definiens: shall mean any technical or business information furnished by one Party ( th e ) to the other Party ( the ) in connection with this Agreement, rega rdless of whether such information is specifically designated as confidential and regardless of whether such inf ormation is in written, oral, electronic or other form . Such Co nfidential Information may include, without limitat ion, the trade secrets, know - how, inventions, formulations, compositions, synthesis operating procedures, proto cols, technical data or specifications, testing methods, business or financial information, research and dev elopment activities, product and marketing plans, and custom er and supplier information . The Confidential Infor mation shall not include applicable information which the Receiving Party can demonstrate :  was in the public domain prior to the time of its disclosure under this Agreement ;  entered the public domain after the time of its di sclosure under this Agreement through means other t han an unauthorized disclosure resulting from an act or omission by the Receiving Party ;  was independently developed or discovered by the R eceiving Party prior to the time of its disclosure under this Agreement, as demonstrated by contempora neous written evidence ;  is or was disclosed to the Receiving Party at any time, whether prior to or after the time of its dis closure under this Agreement, by a third party having no fi duciary relationship with the Disclosing Party and having no obligation of confidentiality with respect to such Confidential Information or ;  is required to be disclosed so as to comply with a pplicable laws or regulations, or with a court or administrative order, provided that the Disclosing Party receives, to the extent practicable, prior wr itten notice of such disclosure and the opportunity to assess the n eed to disclose and/or limit the scope of disclosur e, and that the Receiving Party takes all reasonable and lawful actions to obtain confidential treatment for such disclosure and, if possible, to minimize the extent of such di sclosure