definiens: will mean the terms of this Agreement and any confidential or proprietary information that is marked or o therwise designated as or is clearly by its nature confidential and disclosed in any medium by one party to the other . Except as required by law or regulation or expressly and unambiguously allowed herein, the receiving party will hold in co nfidence and not use or disclose any Confidential Information of the disclosing party and shall similarly bind its employees in writing . Without limiting the foregoing, each party agrees to employ with regard to the Confidential Information of the other pa rty procedures no less restrictive than the strictest procedures used by it to protect its own confidential and proprietary information . These nondisclosure obligations will not apply to information which the receiving party can document has entered the pu blic domain without any action or inaction by it . Each party will promptly report to the other party any actual or suspected violation of the terms of this Section 9, and will take all reasonable further steps requested by the other party to prevent, contr ol or remedy any such violation . Each party will, upon the termination or expiration of the Agreement or the request of the other party at any time, return to the disclosing party all tangible manifestations of Confidential Information received by it pursuant to the Agreement ( and all copies and reproductions thereof ) . Notwithstanding this Section 9, any confidentiality or non -disclosure agreement(s ) previously entered into between GeneProt and BDAL shall continue in full force and effect in accordance with their terms