7.1 All directors, corporate auditors, officers, and employees should protect the Company’s assets and ensure their efficient use. Theft, carelessness, and waste have a direct impact on the Company’s profitability and are prohibited.
7.2 All Company assets should be used only for legitimate business purposes. Any suspected incident of fraud or theft should be reported for investigation immediately.
7.3 The obligation to protect Company assets includes the Company’s proprietary information. Proprietary information includes intellectual property such as trade secrets, patents, trademarks, and copyrights, as well as business and marketing plans, engineering and manufacturing ideas, designs, databases, records, and any nonpublic financial data or reports. Unauthorized use or distribution of this information is prohibited and could also be illegal and result in civil or criminal penalties. All inventions, creative works, computer software, and technical or trade secrets developed by a director, corporate auditor, officer, or employee in the course of performing such person’s duties or primarily through the use of the Company’s assets or resources while working at the Company are the property of the Company.
8. Company Records. All company records must be complete, accurate and reliable in all material respects. There is never an acceptable reason to make false or misleading entries. Undisclosed or unrecorded funds, payments, or receipts are strictly prohibited. Directors, corporate auditors, officers, and employees are required to understand and comply with the Company’s recordkeeping policy. Directors, corporate auditors, officers, and employees should contact the Board of Corporate Auditors if he/she has any questions regarding the recordkeeping policy.
9. Confidentiality. Directors, corporate auditors, officers, and employees should maintain the confidentiality of information entrusted to them by the Company or by its customers, suppliers, or partners, except when disclosure is expressly authorized or is required or permitted by law. Confidential information includes all nonpublic information (regardless of its source) that might be of use to the Company’s competitors or harmful to the Company or its customers, suppliers or partners if disclosed.
10. Fair Dealing. Each director, corporate auditor, officer, and employee must deal fairly with the Company’s customers, suppliers, partners, service providers, competitors, employees, and anyone else with whom he or she has contact in the course of performing his or her job. No director, corporate auditor, officer, or employee may take unfair advantage of anyone through manipulation, concealment, abuse or privileged information, misrepresentation of facts, or any other unfair dealing practice. Directors, corporate auditors, officers, and employees should contact the Board of Corporate Auditors if he/she has any questions regarding the fair dealing policy.
11. Compliance with Laws and Regulations. Each director, corporate auditor, officer, and employee has an obligation to comply with the laws of the cities, states, and countries in which the Company operates. This includes, without limitation, laws covering commercial bribery and kickbacks, patent, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets, information privacy, insider trading,