13. Restrictive Covenants.
(a) While the Recipient is employed by the Company (including its Subsidiaries) and for a period of one (1) year after the Recipient’s Separation from Service for any reason (the “Restricted Period”), the Recipient will not directly or indirectly either alone or in association with others solicit, or permit any organization directly or indirectly controlled by the Recipient to solicit, any employee or independent contractor of Coherent or its Subsidiaries to leave the employ or service of Coherent or its Subsidiaries. The Restricted Period will be tolled during and for any period of time during which the Recipient is in violation of the restrictive covenants contained in this Section 13(a) and for any period of time which may be necessary to secure an order of court or injunction, either preliminary or permanent, to enforce such covenants, such that the cumulative time period during which the Recipient is in compliance with the restrictive covenants contained in this Section 13(a) will not exceed the one (1)-year period set forth above.
(b) The Recipient acknowledges that certain materials, including information, data, technology and other materials relating to customers, programs, costs, marketing, investment, sales activities, promotion, credit and financial data, manufacturing processes, financing methods, plans or the business and affairs of Coherent and its Subsidiaries constitute proprietary confidential information and trade secrets. Accordingly, the Recipient will not at any time during or after the Recipient’s employment with the Company or a Subsidiary disclose or use for the Recipient’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 (including its Subsidiaries), any proprietary confidential information or trade secrets; provided that the foregoing shall not apply to information which is not unique to Coherent and its Subsidiaries or which is generally known to the industry or the public other than as a result of the Recipient’s breach of this covenant. The Recipient agrees that, upon the Recipient’s Separation from Service for any reason, the Recipient will immediately return to Coherent all property of Coherent and its Subsidiaries including all memoranda, books, technical and/or lab notebooks, customer product and pricing data, papers, plans, information, letters and other data, and all copies thereof or therefrom, which in any way relate to the business of Coherent and its Subsidiaries, except that the Recipient may retain personal items. The Recipient further agrees that the Recipient will not retain or use for the Recipient’s account at any time any trade names, trademark or other proprietary business designation used or owned in connection with the business of Coherent and its Subsidiaries.
(c) Nothing herein is intended to or shall limit, prevent, impede or interfere with the Recipient’s non-waivable right, without prior notice to the Company, to provide information to the government, participate in investigations, testify in proceedings regarding the Company’s past or future conduct, or engage in any activities protected under whistleblower statutes, or to receive and fully retain a monetary award from a government-administered whistleblower award program for providing information directly to a government agency. Further, the Recipient understands that pursuant to the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016, the Recipient shall not be held criminally, or civilly, liable under any Federal or State trade secret law for the disclosure of a trade secret that is made in confidence either directly or indirectly to a Federal, State, or local government official, or an attorney, for the sole purpose of reporting, or investigating, a violation
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