premise: The aforesaid restrictions on the parties shall not apply to any Proprietary/Confidential Information which i. Can be proved by documentary evidence to be such Proprietary/Confidential Information that was already in the possession of the receiving party and at its free disposal before the disclosure hereunder to it; ii. Is received by the receiving party from third parties without accompanying secrecy or confidentiality obligations and not in violation of any duty of confidence under this agreement; iii. Is independently developed by the receiving party; iv. Is or becomes generally available to the public in printed publications in general discussion through no act or default on the part of the receiving party or its agents or employees; v. Is furnished to a third party by a party hereunto who owns such Proprietary/Confidential Information without similar restriction on the third party's rights; vi. Is approved for release by written authorization of the other party; or vii.  Is disclosed pursuant to any requirement or request by operation of law provided that the involving party shall prior to disclosure notify the disclosing party of any such requirement or request.