Non-Solicitation and Non-Compete The Executive agrees that:
(i) except as agreed by the Board, during the term hereof, the Executive will not, directly or indirectly, either as a principal, agent, employee, employer, stockholder, co-partner or in any other capacity whatsoever, engage in any outside activity, whether or not competitive with the business of the Company, that could foreseeably give rise to a conflict of interest or otherwise interfere with his duties and obligations to the Company;
(ii) during the term hereof and for twelve (12) months after the term, the Executive will not, directly or indirectly, either as a principal, agent, employee, employer, stockholder, co-partner or in any other capacity whatsoever, solicit, hire or attempt to hire, or assist others in soliciting, hiring or attempting to hire, any individual employed by the Company at any time while the Executive was also so employed, or encourage any such individual to terminate his or her relationship with the Company; provided, however, that nothing in this Section 6(g) shall be deemed to prohibit Executive from: (A) making general solicitations of employment published in newspapers, trade journals or other publications of general circulation; or (B) employing individuals who have terminated their employment with the Company;
(iii) during the term hereof and for twelve (12) months after the term, the Executive will not, directly or indirectly, either as a principal, agent, employee, employer, stockholder, co-partner or in any other capacity whatsoever, engage in or undertake any planning for any activity which is competitive with the business of the Company, as conducted or under consideration at any time during his employment by the Company; provided that (A) an ownership interest by Executive of one percent (1%) or less in any outstanding equity securities of any company which is competitive with the business of the Company whose equity securities are listed on a national securities exchange, national or capital markets or traded in the over-the-counter bulletin board or (B) Executive’s employment by or otherwise association with a business or entity of which a subsidiary, division, segment, unit, etc. is in material direct competition with the Company or any parent corporation or subsidiary of the Company but as to which such subsidiary, division, segment, unit, etc. the Executive has no direct or indirect responsibility or involvement, so long as the Executive does not breach the confidentiality obligations hereunder, shall not be prohibited and shall not constitute activity which is competitive with the business of the Company.
Non-Competition, Non-Solicitation and Non-Disparagement (a) During the Term, the Executive shall not (1) provide any services, directly or indirectly, to any other business or commercial entity without the consent of the Board or (2) participate in the formation of any business or commercial entity without the consent of the Board; provided, however, that nothing contained in this Section 5(a) shall be deemed to prohibit the Executive from acquiring, solely as an investment, shares of capital stock (or other interests) of any corporation (or other entity) not exceeding two percent (2%) of such corporation’s (or other entity’s) then-outstanding shares of capital stock (or other interests).
(b) If this Agreement is terminated by the Company for Cause (as defined in Section 6(c)) or if the Executive terminates this Agreement other than in accordance with Section 7 or 8 hereof, or if the Executive is receiving Severance Payments in accordance with Section 9(c) or payments under Section 9(d), then for a period of one (1) year following the date of termination the Executive shall not (1) provide any services, directly or indirectly, to any other business or commercial entity in the Company’s Field of Interest (as defined in Section 12), (2) solicit any customers or suppliers of the Company, (3) attempt to persuade or encourage customers or suppliers of the Company not to do business with the Company and/or to do business with a competitor of the Company, (4) participate in the formation of any business or commercial entity engaged primarily in the Company’s Field of Interest, or (5) directly or indirectly employ, or seek to employ or secure the services in any capacity of, any person employed at that time by the Company or any of its Affiliates, or otherwise encourage or entice any such person to leave such employment; provided, however, that nothing contained in this Section 5(b) shall be deemed to prohibit the Executive from acquiring, solely as an investment, shares of capital stock (or other interests) of any corporation (or other entity) in the Company’s Field of Interest not exceeding two percent (2%) of such corporation’s (or other entity’s) then outstanding shares of capital stock (or other interests). This Section 5(b) shall be subject to written waivers, which may be obtained by the Executive from the Company.
(c) At no time during the Term of this Agreement or thereafter will the Executive knowingly make any written or oral untrue statement or any statement that disparages the Company or its Affiliates or will the Company knowingly make any written or oral untrue statement or any statement that disparages the Executive.
(d) If the Executive commits a breach, or threatens to commit a breach, of any of the provisions of this Section 5, the Company shall have the right and remedy to have the provisions of this Agreement, as the case may be, specifically enforced by any court having equity jurisdiction, it being acknowledged and agreed that any such breach or threatened breach will cause irreparable injury to the Company and that money damages will not provide an adequate remedy to the Company.
(e) If any of the covenants contained in this Section 5 or any part hereof or thereof, is hereafter construed to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable by a court or regulatory agency or tribunal of competent jurisdiction, such court, agency or tribunal shall have the power, and hereby is directed, to substitute for or limit such provision(s) in order as closely as possible to effectuate the original intent of the parties with respect to such invalid, illegal or unenforceable covenant(s) generally and so to enforce such substituted covenant(s). Subject to the foregoing, the invalidity, illegality or unenforceability of any one or more of the covenants contained in this Section 5 shall not affect the validity of any other provision hereof, which shall be given full effect without regard to the invalid portions.
(f) If any of the covenants contained in this Section 5, or any part hereof or thereof, is held to be unenforceable because of the duration of such provision, the area covered thereby or the extent thereof, the parties agree that the tribunal making such determination shall have the power, and hereby is directed, to reduce the duration, area and/or extent of such provision and, in its reduced form, such provision shall then be enforceable.
(g) Anything else contained in this Agreement to the contrary notwithstanding, the parties hereto intend to and hereby do confer jurisdiction to enforce the covenants contained in this Section 5 A upon the courts of any state within the geographical scope of such covenants. In the event that the courts of any one or more of such states shall hold any such covenant wholly unenforceable by reason of the breadth of such scope or otherwise, it is the intention of the parties hereto that such determination not bar or in any way affect the Company’s right to the relief provided above in the courts of any other state within the geographical scope of such other covenants, as to breaches of such covenants in such other jurisdictions, the above covenants as they relate to each state being, for this purpose, severable into diverse and independent covenants.
Non-Solicitation and Non-Competition Executive and the Company agree that the Company would suffer irreparable harm and incur substantial damage if Executive were to enter into Competition (as defined herein) with the Company. Therefore, in order for the Company to protect its legitimate business interests, Executive agrees as follows:
(i) Without the prior written consent of the Company, Executive shall not, during the period of employment with the Company, directly or indirectly, invest or engage in any business that is Competitive (as defined herein) with the Business of the Company or accept employment or render services to a Competitor (as defined herein) of the Company as a director, officer, agent, employee or consultant or solicit or attempt to solicit or accept business that is Competitive with the Business of the Company, except that Executive may own up to five percent (5%) of any outstanding class of securities of any company registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended; provided, however, the Company acknowledges that Executive currently engages in a number of activities set forth on Exhibit B as long as such permitted activities do not have a material adverse effect on the Executive’s performance or this Agreement.
(ii) Without the prior written consent of the Company and upon any termination of Executive’s employment with the Company and for a period of twelve (12) months thereafter, Executive shall not, either directly or indirectly, (x) invest or engage in any business that is Competitive (as defined herein) with the Business of the Company, except that Executive may own up to five percent (5%) of any outstanding class of securities of any company registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, (y) accept employment with or render services to a Competitor of the Company as a director, officer, agent, employee or consultant unless he is serving in a capacity that has no relationship to that portion of the Competitor’s business that is Competitive with the Business of the Company, or (z) solicit, attempt to solicit or accept business Competitive with the Business of the Company from any of the customers of the Company at the time of his termination or within twelve (12) months prior thereto or from any person or entity whose business the Company was soliciting at such time.
(iii) Upon termination of his employment with the Company, and for a period of twelve (12) months thereafter, Executive shall not, either directly or indirectly, engage, hire, employ or solicit in any manner whatsoever the employment of an employee of the Company.
(iv) For purposes of this Agreement, a business or activity is in “Competition” or “Competitive” with the Business of the Company if it involves, and a person or entity is a “Competitor”, if that person or entity is engaged in, or about to become engaged in, the research, development, design, manufacturing, marketing or selling of a specific product or technology that resembles, competes, or is designed to compete, with, or has applications similar to any product or technology for which the Company has obtained or applied for a patent or made disclosures, or any product or technology involving any other proprietary research or development engaged in or conducted by the Company during the Term of Executive’s employment with the Company.
Non-Competition; Non-Solicitation; Non-Disparagement (a) The Company shall provide Employee access to Confidential Information for use only during the Employment Period, and Employee acknowledges and agrees that the Company Group will be entrusting Employee, in Employee’s unique and special capacity, with developing the goodwill of the Company Group, and as an express incentive for the Company to enter into this Agreement and employ Employee hereunder, Employee has voluntarily agreed to the covenants set forth in this Section 10. Employee agrees and acknowledges that the limitations and restrictions set forth herein, including geographical and temporal restrictions on certain competitive activities, are reasonable in scope and purpose in all respects, do not interfere with public interests, will not cause Employee undue hardship, and are material and substantial parts of this Agreement intended and necessary to prevent unfair competition and to protect the Company Group’s Confidential Information, goodwill and legitimate business interests.
(b) During the Prohibited Period, Employee shall not, without the prior written approval of the Board, directly or indirectly, for Employee or on behalf of or in conjunction with any other person or entity of any nature:
(i) engage in or participate within the Market Area in competition with any member of the Company Group in any aspect of the Business, including by directly or indirectly: (A) owning, managing, operating, or being an officer or director of, any business that competes with any member of the Company Group in the Market Area, or (B) joining, becoming an employee or consultant of, or otherwise being affiliated with, any person or entity engaged in, or planning to engage in, the Business in the Market Area in competition, or anticipated competition, with any member of the Company Group in any capacity (with respect to this clause (B)) in which Employee’s duties or responsibilities are the same as or similar to the duties or responsibilities that Employee had on behalf of any member of the Company Group;
(ii) appropriate any Business Opportunity of, or relating to, any member of the Company Group located in the Market Area;
(iii) solicit, canvass, approach, encourage, entice or induce any customer or supplier of any member of the Company Group to cease or lessen such customer’s or supplier’s business with any member of the Company Group; or
(iv) solicit, canvass, approach, encourage, entice or induce any employee or contractor of any member of the Company Group to terminate his, her or its employment or engagement with any member of the Company Group.
(c) Because of the difficulty of measuring economic losses to the Company Group as a result of a breach or threatened breach of the covenants set forth in Section 9 and in this Section 10, and because of the immediate and irreparable damage that would be caused to the members of the Company Group for which they would have no other adequate remedy, the Company and each other member of the Company Group shall be entitled to enforce the foregoing covenants, in the event of a breach or threatened breach, by injunctions and restraining orders from any court of competent jurisdiction, without the necessity of showing any actual damages or that money damages would not afford an adequate remedy, and without the necessity of posting any bond or other security. The aforementioned equitable relief shall not be the Company’s or any other member of the Company Group’s exclusive remedy for a breach but instead shall be in addition to all other rights and remedies available to the Company and each other member of the Company Group at law and equity.
(d) The covenants in this Section 10, and each provision and portion hereof, are severable and separate, and the unenforceability of any specific covenant (or portion thereof) shall not affect the provisions of any other covenant (or portion thereof). Moreover, in the event any arbitrator or court of competent jurisdiction shall determine that the scope, time or territorial restrictions set forth are unreasonable, then it is the intention of the parties that such restrictions be enforced to the fullest extent which such arbitrator or court deems reasonable, and this Agreement shall thereby be reformed.
(e) The following terms shall have the following meanings:
Non-Compete (a) Seller acknowledges that it is familiar with the trade secrets related to the Business and with other confidential and proprietary information concerning the Business. Seller acknowledges and agrees that the Business would be irreparably damaged if Seller were to violate the provisions of this Section 5.14(a). Seller further acknowledges and agrees that the covenants and agreements set forth in this Section 5.14(a) were a material inducement to Purchaser to enter into this Agreement and to perform its obligations hereunder, and that Purchaser would not obtain the benefit of the bargain set forth in this Agreement if Seller were to breach the provisions of this Section 5.14(a). Therefore, in further consideration for the payment of the Purchase Price hereunder, and in order to protect the value of the Business acquired by Purchaser hereunder (including the goodwill inherent in the Business), during the Restricted Period, Seller will not, and will cause each of its Subsidiaries not to, directly or indirectly, for its own account or on behalf of or together with any other Person, engage in, participate in, own, manage, control or participate in the ownership, management or control of a Person engaged in (i) the development, manufacture, marketing or sale of Covered Products, or (ii) the sale of spare parts for the provision of repair or maintenance services with respect to equipment constituting Covered Products, in each case, except to the extent permitted under the Seller Allowed Field (collectively, such categories of activity, the “Seller Excluded Fields”).
(b) Notwithstanding Section 5.14(a) above, nothing in this Agreement shall restrict Seller or any of its Subsidiaries from (collectively, the categories of activity below, the “Seller Allowed Fields”):
(i) developing, manufacturing, marketing or selling any products other than Covered Products or spare parts for or the provision of repair or maintenance services with respect to equipment constituting Covered Products, including developing, manufacturing, marketing and selling any products primarily relating to printing by offset, inkjet, electro photographic, and gravure processes;
(ii) developing any CtP Device or enhancements thereto or modifications thereof that may be useful in imaging any Thermally Imageable Film but are not developed for the purpose of creating such utility or manufacturing, marketing or selling such CtP Device or a CtP Device so enhanced or modified;
(iii) developing or manufacturing a Functional Printing-Related Product; provided, so long as the AM3D Supply Agreement is in effect the foregoing exception for manufacturing shall not permit production scale manufacturing of Thermally Imageable Films or Flexographic Plates being supplied under the AM3D Supply Agreement;
(iv) the internal use of a Covered Product by Seller or its Subsidiary;
(v) marketing or selling any Functional Printing-Related Product to any current or potential, or future, Functional Printing Customer or marketing any Covered Product to any potential Functional Printing Customer (with sales of any Covered Products that are not Functional Printing-Related Products to be sold to Functional Printing Customers by a Person other than Seller or its Subsidiaries);
(vi) the sale of spare parts for the provision of repair or maintenance services with respect to equipment constituting Covered Products to the extent then permitted to be sold pursuant to clause (v) and provided that Covered Products that are not Functional Printing-Related Products are to be sold exclusively by Purchaser;
(vii) licensing, transferring, or selling or otherwise monetizing in any manner, directly or indirectly, any Intellectual Property that is owned by Seller or licensed to Seller by any Third Party, excluding any Intellectual Property licensed by or to Seller or any of its Subsidiaries (or any assignee or successor) under any Closing Agreement;
(viii) performing their respective binding obligations under this Agreement and/or the Closing Agreements;
(ix) owning five percent (5%) or less of the outstanding equity securities of any class of any issuer whose securities are listed and traded on a nationally recognized securities exchange or market (whether or not in the United States of America) provided that such ownership is passive;
(x) owning, affiliating with, or conducting any activity with respect to, a Person that engages, either directly or indirectly, in any activity prohibited by this Section 5.14 (any such Person, together with all of its Affiliates, a “Competing Person” and any such business that engages in such activity, a “Competing Business”) that is the result of: (A) a Business Combination involving one or more of Seller or any of its Subsidiaries and any Competing Person, or (B) the acquisition of any Competing Person or any securities in any Competing Person by Seller or any of its Subsidiaries, if, in the case of either (A) or (B), no more than (x) ten percent (10%) of the total annual consolidated revenues or EBITDA of such Competing Person and (y) $100,000,000 of the total annual consolidated revenues or $25,000,000 of annual EBITDA of such Competing Person, taken as a whole, and prior to any Business Combination with Seller or any of its Subsidiaries, are generated from the Competing Business; provided, however, that Seller and its Subsidiaries may proceed with any such ownership, affiliation, or conduct notwithstanding such Competing Business being in excess of the aforementioned thresholds, if, and only if, Seller and the applicable Subsidiaries or the Competing Person, as applicable, (A) enter into a definitive agreement no later than twelve (12) months after the consummation of such ownership, affiliation or conduct to divest a sufficient portion of such Competing Business or (B) wind down, no later than twelve (12) months after the consummation of such acquisition, a sufficient portion of such Competing Business, such that, after giving effect to such divestiture or wind down, no more than (x) ten percent (10%) of the total annual consolidated revenues or annual EBITDA of such Competing Person and (y) $100,000,000 of the total annual consolidated revenues or $25,000,000 of annual EBITDA of such Competing Person, taken as a whole, are generated from the Competing Business; or
(xi) acquiring a Competing Person or more than five percent (5%) of the outstanding equity securities of any class of any Competing Person that generates more than (x) ten percent (10%) of the total annual consolidated revenues or EBITDA of such Competing Person, or (y) $100,000,000 of the total annual consolidated revenues or $25,000,000 of annual EBITDA of such Competing Person, taken as a whole, from the Competing Business; provided, however, that the Restricted Parties may proceed with any such acquisition notwithstanding such Competing Business being in excess of the aforementioned thresholds, if, and only if, Seller and the applicable Subsidiaries (A) enter into a definitive agreement no later than twelve (12) months after the consummation of such acquisition to divest a sufficient portion of such Competing Business or (B) wind down, no later than twelve (12) months after the consummation of such acquisition, a sufficient portion of such Competing Business, such that, after giving effect to such divestiture or wind down, no more than (x) ten percent (10%) of the total annual consolidated revenues or annual EBITDA of such Competing Person and (y) no more than $100,000,000 of the total annual consolidated revenues or $25,000,000 of annual EBITDA of such Competing Person, taken as a whole, are generated from the Competing Business.
(c) If Seller or any of its Subsidiaries is involved in a Business Combination where neither Seller nor any of its Subsidiaries prior to the Business Combination is the Controlling Entity after the Business Combination, the restrictions contained in this Section 5.14 shall not apply to the operations or businesses of any third party(ies) to the Business Combination or any of such third party’s Subsidiaries which were Subsidiaries of such third party prior to the Business Combination, in each case, as conducted prior to the consummation of the Business Combination, but shall only apply to the operations of Seller or its Subsidiaries or, if the operations of Seller or any of its Subsidiaries is integrated or consolidated with any other business of such third party of any of its Subsidiaries, the resulting business after such integration or consolidation. Seller shall be the “Controlling Entity” if (1) through a Business Combination Seller or any of its Subsidiaries controls more than fifty percent (50%) of the stock, board seats, or voting rights of another entity, (2) a majority of the directors of the surviving entity following a Business Combination are individuals who served on the board of directors of Seller immediately prior to the consummation of such Business Combination or (3) the holders of a majority of the outstanding equity interests of the surviving entity following a Business Combination were holders of equity interests of Seller immediately prior to the consummation of such Business Combination.
(d) Seller agrees that this Section 5.14 (including the provisions relating to duration, geographical area and scope) is reasonable and necessary to protect and preserve Purchaser’s and the Business’ legitimate business interests and the value of the Business, and to prevent an unfair advantage from being conferred on Seller. If any provision of this Section 5.14 would be held to be excessively broad as to duration, geographical area, scope, activity or subject, for any reason, such provision shall be modified, by limiting and reducing it, so as to be enforceable to the extent permitted by applicable Law.
Non-Solicitation/Non-Compete Executive hereby covenants and agrees that, for a period of one (1) year following his termination of employment with the Bank (other than a termination of employment following a Change in Control), Executive shall not, without the written consent of the Bank, either directly or indirectly:
(i) solicit, offer employment to, or take any other action intended (or that a reasonable person acting in like circumstances would expect) to have the effect of causing any officer or employee of the Bank, or any of its respective subsidiaries or affiliates, to terminate his employment and accept employment or become affiliated with, or provide services for compensation in any capacity whatsoever to, any business whatsoever that competes with the business of the Bank, or any of their direct or indirect subsidiaries or affiliates, that has headquarters or offices within 25 miles of any location(s) in which the Bank has business offices or has filed an application for regulatory approval to establish an office (the “Restricted Territory”);
(ii) become an officer, employee, consultant, director, independent contractor, agent, joint venturer, partner or trustee of any savings bank, savings and loan association, savings and loan holding company, credit union, bank or bank holding company, insurance company or agency, any mortgage or loan broker or any other entity that competes with the business of the Bank or any of their direct or indirect subsidiaries or affiliates, that: (i) has a headquarters within the Restricted Territory or (ii) has one or more offices, but is not headquartered, within the Restricted Territory, but in the latter case, only if Executive would be employed, conduct business or have other responsibilities or duties within the Restricted Territory; or
(iii) solicit, provide any information, advice or recommendation or take any other action intended (or that a reasonable person acting in like circumstances would expect) to have the effect of causing any customer of the Bank to terminate an existing business or commercial relationship with the Bank.
Non-Competition and Non-Solicitation Because of the nature of the Company’s Business, and because, as a result of his employment with the Company, the Executive has been and will continue to be exposed to Confidential Information, the Executive acknowledges that the Company would sustain grievous harm in the event that he were to disclose Confidential Information, engage in business activities that compete with the Business, appropriate or divert business or customers of the Company or its affiliates and/or induce employees or consultants of the Company or its affiliates to leave the employment of the Company or its affiliates. The Executive acknowledges that the Company has a legitimate business interest in protecting itself from the aforementioned harm and in the protection and maintenance of the Confidential Information and of the good will and customer relationships of the Company and its affiliates. Therefore, the Executive hereby agrees and covenants to be bound by the non-competition and non-solicitation restrictions set forth herein below, which restrictions the Executive agrees and acknowledges are reasonable and necessary and do not impose undue hardship or burdens on the Executive.
a. The Executive agrees that, during his employment with the Company and for a period of three (3) years following the termination of his employment with the Company, he and his affiliates shall not directly or indirectly own, manage, operate, control, be employed by, consult for, be a shareholder of, be an officer of, participate in, contract with or be connected in any capacity or any manner with any person or entity whose business activities directly or indirectly (whether through related persons, entities or otherwise) compete with the Business anywhere in the United States, Canada and the People’s Republic of China, where the Company or its affiliates is engaged in the Business, PROVIDED HOWEVER, that the Executive shall not be prevented from owning an interest in a publicly traded company so long as the fair market value of such interest at the date of acquisition is less than US$100,000.
b. The Executive agrees that during the period of his employment with the Company and for a period of three (3) years following the termination of his employment with the Company, for any reason, he will not, within the United States, Canada and the People’s Republic of China, where the Company or its affiliates is engaged in the Business, directly or indirectly recruit, induce, divert, supervise, employ, manage, hire or entice, or cause to be recruited, induced, diverted, supervised, employed, managed, hired or enticed, any employee, consultant or independent contractor of the Company or its affiliates to leave or terminate the employment or other relationship thereof, for any reason.
c. The Executive agrees that during the period of his employment with the Company and for a period of three (3) years following the termination of his employment with the Company, he will not, within the United States, Canada and the People’s Republic of China, where the Company or its affiliates is engaged in the Business, directly or indirectly appropriate, call on, induce, divert or solicit, or assist another to appropriate, call on, induce, divert or solicit any actual or potential business or customer away from the Company or its affiliates, or attempt to do any of the foregoing, or otherwise induce or attempt to induce any actual or potential business or customer of the Company or its affiliates, to terminate or adversely modify its relationship with the Company or its affiliates, or to enter into a relationship with or conduct business with the Company or its affiliates, which actual or potential business or customer the Executive was involved with or had a relationship with or whose identity became known to the Executive in connection with the Executive’s employment with the Company.
d. If any of the restrictive covenants set forth in paragraphs 12(a), (b) and (c) of this Agreement is held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable (in whole or in part), such restrictive covenant shall be deemed modified to the extent, but only to the extent, of such invalidity, illegality or unenforceability, and a court of competent jurisdiction shall have the power to modify, any such restrictive covenant to the extent necessary to render such provision enforceable, and the remaining restrictive covenant shall not be affected thereby.
e. In the event of a violation of any of the restrictive covenants set forth in paragraphs 12(a), (b) and (c) of this Agreement, if the Executive is prevented by a court or arbitrator from committing any further violation, whether by a temporary restraining order, injunction or otherwise, the time periods set forth in paragraphs 12(a), (b) and (c) of this Agreement shall be computed by commencing the periods on the date of the applicable court or arbitrators’ order and continuing them from that date for the full period provided.
f. The Executive shall have the right to request a waiver of all or part of the restrictive covenants contained in paragraphs 12(a), (b) and (c) of this Agreement by providing the Company with a written request for such a waiver that contains all relevant details. The Company may, in its sole discretion, waive all or part of the restrictive covenants contained in paragraphs 12(a), (b) and (c) of this Agreement on such terms and conditions, and to such extent, as it, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate. Such waiver must be in writing.
g. The parties acknowledge that this Agreement would not have been entered into, that the benefits described in paragraphs 5, 6 and 7 would not have been promised to the Executive by the Company, in the absence of the Executive’s covenants and promises set forth in paragraphs 12(a), (b) and (c) of this Agreement.
Confidentiality, Non-Competition and Non-Solicitation Employee agrees, as a condition to Employee’s employment with the Company, to execute the Company’s standard form of Employee Non-Disclosure, Invention Release and Non-Competition Agreement attached hereto as Exhibit A.
Non-Compete and Non-Solicitation (a) The Executive recognizes that in each of the highly competitive businesses in which the Company is engaged, personal contact is of primary importance in securing new customers and in retaining the accounts and goodwill of present customers and protecting the business of the Company. The Executive, therefore, agrees that during the Employment Period and, if the Date of Termination occurs by reason of the Executive terminating his employment for reasons other than Disability or Good Reason and other than during a Window Period, for a period of one year after the Date of Termination, he will not either within 20 miles of any geographic location of any Shale play with respect to which he has devoted substantial attention to the material business interests of the Company or any of its affiliated companies or with respect to any immediate geologic trends in any non-Shale plays, in either case, in which the Company or any of its affiliated companies have active leases or are actively pursuing leases through direct employee activity or hired brokers as of the Date of Termination, without regard, in either case, to whether the Executive has worked at such location (the "Relevant Geographic Area"), (i) accept employment or render service to any Person that is engaged in a business directly competitive with the business then engaged in by the Company or any of its affiliated companies in the Relevant Geographic Area, (ii) enter into or take part in or lend his name, counsel or assistance to any business, either as proprietor, principal, investor, partner, director, officer, executive, consultant, advisor, agent, independent contractor, or in any other capacity whatsoever, for any purpose that would be competitive with the business of the Company or any of its affiliated companies in the Relevant Geographic Area or (iii) regardless of whether it is in the Relevant Geographic Area, directly or indirectly, either as principal, agent, independent contractor, consultant, director, officer, employee, employer, advisor, stockholder, partner or in any other individual or representative capacity whatsoever, either for his own benefit or for the benefit of any other person or entity either (A) hire, contract or solicit, or attempt any of the foregoing, with respect to hiring any employee of the Company or its affiliated companies, or (B) induce or otherwise counsel, advise or encourage any employee of the Company or its affiliated companies to leave the employment of the Company or its affiliated companies (all of the foregoing activities described in (i), (ii) and (iii) are collectively referred to as the "Prohibited Activity"). Notwithstanding anything contained in this Section 10 to the contrary, the Prohibited Activity shall not be applicable to the state or federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico or outside of the United States except as to the area covered by any U.S. or foreign state or federal oil and gas lease, license or permit in which the Company owns a working interest which was acquired by the Company prior to or during the Employment Period and further limited to the depths in which the Company owns such working or operating rights interest. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of this Section 10 will not apply following a termination of the Executive's employment by the Company with or without Cause, by the Executive due to Disability or Good Reason or by the Executive during a Window Period.
(b) In addition to all other remedies at law or in equity which the Company may have for breach of a provision of this Section 10 by the Executive, it is agreed that in the event of any breach or attempted or threatened breach of any such provision, the Company shall be entitled, upon application to any court of proper jurisdiction, to a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction (without the necessity of (i) proving irreparable harm, (ii) establishing that monetary damages are inadequate or (iii) posting any bond with respect thereto) against the Executive prohibiting such breach or attempted or threatened breach by proving only the existence of such breach or attempted or threatened breach. If the provisions of this Section 10 should ever be deemed to exceed the time, geographic or occupational limitations permitted by the applicable law, the Executive and the Company agree that such provisions shall be and are hereby reformed to the maximum time, geographic or occupational limitations permitted by the applicable law.
(c) The covenants of the Executive set forth in this Section 10 are independent of and severable from every other provision of this Agreement; and the breach of any other provision of this Agreement by the Company or the breach by the Company of any other agreement between the Company and the Executive shall not affect the validity of the provisions of this Section 10 or constitute a defense of the Executive in any suit or action brought by the Company to enforce any of the provisions of this Section 10 or seek any relief for the breach thereof by the Executive.
(d) The Executive acknowledges, agrees and stipulates that: (i) the terms and provisions of this Agreement are reasonable and constitute an otherwise enforceable agreement to which the terms and provisions of this Section 10 are ancillary or a part of as contemplated by TEX. BUS. & COM. CODE XXX. Sections 15.50-15.52; (ii) the consideration provided by the Company under this Agreement is not illusory; and (iii) the consideration given by the Company under this Agreement, including, without limitation, the provision by the Company of Confidential Information to the Executive as contemplated by Section 8, gives rise to the Company's interest in restraining and prohibiting the Executive from engaging in the Prohibited Activity within the Relevant Geographic Area as provided under this Section 10, and the Executive's covenant not to engage in the Prohibited Activity within the Relevant Geographic Area pursuant to this Section 10 is designed to enforce the Executive's consideration (or return promises), including, without limitation, the Executive's promise to not disclose Confidential Information under this Agreement.
Non-Solicitation; Non-Competition (a) In further consideration of the compensation to be paid to Executive hereunder, Executive acknowledges that in the course of his employment with the Company Group, he has and will continue to become familiar with the Company Group’s trade secrets and with other Confidential Information concerning the Company Group and that his services shall be of special, unique and extraordinary value to the Company Group. Therefore, Executive agrees that while an employee of the Company Group, Executive will not directly or indirectly compete against any member of the Company Group or directly or indirectly divert or attempt to divert any business from any member of the Company Group anywhere such company is doing business.
(b) Executive agrees that for the twelve (12) months following the termination of his employment, Executive will not, directly or indirectly, solicit for the purpose of providing, or otherwise provide, any products or services competitive with the products or services offered by (or planned to be offered by, assuming Executive was aware of those plans while employed by Company) the Company Group to any customer of the Company Group with whom/which Executive had contact on behalf of the Company Group during the twenty-four (24) months preceding the end of Executive’s employment with the Company.
(c) Executive agrees that for the twelve (12) months following the termination of his employment, Executive will not, directly or indirectly, solicit for the purpose of providing, or otherwise provide, any products or services competitive with the products or services offered by (or planned to be offered by, assuming Executive was aware of those plans while employed by Company) the Company Group to any customer of the Company Group about whom/which Executive acquired non-public information during the twenty-four (24) months preceding the end of Executive’s employment with the Company.
(d) Executive agrees that for the twelve (12) months following the termination of his employment, Executive will not request or advise any customer, supplier, licensee, licensor, landlord or other business relation of the Company Group with whom/which Executive had contact on behalf of the Company Group during the twenty-four (24) months preceding the termination of Executive’s employment with the Company to withdraw, curtail or cancel its business dealings with such member of the Company Group.
(e) Executive agrees that for the twelve (12) months following the termination of his employment, Executive will not directly or indirectly recruit or solicit any employee of the Company Group for employment or encourage any employee of the Company Group to leave such member of the Company Group’s employ. An employee shall be deemed covered by this clause (e) while employed by the Company Group and for a period of twelve (12) months thereafter.
(f) In addition, Executive agrees that for the twelve (12) months following the termination of his employment, Executive will not provide, in any capacity, Restricted Services to any business located in the United States or Germany which provides services or products competitive with those sold or provided by any member of the Company Group during the twenty-four (24) months preceding the end of Executive’s employment with the Company. The term “Restricted Services” shall mean services similar to those which Executive provided any member of the Company Group during the twenty-four (24) months preceding Executive’s termination of employment, for whatever reason, and which would involve use or disclosure of the Company’s Confidential Information.
