The Biocides Company

Letter to Employees

Introduction to the Code

Our Principles of Integrity

Our Responsibilities

Raising Issues & Concerns

Environment, Health and Safety

Personal Conduct at Work

Assuring Financial Integrity

Avoiding Conflicts of Interest

Protecting Company Assets

Using Company Resources

Competing Globally

Doing Business with the Government

Dealing with the Public

Employee Resources

Protecting Company Assets

Each of us is responsible for protecting and preserving Company assets and resources. You should safeguard all Company assets and never use them for any unlawful or unethical purpose.

Confidential Information
Many valuable Company assets are intangible, including our trade secrets and confidential information. You must protect our intangible assets and confidential information just as you would our Company's physical assets.

You must not disclose or discuss confidential, non-public information with any unauthorized person inside or outside of the Company unless there is a clear business purpose and the outside party has signed an approved confidentiality agreement. Examples of confidential information include the following:

• Undisclosed financial and earnings reports
• Confidential product performance information
• New product offerings
• Merger, acquisition, divestiture or business plans
• Customer lists
• Proprietary or classified government information
• Procurement plans
• Capital requirements
• Research and development information
• Personnel information or changes
• Confidential technical data
• Marketing, pricing or service strategies
• Business negotiations
• Business costs and volumes
• Supplier and subcontractor information
• Proprietary computer software

You should never leave confidential information in places where unauthorized individuals can see it. Also, don't discuss confidential information in public places where you can be easily overheard. When you dispose of confidential information, be sure to dispose of it in a secure manner rather than throwing it in a public trashcan.

Intellectual Property
Intellectual property is one of our most valuable company assets. Intellectual property includes patents, trade secrets, trademarks, copyrights and other proprietary information. It also includes software programs created by other companies that are copyrighted or otherwise restricted, and designs for products like semiconductor chips.

We must vigorously protect our own intellectual property rights as well as the rights of others. To protect our property rights, you should fully document product development research and use appropriate Arch trademark and copyright notices on all correspondence, articles, manuals or other papers. To avoid infringing on the intellectual property rights of others, you must never:

• Make unauthorized copies of software or photocopy magazine or journal articles or any other publications
• Hire a competitor's employee to obtain that competitor's trade secrets
• Affix the trademark of another company to goods without authorization
• Fail to remove another company's trademark when the goods or parts are remanufactured
• Erroneously allege patent infringement or mark a product with an untrue patent notice

If you need to use intellectual property belonging to someone else, you must consult with the Arch Legal Department to obtain a license to use the property or purchase the outright ownership of the property. In the case of property rights with an expiration date, such as patents, you must be sure that this date has passed if licensing or outright purchase is not feasible.

 

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