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.
Confidentiality and Trade Secrets (a) The Executive acknowledges and agrees that his position as an employee of the Company will afford him a unique opportunity to acquire confidential information concerning the Company and that the misappropriation or disclosure of such confidential information would cause irreparable harm to the Company. The Executive recognizes and agrees that he will have access to certain confidential information of the Company that is not generally available to the public and that such information constitutes valuable, special and unique property of the Company. The Executive acknowledges that such confidential information includes information concerning the Business and the Company including, without limitation, financial information concerning the Business or the Company, the names and addresses of actual and potential customers or acquisition or investment targets of the Business or the Company, studies of prospective market areas for the Business, supply sources, products, technical data, notes, diagrams, drawings, flow charts, ideas, techniques, specifications, procedures, processes, research, development, and trade secrets of the Business and the Company (such information whether related to the Business or the Company being referred to collectively as the “Confidential Information”). Confidential Information shall not include any information or documents (i) that are or become publicly available or otherwise known in the industry without breach of this Section 4.02; or (ii) that the Executive rightfully receives from any third party which is not breaching an obligation of confidence with the Company or without an accompanying obligation of confidence; or (iii) that were known to or by the Executive prior to his appointment with the Company without breach of this Section 4.02. In the event that the Executive is requested in any court or governmental proceeding to disclose any Confidential Information, the Executive shall give the Company prompt notice of such request such that the Company may seek a protective order or other appropriate relief and shall cooperate in all respects with the Company in its efforts in connection therewith.
(b) The Executive will keep confidential and will not, during his employment and for a period of five (5) years after any termination under this Agreement (whether by expiration or pursuant to Section 5.01 or otherwise), directly or indirectly, divulge to anyone, use or otherwise appropriate any of the Confidential Information for any reason or purpose whatsoever except to authorize representatives of the Company or when, in the good faith belief of the Executive, such disclosure is necessary or desirable in the normal course of the Business in order for the Executive to fulfill his duties and responsibilities to the Company as set out in Section 2.02.
(c) The Executive acknowledges and agrees that these prohibitions against disclosure of Confidential Information are in addition to, and not in lieu of, any rights or remedies which the Company may have available pursuant to the laws of any jurisdiction or at common law to prevent the disclosure of trade secrets or proprietary information, and the enforcement by the Company of any of their rights and remedies pursuant to this Agreement shall not be construed as a waiver of any other rights or available remedies which they may possess in law or equity absent this Agreement.
(d) Upon any termination of his employment under this Agreement, the Executive shall surrender to the Company all documents and materials in his possession, custody or control embodying the Confidential Information or any part thereof.
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.
Whistleblower Protections and Trade Secrets Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, nothing in this Agreement prohibits Executive from reporting possible violations of federal law or regulation to any United States governmental agency or entity in accordance with the provisions of and rules promulgated under Section 21F of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or Section 806 of the ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇-▇▇▇▇▇ Act of 2002, or any other whistleblower protection provisions of state or federal law or regulation (including the right to receive an award for information provided to any such government agencies). Furthermore, in accordance with 18 U.S.C. § 1833, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement: (i) Executive shall not be in breach of this Agreement, and shall not be held criminally or civilly liable under any federal or state trade secret law (x) for the disclosure of a trade secret that is made in confidence to a federal, state, or local government official or to an attorney solely for the purpose of reporting or investigating a suspected violation of law, or (y) for the disclosure of a trade secret that is made in a complaint or other document filed in a lawsuit or other proceeding, if such filing is made under seal; and (ii) if Executive files a lawsuit for retaliation by the Company for reporting a suspected violation of law, Executive may disclose the trade secret to Executive’s attorney, and may use the trade secret information in the court proceeding, if Executive files any document containing the trade secret under seal, and does not disclose the trade secret, except pursuant to court order.
Sales Material, Information and Trademarks 6.1 For purposes of this Section 6, “Sales literature or other Promotional material” includes, but is not limited to, portions of the following that use any logo or other trademark related to the Trust, or Underwriter or its affiliates, or refer to the Trust: advertisements (such as material published or designed for use in a newspaper, magazine or other periodical, radio, television, telephone or tape recording, videotape display, signs or billboards, motion pictures, electronic communication or other public media), sales literature (i.e., any written communication distributed or made generally available to customers or the public, including brochures, circulars, research reports, market letters, form letters, seminar texts, reprints or excerpts or any other advertisement, sales literature or published article or electronic communication), educational or training materials or other communications distributed or made generally available to some or all agents or employees in any media, and disclosure documents, shareholder reports and proxy materials.
6.2 You shall furnish, or cause to be furnished to us or our designee, at least one complete copy of each registration statement, prospectus, statement of additional information, private placement memorandum, retirement plan disclosure information or other disclosure documents or similar information, as applicable (collectively “Disclosure Documents”), as well as any report, solicitation for voting instructions, Sales literature or other Promotional materials, and all amendments to any of the above that relate to the Contracts or the Accounts prior to its first use. You shall furnish, or shall cause to be furnished, to us or our designee each piece of Sales literature or other Promotional material in which the Trust or an Adviser is named, at least fifteen (15) Business Days prior to its proposed use. No such material shall be used unless we or our designee approve such material and its proposed use.
6.3 You and your agents shall not give any information or make any representations or statements on behalf of the Trust or concerning the Trust, the Underwriter or an Adviser, other than information or representations contained in and accurately derived from the registration statement or prospectus for the Trust shares (as such registration statement and prospectus may be amended or supplemented from time to time), annual and semi-annual reports of the Trust, Trust-sponsored proxy statements, or in Sales literature or other Promotional material approved by the Trust or its designee, except as required by legal process or regulatory authorities or with the written permission of the Trust or its designee. You shall send us a complete copy of each Disclosure Document and item of Sales literature or other Promotional materials in its final form within twenty (20) days of its first use.
6.4 We shall not give any information or make any representations or statements on behalf of you or concerning you, the Accounts or the Contracts other than information or representations, including naming you as a Trust shareholder, contained in and accurately derived from Disclosure Documents for the Contracts (as such Disclosure Documents may be amended or supplemented from time to time), or in materials approved by you for distribution, including Sales literature or other Promotional materials, except as required by legal process or regulatory authorities or with your written permission.
6.5 Except as provided in Section 6.2, you shall not use any designation comprised in whole or part of the names or marks “Franklin” or “▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇” or any logo or other trademark relating to the Trust or the Underwriter without prior written consent, and upon termination of this Agreement for any reason, you shall cease all use of any such name or ▇▇▇▇ as soon as reasonably practicable.
6.6 You shall furnish to us ten (10) Business Days prior to its first submission to the SEC or its staff, any request or filing for no-action assurance or exemptive relief naming, pertaining to, or affecting, the Trust, the Underwriter or any of the Portfolios.
6.7 You agree that any posting of Portfolio prospectuses on your website will result in the Portfolio prospectuses: (i) appearing identical to the hard copy printed version or .pdf format file provided to you by us (except that you may reformat .pdf format prospectus files in order to delete blank pages and to insert .pdf format prospectus supplement files provided by us to you); (ii) being clearly associated with the particular Contracts in which they are available and posted in close proximity to the applicable Contract prospectuses; (iii) having no less prominence than prospectuses of any other underlying funds available under the Contracts; and (iv) being used in an authorized manner. Notwithstanding the above, you understand and agree that you are responsible for ensuring that participation in the Portfolios, and any website posting, or other use, of the Portfolio prospectuses is in compliance with this Agreement and applicable state and federal securities and insurance laws and regulations, including as they relate to paper or electronic use of fund prospectuses. The format of such presentation, the script and layout for any website that mentions the Trust, the Underwriter, an Adviser or the Portfolios shall be routed to us as sales literature or other promotional materials, pursuant to Section 6 of this Agreement. In addition, you agree to be solely responsible for maintaining and updating the Portfolio prospectuses’ PDF files (including prospectus supplements) and removing and/or replacing promptly any outdated prospectuses, as necessary, ensuring that any accompanying instructions by us, for using or stopping use are followed. You agree to designate and make available to us a person to act as a single point of communication contact for these purposes. We are not responsible for any additional costs or additional liabilities that may be incurred as a result of your election to place the Portfolio prospectuses on your website. We reserve the right to revoke this authorization, at any time and for any reason, although we may instead make our authorization subject to new procedures.
6.8 Each of your and your distributor’s registered representatives, agents, independent contractors and employees, as applicable, will have access to our websites at ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇.▇▇▇, and such other URLs through which we may permit you to conduct business concerning the Portfolios from time to time (referred to collectively as the “Site”) as provided herein: (i) upon registration by such individual on a Site, (ii) if you cause a Site Access Request Form (an “Access Form”) to be signed by your authorized supervisory personnel and submitted to us, as a Schedule to, and legally a part of, this Agreement, or (iii) if you provide such individual with the necessary access codes or other information necessary to access the Site through any generic or firm-wide authorization we may grant you from time to time. Upon receipt by us of a completed registration submitted by an individual through the Site or a signed Access Form referencing such individual, we shall be entitled to rely upon the representations contained therein as if you had made them directly hereunder and we will issue a user identification, express number and/or password (collectively, “Access Code”). Any person to whom we issue an Access Code or to whom you provide the necessary Access Codes or other information necessary to access the Site through any generic or firm-wide authorization we may grant you from time to time shall be an “Authorized User.” We shall be entitled to assume that such person validly represents you and that all instructions received from such person are authorized, in which case such person will have access to the Site, including all services and information to which you are authorized to access on the Site. All inquiries and actions initiated by you (including your Authorized Users) are your responsibility, are at your risk and are subject to our review and approval (which could cause a delay in processing). You agree that we do not have a duty to question information or instructions you (including Authorized Users) give to us under this Agreement, and that we are entitled to treat as authorized, and act upon, any such instructions and information you submit to us. You agree to take all reasonable measures to prevent any individual other than an Authorized User from obtaining access to the Site. You agree to inform us if you wish to restrict or revoke the access of any individual Access Code. If you become aware of any loss or theft or unauthorized use of any Access Code, you agree to contact us immediately. You also agree to monitor your (including Authorized Users’) use of the Site to ensure the terms of this Agreement are followed. You also agree that you will comply with all policies and agreements concerning Site usage, including without limitation the Terms of Use Agreement(s) posted on the Site (“Site Terms”), as may be revised and reposted on the Site from time to time, and those Site Terms (as in effect from time to time) are a part of this Agreement. Your duties under this section are considered “services” required under the terms of this Agreement. You acknowledge that the Site is transmitted over the Internet on a reasonable efforts basis and we do not warrant or guarantee their accuracy, timeliness, completeness, reliability or non-infringement. Moreover, you acknowledge that the Site is provided for informational purposes only, and is not intended to comply with any requirements established by any regulatory or governmental agency.