Blackberry 2013 Annual Report Download - page 64

A number of the Company’s competitors and other third parties have been issued patents, and may have filed patent applications or
may obtain additional patents and proprietary rights, for technologies similar to those that the Company has made or may make in the
future. Public awareness of new technologies often lags behind actual discoveries, making it difficult or impossible to know all the
relevant, third-party patent applications at any particular time. For example, patent applications filed in the United States before
November 29, 2000, and even a small number filed after that date, are maintained in secrecy by the U.S. Patent Office until issued as
patents. Even the majority of applications filed after November 29, 2000 do not become public until 18 months after their first filing.
Consequently, the Company cannot be certain that it was the first to develop the technology covered by its pending patent
applications or that it was the first to file patent applications for the technology. In addition, the disclosure in the Company’s patent
applications may not be sufficient to meet the statutory requirements for patentability in all cases. As a result, there can be no
assurance that the Company’s patent applications will result in patents being issued.
Protection of the rights sought in published patent applications can be costly and uncertain and can involve complex legal and factual
questions. In addition, the laws of certain countries in which the Company’s products are sold or licensed do not protect intellectual
property rights to the same extent as the laws of Canada or the United States. Therefore, the breadth of allowed claims and the scope
of protection provided by the Company’s patents, and their enforceability, cannot be predicted. Even if the Company’s patents are
held to be enforceable, others may be able to design around these patents or develop products similar to the Company’s products that
do not infringe the Company’s patents.
In addition to patents, the Company relies on, among other things, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, confidentiality procedures
and contractual provisions to protect its proprietary rights. While the Company enters into confidentiality and non-disclosure
agreements with its employees, consultants, contract manufacturers, customers, potential customers and others to attempt to limit
access to and distribution of proprietary and confidential information, it is possible that:
There can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in protecting its intellectual property rights.
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• some or all of its confidentialit
y
a
g
reements will not be honored;
• third
p
arties will inde
p
endentl
y
develo
p
e
q
uivalent technolo
gy
or misa
pp
ro
p
riate the Com
p
an
y
’s technolo
gy
or desi
g
ns;
• disputes will arise with the Company’s strategic partners, customers or others concerning the ownership of intellectual
p
ro
p
ert
y
;
• unauthorized disclosure or use of the Company’s intellectual property, including source code, know-how or trade secrets
will occur; or
• contractual
p
rovisions ma
y
not be enforceable.