Adaptec 2005 Annual Report Download - page 19

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Table of Contents
Over the next few years, it is possible for additional competitors to enter the market with new products, some of which may also have greater financial and other
resources than us.
We are also continuing to expand into certain markets, such as storage and wireless infrastructure that have established incumbents with substantial financial and
other resources. Some of these incumbents derive a majority of their earnings from these markets. We expect continued strong competition in these markets.
LICENSES, PATENTSAND TRADEMARKS
We rely in part on patents to protect our intellectual property and have been awarded 242 U.S. and 78 foreign patents for circuit designs and other innovations
used in the design and architecture of our products. In addition, we have 60 patent applications pending in the U.S. Patent and Trademark office. Our patents
typically expire 20 years from the patent application date, with our existing patents expiring between 2010 and 2027.
We do not consider our business to be materially dependent upon any one patent. We believe that a strong portfolio of patents combined with other factors such
as our ability to innovate, technological expertise and the experience of our personnel are important to compete effectively in our industry. Our patent portfolio
also provides the flexibility to negotiate or cross license intellectual property with other semiconductor companies to broaden the features in our products.
We also rely on mask work protection, trademarks, copyrights, trade secret laws, employee and third-party nondisclosure agreements, and licensing arrangements
to protect our intellectual property.
Our only material license is the MIPS microprocessor architecture license from MIPS Technologies Inc., on which our microprocessor-based products are based.
While complex instruction set computing, or CISC architecture, is predominant in the desktop computer microprocessor market, several competing
microprocessor architectures have emerged for other microprocessor markets such as the embedded computing market. Because of their higher performance and
smaller space requirements, most of the competing architectures, such as the MIPS architecture, utilize reduced instruction set computing, or RISC architectures.
The MIPS architecture is widely supported through semiconductor design software, operating systems and companion integrated circuits. Because this license
supports the architecture behind our microprocessors, we must retain the MIPS license in order to produce our next generation microprocessor products. This
license may be terminated only if we do not make the required royalty payments or breach confidentiality obligations.
PMC, PMCS, PMC-Sierra and our logo are our registered trademarks and service marks. We own other trademarks and service marks not appearing in this
Annual Report. Any other trademarks used in this Annual Report are owned by other entities.
13
Source: PMC SIERRA INC, 10-K, February 22, 2008