Confidentiality
As is customary in the search trade, PAS’s agents
including its officers, employees and subcontractors to take all reasonable effort
and precaution to preserve the secrecy of all such proprietary technical information
received either from you directly or from your firm or other parties connected to
the search and not to make any use thereof except to provide patent searching or
other related services requested by your firm as specified by you.
All documents including letters, specifications, drawings, sketches and reproductions,
abstracts, excerpts, and summaries thereof and articles that come into the possession
of PAS. through the above agents as a result of the search authorization and which
contain proprietary technical and legal information are and continue to be your
property. Promptly after completion of the search report to you, all such documents
in possession of PAS will be delivered to you in a reasonable manner and deleted
from our system if you instruct us to do so as to preserve the secrecy thereof.
This confidentiality is not intended to restrict PAS and/or its agents use or disclosure
of any part of such proprietary technical information which (1) is or hereafter
becomes published or in the public domain through no fault or act of PAS and/or
its agents, (2) was already known by PAS and/or its agents prior to disclosure thereof
by the contents of your documents, and is (3) made available to PAS and/or its agents
by a third party under no obligation to your firm with respect to such information;
provided however, that PAS and/or its agents do not disclose that technical information
within the areas of (1), (2), or (3) above as being of particular interest to you
in this specific matter.