upon which the Executive’s employment terminates (the “Restricted Period”), he shall not anywhere in the Restricted Territory, directly or indirectly: engage in any element of the Business or otherwise compete with NFM; render any services to any person, corporation, partnership or other entity (other than NFM or its affiliates) primarily engaged in any element of the Business; or become interested in any such person, corporation, partnership or other entity (other than NFM or its affiliates) as a partner, shareholder, principal, agent, employee, consultant or in any other relationship or capacity; provided, however, that, notwithstanding the foregoing, the Executive may invest in securities of any entity, solely for investment purposes and without participating in the business thereof, if (A) such securities are traded on any national securities exchange or the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. Automated Quotation System, (B) the Executive is not a controlling person of, or a member of a group which controls, such entity and (C) the Executive does not, directly or indirectly, own five percent (5%) or more of any class of securities of such entity.
For purposes of this Agreement, “Restricted Territory” means any state, county, or locality in the United States in which NFM conducts Business and any other country, jurisdiction or territory in which NFM has generated material revenue during the last six (6) months of Executive’s employment.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the restrictions set forth in this Section 4(A) shall not prohibit Executive from rendering services in any country in which NFM has not generated material revenue during the last six (6) months of Executive’s employment. It is intended that this Section 4(A), where applicable, shall prohibit Executive from rendering services to an enterprise that is engaged in direct competition with NFM but shall not prohibit Executive from rendering services to other networks in the cable industry, such as HBO, Showtime, ESPN, USA, or the like.
For purposes of this Agreement, “Trade Secret” means all non-public information whether tangible or intangible related to the products, services or business of NFM that (A) derives economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to or readily ascertainable by other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use; or (B) is the subject of efforts by NFM that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy, which might include: (i) marking any information reduced to tangible form clearly and conspicuously with a legend identifying its confidential or trade secret nature; (ii) identifying any oral communication as confidential or secret immediately before, during, or after such oral communication; or (iii) otherwise treating such information as confidential or secret. Assuming the criteria in clauses (A) or (B) of this paragraph are met, Trade Secrets includes information, without regard to form, including, but not limited to, technical and nontechnical data, formulas,
patterns, designs, compilations, computer programs and software, devices, inventions, methods, techniques, drawings, processes, financial data, financial plans, product plans, lists of actual or potential customers and suppliers which are not commonly known by or available to the public, research, development, and existing and future products.
(b) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Section 4(A)(ii)(a) above, in the event of a Change in Control Termination, such Restricted Period shall terminate and Executive shall therefore be free to seek employment elsewhere without regard to whether any prospective employer is a competitor of NFM.
B. NON-SOLICITATION. During the Restricted Period, Executive shall not, directly or indirectly, (i) solicit or encourage to leave the employment or other service of NFM any employee or independent contractor thereof; or (ii) hire (on behalf of Executive or any other person or entity) any employee or independent contractor who has left the employment or other service of NFM within the one-year period which follows the termination of such employer’s or independent contractor’s employment or other service with NFM. For purposes of the preceding sentence, the term “independent contractor” shall refer to independent contractors of NFM whose services relate directly to the conduct of the Business. During the Restricted Period, the Executive will not, whether for his own account or for the account of any other person, firm, corporation or other business organization, intentionally interfere with NFM’ relationship with, or endeavor to entice away from NFM any person who during the Term is or was a customer, client, supplier, licensee or other business relation of NFM.
C. CONFIDENTIALITY OBLIGATIONS
(i) CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION. As used in this Agreement, “Confidential Information” includes, without limitation, design information, manufacturing information, business, financial, and technical information, sales and processing information, product information, customer lists, vendor information, vendor lists, pricing information, corporation and personal business opportunities, software, computer disks or files, or any other electronic information of any kind, Rolodex cards or other lists of names, addresses or telephone numbers, financial information, current projects, projects in development and future projects, forecasts, plans, contracts, releases, and other documents, materials, writings or information, including those which are prepared, developed or created by Executive, or which come into the possession of Executive by any means or manner, and which relate directly or indirectly to NFM (all of the above collectively referred to as “Confidential Information”). Confidential Information includes