EMPLOYEE NON-COMPETE AGREEMENT

This Employee Non-Compete Agreement ("Agreement") is entered into by and between Blackboxstocks, Inc., a Nevada corporation, with its principal place of business located at 5430 LBJ Freeway, Suite 1485, Dallas, Texas 75240, (the "Employer") and Gust Kepler (the "Employee") (the Employer and the Employee are collectively referred to herein as the "Parties") as of October 21, 2016 (the "Effective Date").

In consideration of the Employee's employment by the Employer as President, which the Employee acknowledges to be good and valuable consideration for the Employee's obligations hereunder, the Parties hereby agree as follows:

For purposes of this Agreement, "Confidential Information" includes, but is not limited to, all information not generally known to the public, in spoken, printed, electronic, or any other form or medium, relating directly or indirectly to: business processes, practices, methods, policies, plans, publications, documents, research, operations, services, strategies, techniques, agreements, contracts, terms of agreements, transactions, potential transactions, negotiations, pending negotiations, know-how, trade secrets, computer programs, computer software, applications, operating systems,  software design, web design, work-in-process, databases, manuals, records, articles, systems, material, sources of material, supplier information, vendor information, financial information, results, accounting information, accounting records, legal information, marketing information, advertising information, pricing information, credit information, design information, payroll information, staffing information, personnel information, employee lists, supplier lists, vendor lists, developments, reports, internal controls, security procedures, graphics, drawings, sketches, market studies, sales information, revenue, costs, formulae, notes, communications, algorithms, product plans, designs, styles, models, ideas, audiovisual programs, inventions, unpublished patent applications, original works of authorship, discoveries, experimental processes, experimental results, specifications, customer information, customer lists, client information, and client lists of the Employer or its businesses or any existing or prospective customer, supplier, investor, or other associated third party, or of any other person or entity that has entrusted information to the Employer in confidence.

The Employee understands that the above list is not exhaustive, and that Confidential Information also includes other information that is marked or otherwise identified or treated as confidential or proprietary, or that would otherwise appear to a reasonable person to be confidential or proprietary in the context and circumstances in which the information is known or used.

The Employee understands and agrees that Confidential Information includes information developed by the Employee in the course of the Employee's employment by the Employer as if the Employer furnished the same Confidential Information to the Employee in the first instance. Confidential Information shall not include information that is generally available to and known by the public at the time of disclosure to the Employee, provided that such disclosure is through no direct or indirect fault of the Employee or person(s) acting on the Employee's behalf.

 

 

The Employee understands and acknowledges that the Employer has invested, and continues to invest, substantial time, money, and specialized knowledge into developing its resources, creating a customer base, generating customer and potential customer lists, training its employees, and improving its offerings in the design, development, marketing and exploitation of software applications and solutions to be used in conjunction with stock trading platforms. The Employee understands and acknowledges that as a result of these efforts, Employer has created, and continues to use and create, Confidential Information. The Employee further understands and acknowledges that this Confidential Information provides Employer with a competitive advantage over others in the marketplace and that Employer would suffer irreparable harm if Confidential Information is disclosed to its competitors.

The Employee agrees and covenants: (i) to treat all Confidential Information as strictly confidential; (ii) not to directly or indirectly disclose, publish, communicate, or make available Confidential Information, or allow it to be disclosed, published, communicated, or made available, in whole or part, to any entity or person whatsoever (including other employees of the Employer) not having a need to know and authority to know and use the Confidential Information in connection with the business of the Employer; and (iii) not to access or use any Confidential Information, and not to copy any documents, records, files, media, or other resources containing any Confidential Information, or remove any such documents, records, files, media, or other resources from the premises or control of the Employer, except as required in the performance of the Employee's authorized employment duties to the Employer. Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent disclosure of Confidential Information as may be required by applicable law or regulation, or pursuant to the valid order of a court of competent jurisdiction or an authorized government agency, provided that the disclosure does not exceed the extent of disclosure required by such law, regulation, or order. The Employee shall promptly provide written notice of any such order to the President of the Company.

The Employee understands that the nature of the Employee's position gives the Employee access to and knowledge of Confidential Information and places the Employee in a position of trust and confidence with the Employer and that the Employee will benefit from the Employer's goodwill. The Employee understands and acknowledges that the Employer invested significant time and expense in developing the Confidential Information and goodwill.

The Employee further understands and acknowledges that the restrictive covenants below are necessary to protect the Employer's legitimate business interests in its Confidential Information and goodwill. The Employee further understands and acknowledges that the Employer's ability to reserve these for the exclusive knowledge and use of the Employer is of great competitive importance and commercial value to the Employer and that the Employer would be irreparably harmed if the Employee violates the restrictive covenants below.

Because of Employer's legitimate business interest as described herein and the good and valuable consideration offered to the Employee, the receipt and sufficiency of which is acknowledged, during the term of Employee's employment and for the twelve (12) months, to run consecutively, beginning on the last day of the Employee's employment with the Employer, for any reason or no reason and whether employment is terminated at the option of the Employee or the Employer, the Employee agrees and covenants not to engage in any Prohibited Activity.

 

 

For purposes of this non-compete clause, "Prohibited Activity" is activity in which the Employee contributes his knowledge, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, as an employee, employer, owner, operator, manager, advisor, consultant, agent, partner, director, stockholder, officer, volunteer, intern, or any other similar capacity to an entity engaged in the same or similar business as the Employer, including those engaged in the business of in the design, development, marketing and exploitation of software applications and solutions to be used in conjunction with stock trading platforms. Prohibited Activity also includes activity that may require or inevitably require disclosure of trade secrets, proprietary information, or Confidential Information.

Nothing herein shall prohibit Employee from purchasing or owning less than five percent (5%) of the publicly traded securities of any corporation, provided that such ownership represents a passive investment and that the Employee is not a controlling person of, or a member of a group that controls, such corporation.

This Section does not, in any way, restrict or impede the Employee from exercising protected rights to the extent that such rights cannot be waived by agreement or from complying with any applicable law or regulation or a valid order of a court of competent jurisdiction or an authorized government agency, provided that such compliance does not exceed that required by the law, regulation, or order. The Employee shall promptly provide written notice of any such order to the President of the Company.

Employee understands and acknowledges that the Employer has expended and continues to expend significant time and expense in recruiting and training its employees and that the loss of employees would cause significant and irreparable harm to the Employer. The Employee agrees and covenants not to directly or indirectly solicit, hire, recruit, attempt to hire or recruit, any employee of the Employer in the six (6) months preceding the last day of Employee's employment (collectively, "Covered Employee"), or induce the termination of employment of any employee of the Employer during twelve (12) months, to run consecutively, beginning on the last day of the Employee's employment with the Employer.

 

The Employee understands and acknowledges that the Employer has expended and continues to expend significant time and expense in developing customer relationships, customer information and goodwill, and that because of the Employee's experience with and relationship to the Employer, he will have access to and learn about much or all of the Employer's customer information. "Customer Information" includes, but is not limited to, names, phone numbers, addresses, email addresses, order history, order preferences, chain of command, pricing information, and other information identifying facts and circumstances specific to the customer and relevant to services.

The Employee understands and acknowledges that loss of this customer relationship and/or goodwill will cause significant and irreparable harm to the Employer.

The Employee agrees and covenants, for a period of twelve (12) months, to run consecutively, beginning on the last day of the Employee's employment with the Employer, not to directly or indirectly solicit, contact, or attempt to solicit or contact, using any other form of oral, written, or electronic communication, attempt to contact or meet with the Employer's current customers for purposes of offering or accepting goods or services similar to or competitive with those offered by the Employer.

 

 

This restriction shall only apply to each of the following:

 

To the extent permitted by state law, the Employer may assign this Agreement to any subsidiary or corporate affiliate, or to any successor or assign (whether direct or indirect, by purchase, merger, consolidation, or otherwise) to all or substantially all of the business or assets of the Employer. This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of the Employer and its successors and assigns.

 

 

The Employee may not assign this Agreement or any part hereof. Any purported assignment by the Employee shall be null and void from the initial date of purported assignment.

   The Parties further agree that any such court is expressly authorized to modify any unenforceable provision of this Agreement in lieu of severing the unenforceable provision from this Agreement in its entirety, whether by rewriting the offending provision, deleting any or all of the offending provision, adding additional language to this Agreement, or by making any other modifications as it deems warranted to carry out the intent and agreement of the Parties as embodied herein to the maximum extent permitted by law.