. Executive shall not be entitled to any compensation, as a finder or otherwise, if either the Company or Executive introduces such opportunity to other persons, it being understood that all such compensation shall be paid to the Company. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event the Company terminates this Agreement without “cause” or if Executive terminates this Agreement for Good Reason under Section 3.5 hereof, Executive’s obligations under this Section 4.4 shall terminate one month following termination.
4.5. If Executive commits a breach of any of the provisions of Sections 4.2 or 4.4, the Company shall have the right:
(1) to have the provisions of this Agreement specifically enforced by any court having equity jurisdiction, it being acknowledged and agreed by Executive that the services being rendered hereunder to the Company are of a special, unique and extraordinary character and that any breach or threatened breach will cause irreparable injury to the Company and that money damages will not provide an adequate remedy to the Company; and
(2) to require Executive to account for and pay over to the Company all monetary damages determined by a non-appealable decision by a court of law to have been suffered by the Company as the result of any actions constituting a breach of any of the provisions of Section 4.2 or 4.4, and Executive hereby agrees to account for and pay over such damages to the Company (up to the maximum of all payments made under the Agreement).
4.6. If Executive shall violate any covenant contained in Section 4.4, the duration of such covenant so violated shall be automatically extended for a period of time equal to the period of such violation.
4.7. If any provision of Sections 4.2 or 4.4 is held to be unenforceable because of the scope, duration or area of its applicability, the tribunal making such determination shall not have the power to modify such scope, duration, or area, or all of them and such provision or provisions shall be void ab initio.
Confidential Information Noncompetition and Cooperation The terms of the Employee Non-Competition, Non-Solicitation, Confidentiality and Assignment Agreement (the “Restrictive Covenant Agreement”), between the Company and the Employee, attached hereto as Exhibit A, shall continue to be in full force and effect and are incorporated by reference in this Agreement. The Employee hereby reaffirms the terms of the Restrictive Covenant Agreement as material terms of this Agreement.
Confidential Information and Trade Secrets During the period of my employment with the Company, I acknowledge that the Company may disclose to me confidential and proprietary information of the Company which the Company takes great pains to safeguard from unauthorized use and disclosure. I agree at all times during the term of my employment and thereafter, to hold in strictest confidence, and not to use or to disclose to any person, firm or corporation, except as such use or disclosure is required in connection with my work for the Company or unless the Chief Executive Officer of the Company otherwise expressly authorizes in writing, any Confidential Information (defined below) before it has become generally known within the relevant industry through no fault of my own. I understand and agree that “Confidential Information” means any non-public information that does not otherwise qualify as Trade Secrets (defined below) that relates to the actual or demonstrably anticipated business or research or development of the Company or any other information which is marked “confidential” or which might reasonably be anticipated to be confidential in nature. I further agree, at all times during my employment and anytime thereafter, to hold in strictest confidence, and not to use or disclose to any person, firm or corporation, except as such use or disclosure is required in connection with my work for the Company or unless the Chief Executive Officer of the Company expressly authorizes such use or disclosure in writing, any Trade Secret (defined below) before it has become generally known in the public domain through no fault of my own. I understand and agree that “Trade Secrets” are information, regardless of form, belonging to the Company, licensed by it, or disclosed to it on a confidential basis by its customers, suppliers, or other third parties, including, but not limited to technical and non-technical data, formulae, patterns, compilations, programs, devices, methods, techniques, drawings, processes, financial data, financial plans, product plans, and lists of actual or potential customers or suppliers which is not commonly known in the public domain and which (i) derives economic value, economic or potential, from not being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by, other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use; and (ii) is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy, or any other information that constitutes a trade secret under common law.
