Stryker Corporation
December 12, 2021
to commence any action, suits or proceeding relating thereto except in such courts. Each party hereto further agrees that service of any process, summons, notices or documents by U.S. registered mail, postage prepaid, to its address set forth in this letter agreement shall be effective service for process for any action, suit or proceeding brought against such party in any such court. Each party hereto irrevocably and unconditionally waives any objection to the laying of venue of any action, suit or proceeding arising out of this letter agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby, in the courts of the State of Delaware or the United States of America located in the State of Delaware. Each party hereto hereby further irrevocably and unconditionally waives any right to trial by jury and waives and agrees not to plead or claim in any such court that any such action, suit or proceeding brought in any such court has been brought in an inconvenient forum.
20. For purposes of this letter agreement, (a) the term “person” means any individual, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, firm, joint venture, association, joint-stock company, trust, unincorporated organization, governmental or regulatory body or other entity, (b) the term “affiliate” means, when used with respect to any party, a person that directly or indirectly, through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by or is under common control with such party, (c) the term “subsidiary” means, when used with respect to any party, (i) a person that is directly or indirectly controlled by such party, (ii) a person of which such party beneficially owns, either directly or indirectly, more than 50% of the total combined voting power of all classes of voting securities of such person, the total combined equity interests of such person or the capital or profit interests, in the case of a partnership or (iii) a person of which such party has the power to vote, either directly or indirectly, sufficient securities to elect a majority of the board of directors or similar governing body of such person and (d) the term “control” means, when used with respect to any specified person, the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of such person, whether through the ownership of voting securities or other interests, by contract, agreement or otherwise .
21. This letter agreement may be executed in counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original, but both of which shall constitute the same agreement. Signatures to this letter agreement transmitted by electronic mail in “portable document format” (.pdf) form or by any other electronic means intended to preserve the original graphic and pictorial appearance of a document, will have the same effect as physical delivery of the paper document bearing the original signature.
22. Except as otherwise explicitly stated above, your obligations under this letter agreement shall terminate three years after the date of this letter agreement, except such obligations under Sections 8, 9 and 13 through 19, which shall have no expiration period. The termination of this letter agreement shall not relieve you from your responsibilities in respect of any breach of this letter agreement prior to such termination.
23. The Company understands that you, as the party receiving Confidential Information, may currently or in the future be developing information internally, or receiving information from others, that may be similar to the Confidential Information. Nothing in this letter agreement shall limit your research and/or development plans or programs provided that you do not use the Confidential Information belonging to the Company or its subsidiaries in violation of the terms of this letter agreement. Nothing in this letter agreement shall be construed as a representation or inference that you shall not develop products or services or have products or services developed or enter into any future agreements with third parties regarding products or services that compete with the products or services contemplated by the Confidential Information provided you do not violate the terms of this letter agreement.
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