Covenants and Restrictions Subject to the provisions o f Paragraph 10(e) hereof, Employee covenants that, except in carrying out his duties hereunder, during the term of his employment and for a period of five (5) years following the date of termination of employment hereunder (unless such longer period of time is specifically set forth herein):
(a) Employee will not directly or indirectly, own any interest in, participate or engage in, assist, render any services (including advisory services) to, become associated with, work for, serve (in any capacity whatsoever, including, without limitation, as an employee, consultant, advisor, agent, independent contractor , officer or director) or otherwise become in any way or manner connected with the ownership, management, operation, or control of , any business, firm, corporation, partnership or other entity (collectively referred to herein as a "Person") that engages in, or assists others in engaging in or conducting any business, which deals, directly or indirectly, in products or services similar to or competitive with the Company's product line or services in the United States, Canada, or Western Europe; provided, however, the above shall not be deemed to exclude Employee from acting as director of a corporation for the benefit of the Company with the consent of the Company's Board of Directors; provided further, however, that the above shall not be deemed to prohibit Employee from owning or acquiring securities issued by any corporation which neither directly nor indirectly competes with the Company and whose securities are listed with a national securities exchange or are traded in the over-the-counter market, provided that Employee at no time owns, directly or indirectly, beneficially or otherwise, five (5%) percent or more of any class of any such corporation's outstanding capital stock.
(b) Employee will not knowingly provide or solicit to provide to any Person or individual (i) any goods or services which are competitive with those provided by the Company or which would be competitive with the goods or services that the Company has planned to provide, or (ii) any goods or services to any customer of the Company. The term "customer" shall mean any Person or individual to whom the Company has provided goods or services within the twenty-four (24) month period prior to the termination of Employee's employment hereunder. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, no limitation shall be imposed on Employee hereunder with respect to any goods and services that the Company has planned to provide and which are not actually being provided at the time of the termination of Employee's employment hereunder or which are not actually provided within eighteen (18) months following the termination of Employee's employment hereunder.