CONFIDENTIAL/TRADE SECRET MATERIALS a. Contractor Confidential, trade secret or proprietary materials as defined by the laws of the State of New York must be clearly marked and identified as such upon submission by the Bidder. Marking the Bid as “confidential” or “proprietary” on its face or in the document header or footer shall not be considered by the Commissioner or Authorized User to be sufficient without specific justification as to why disclosure of particular information in the Bid would cause substantial injury to the competitive position of the Bidder. Bidders/Contractors intending to seek an exemption from disclosure of these materials under the Freedom of Information Law must request the exemption in writing, setting forth the reasons for the claimed exemption. Acceptance of the claimed materials does not constitute a determination on the exemption request, which determination will be made in accordance with statutory procedures. Properly identified information that has been designated confidential, trade secret, or proprietary by the Bidder will not be disclosed except as may be required by the Freedom of Information Law or other applicable State and federal laws.
Proprietary Marks A. GNC represents with respect to the Proprietary Marks that GNC has the right to use and to license others to use the Proprietary Marks and that the use thereof by Rite Aid in the operation of the Business in accordance with this Agreement will not violate any agreement to which GNC or any licensor to Rite Aid is a party or may be bound and will not infringe upon the rights of any third party.
B. With respect to Rite Aid's use of the Proprietary Marks pursuant to this Agreement, Rite Aid agrees that:
(1) In the operation of the Business, Rite Aid shall use the Proprietary Marks only in the manner authorized and permitted by this Agreement and such other uniform Proprietary Mark Standards as required from time to time. Any unauthorized use t▇▇▇▇of shall constitute an infringement of GNC's rights. GNC acknowledges that in the operation and promotion of its Stores and business generally Rite Aid will use its proprietary marks and those of the third parties.
(2) Rite Aid shall execute any documents deemed necessary by GNC or its counsel to disclaim any interest in the Proprietary Marks other than the license granted to it in this Agreement.
(3) Rite Aid shall not use the Proprietary Marks in its corporate name or any fictitious name.
(4) Rite Aid shall not directly or indirectly contest the validity or other ownership of the Proprietary Marks.
(5) In the event that litigation involving the Proprietary Marks is instituted or threatened against Rite Aid, Rite Aid shall promptly notify GNC of such litigation.
C. Rite Aid expressly understands and acknowledges that:
(1) As between the parties hereto, GNC has the exclusive right and interest in and to the Proprietary Marks and the goodwill associated with and symbolized by them and that Rite Aid has only the license granted to it in this Agreement.
(2) Rite Aid's use of the Proprietary Marks pursuant to this Agreement does not give Rite Aid any ownership interest or other interest in or to such marks and all goodwill arising from Rite Aid's use of the Proprietary Marks in its operation of the Business shall inure solely and exclusively to GNC's benefit and, upon expiration or termination of this Agreement and the license herein granted, no monetary amount shall be assigned as attributable to any goodwill associated with Rite Aid's use of the System or the Proprietary Marks.
(3) Except as may be specifically provided elsewhere in this Agreement, the right and license of the Proprietary Marks granted hereunder to Rite Aid is non-exclusive and GNC thus has and retains the following rights, among others:
(a) To grant other licenses for the Proprietary Marks; and
(b) To use the Proprietary Marks in connection with selling products and services at locations outside of the Protected Territory to the extent permitted in this Agreement.
Intellectual Property Rights and Confidentiality 3.1 Party A shall have exclusive and proprietary rights and interests in all rights, ownership, interests and intellectual properties arising out of or created during the performance of this Agreement, including but not limited to copyrights, patents, patent applications, software, technical secrets, trade secrets and others. Party B shall execute all appropriate documents, take all appropriate actions, submit all filings and/or applications, render all appropriate assistance and otherwise conduct whatever is necessary as deemed by Party A in its sole discretion for the purposes of vesting any ownership, right or interest of any such intellectual property rights in Party A, and/or perfecting the protections for any such intellectual property rights in Party A.
3.2 The Parties acknowledge that the existence and the terms of this Agreement and any oral or written information exchanged between the Parties in connection with the preparation and performance this Agreement are regarded as confidential information. Each Party shall maintain confidentiality of all such confidential information, and without obtaining the written consent of the other Party, it shall not disclose any relevant confidential information to any third parties, except for the information that: (a) is in the public domain (other than through the receiving Party’s unauthorized disclosure); (b) is under the obligation to be disclosed pursuant to the applicable laws or regulations, rules of any stock exchange, or orders of the court or other government authorities; or (c) is required to be disclosed by any Party to its shareholders, investors, legal counsels or financial advisors regarding the transaction contemplated hereunder, provided that such shareholders, investors, legal counsels or financial advisors shall be bound by the confidentiality obligations similar to those set forth in this Section. Disclosure of any confidential information by the staff members or agencies hired by any Party shall be deemed disclosure of such confidential information by such Party, which Party shall be held liable for breach of this Agreement. This Section shall survive the termination of this Agreement for any reason.
3.3 The Parties agree that this Section shall survive changes to, and rescission or termination of, this Agreement.
Confidential Information and Trade Secrets The Participant and the Company agree that certain materials, including, but not limited to, information, data and other materials relating to customers, development programs, costs, marketing, trading, investment, sales activities, promotion, credit and financial data, manufacturing processes, financing methods, plans or the business and affairs of the Company and its Affiliates, constitute proprietary confidential information and trade secrets. Accordingly, the Participant will not at any time during or after the Participant’s employment with the Company (including any Affiliate) disclose or use for such Participant’s own benefit or purposes or the benefit or purposes of any other person, firm, partnership, joint venture, association, corporation or other business organization, entity or enterprise other than the Company and any of its Affiliates, any proprietary confidential information or trade secrets, provided that the foregoing shall not apply to information which is not unique to the Company or any of its Affiliates or which is generally known to the industry or the public other than as a result of such Participant’s breach of this covenant. The Participant agrees that upon termination of employment with the Company (including any Affiliate) for any reason, the Participant will immediately return to the Company all memoranda, books, papers, plans, information, letters and other data, and all copies thereof or therefrom, which in any way relate to the business of the Company and its Affiliates, except that the Participant may retain personal notes, notebooks and diaries. The Participant further agrees that the Participant will not retain or use for the Participant’s own account at any time any trade names, trademark or other proprietary business designation used or owned in connection with the business of the Company or any of its Affiliates. Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, this Agreement shall not prohibit disclosure of proprietary confidential information if (i) it is required by law or by a court of competent jurisdiction or (ii) it is in connection with any judicial, arbitration, dispute resolution or other legal proceeding in which your legal rights and obligations as an employee or under this Agreement are at issue; provided, however, that you shall, to the extent practicable and lawful in any such event, give prior notice to the Company of your intent to disclose proprietary confidential information so as to allow the Company an opportunity (which you shall not oppose) to obtain such protective orders or similar relief with respect thereto as may be deemed appropriate. Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing in this Agreement is intended to restrict, prohibit, impede or interfere with the Participant providing information to, or from reporting possible violations of law or regulation to, any governmental agency or entity, from participating in investigations, testifying in proceedings regarding the Company’s past or future conduct, or from making other disclosures that are protected under state or federal law or regulation, engaging in any future activities protected under statutes administered by any government agency (including but not limited, to the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Congress, and any agency Inspector General), or from receiving and retaining a monetary award from a government-administered whistleblower award program for providing information directly to a government-administered whistleblower award program. The Participant does not need the prior authorization of the Company to make such reports or disclosures. The Participant is not required to notify the Company that he or she has made any such reports or disclosures. The Company nonetheless asserts, and does not waive, its attorney-client privilege over any information appropriately protected by the privilege.
Trade Secrets Employee agrees that he will not, during or after the term of this Agreement with the Company, disclose the specific terms of the Company's (including the Company's subsidiaries) relationships or agreements with its significant vendors or customers or any other significant and material trade secret of the Company (including the Company's subsidiaries), whether in existence or proposed, to any person, firm, partnership, corporation or business for any reason or purpose whatsoever, except as is disclosed in the ordinary course of business.