Clearwire 2008 Annual Report Download - page 51

We cou
ld b
esu
b
ject to c
l
aims t
h
at we
h
ave infringe
d
on t
h
e proprietary rig
h
ts of ot
h
ers, w
h
ic
h
c
l
aim
s
w
ould likely be costly to defend, could require us to pay damages and could limit our ability to use neces-
s
ar
y
tec
h
no
l
ogies in t
h
e
f
uture.
C
ompetitors or other persons may have independently developed or patented technologies or processes that are
s
u
b
stant
i
a
lly
equ
i
va
l
ent or super
i
or to ours or t
h
at are necessar
y
to perm
i
tusto
d
ep
l
o
y
an
d
operate our networ
k
,
w
h
et
h
er
b
ase
d
on Expe
di
ence or mo
bil
eW
i
MAX tec
h
no
l
o
gy
,ortoo
ff
er a
ddi
t
i
ona
l
serv
i
ces, suc
h
as VoIP, o
r
c
ompetitors may develop or patent such technologies or processes in the future. These persons may claim that ou
r
s
erv
i
ces an
d
pro
d
ucts
i
n
f
r
i
n
g
eont
h
ese patents or ot
h
er propr
i
etar
y
r
igh
ts. For
i
nstance, certa
i
nt
hi
r
d
part
i
es c
l
a
i
m
th
at t
h
e
yh
o
ld
patents re
l
at
i
n
g
to certa
i
n aspects o
f
mo
bil
eW
i
MAX an
d
VoIP tec
h
no
l
o
gy
.T
h
ese t
hi
r
d
part
i
es ma
y
s
eek to enforce these patent ri
g
hts a
g
ainst the operators of mobile WiMAX networks and VoIP telephon
y
service
p
rov
id
ers, suc
h
as us. One suc
h
party, A
d
apt
i
x, Inc., w
hi
c
h
we re
f
er to as A
d
apt
i
x,
h
as a
l
rea
d
y sue
d
us
f
or paten
t
i
n
f
r
i
n
g
ement a
ll
e
gi
n
g
t
h
at we
i
n
f
r
i
n
g
e
d
on seven patents re
l
ate
d
to mo
bil
eW
i
MAX tec
h
no
l
o
gy
.De
f
en
di
n
g
a
g
a
i
ns
t
i
nfrin
g
ement claims such as Adaptix can be time consumin
g
, distractin
g
and costl
y
, even if the claims prove to b
e
w
i
t
h
out mer
i
t. I
f
we are
f
oun
d
to
b
e
i
n
f
r
i
ng
i
ng t
h
e propr
i
etary r
i
g
h
ts o
f
at
hi
r
d
party, we cou
ld b
een
j
o
i
ne
df
ro
m
us
i
ng suc
h
t
hi
r
d
party’s r
i
g
h
ts, may
b
e requ
i
re
d
to pay su
b
stant
i
a
l
roya
l
t
i
es an
dd
amages, an
d
may no
l
onger
b
ea
bl
e
t
o use the intellectual propert
y
sub
j
ect to such ri
g
hts on acceptable terms or at all. Failure to obtain licenses t
o
i
nte
ll
ectua
l
property
h
e
ld b
yt
hi
r
d
part
i
es on reasona
bl
e terms, or at a
ll
, cou
ld d
e
l
ay or prevent t
h
e
d
eve
l
opment o
r
d
ep
l
oyment o
f
our serv
i
ces an
d
cou
ld
cause us to expen
d
s
i
gn
ifi
cant resources to
d
eve
l
op or acqu
i
re non-
i
n
f
r
i
ng
i
ng
i
ntellectual propert
y.
Our
b
usiness wi
ll d
e
p
en
d
on a strong
b
ran
d
,an
d
i
f
we
d
o not
d
eve
l
o
p
, maintain an
d
en
h
ance our
b
ran
d
s,
o
ur ability to attract and retain subscribers may be impaired and our business and operating results ma
y
b
e adversely affected
.
We believe that our brands will be a critical part of our business. Developin
g
, maintainin
g
and enhancin
g
our
b
ran
d
s may requ
i
re us to ma
k
esu
b
stant
i
a
li
nvestments w
i
t
h
no assurance t
h
at t
h
ese
i
nvestments w
ill b
e success
f
u
l.
I
f
we
f
a
il
to
d
eve
l
op, promote an
d
ma
i
nta
i
n stron
gb
ran
d
s, or
if
we
i
ncur s
ig
n
ifi
cant expenses to promote t
h
e
b
ran
d
s
and are still unsuccessful in maintainin
g
a stron
g
brand, our business, prospects, operatin
g
results and financial
c
ondition may be adversely affected. We anticipate that developing, maintaining and enhancing our brands wil
l
b
ecome
i
ncreas
i
n
gly i
mportant,
diffi
cu
l
tan
d
expens
i
ve now t
h
at we are
f
ocuse
d
on
i
nte
g
rat
i
n
g
t
h
e
b
ran
d
so
f
t
h
e
Sp
r
i
nt W
i
MAX Bus
i
ness w
i
t
h
t
h
ose o
f
O
ld
C
l
earw
i
re un
d
er t
h
eC
l
ear
TM
b
ran
d.
A
cquisitions, investments and other strategic transactions could result in operating difficulties, dilution
,
ad
verse
f
inancia
l
re
p
orting im
p
act an
dd
istractions
f
rom our core
b
usiness.
We an
d
O
ld
C
l
earw
i
re,
h
ave entere
d
,an
d
we may
i
nt
h
e
f
uture enter,
i
nto strateg
i
c transact
i
ons,
i
nc
l
u
di
n
g
s
trate
gi
c supp
ly
an
d
serv
i
ce a
g
reements an
d
acqu
i
s
i
t
i
ons o
f
ot
h
er assets an
db
us
i
nesses. An
y
suc
h
transact
i
ons can
b
e risk
y
,ma
y
require a disproportionate amount of our mana
g
ement and financial resources and ma
y
creat
e
unforeseen operating difficulties or expenditures, including
:
• difficulties in integrating acquired technologies and operations into our business while maintaining uniform
s
tan
d
ar
d
s, contro
l
s, po
li
c
i
es an
d
proce
d
ures
;
•o
bli
gat
i
ons
i
mpose
d
on us
b
y counterpart
i
es
i
n suc
h
transact
i
ons t
h
at
li
m
i
t our a
bili
ty to o
b
ta
i
na
ddi
t
i
ona
l
financin
g
, our abilit
y
to compete in
g
eo
g
raphic areas or specific lines of business, or other aspects of ou
r
operat
i
ona
lfl
ex
ibili
ty
;
• increasing cost and complexity of assuring the implementation and maintenance of adequate internal control
an
ddi
sc
l
osure contro
l
san
d
proce
d
ures, an
d
o
f
o
b
ta
i
n
i
n
g
t
h
e reports an
d
attestat
i
ons requ
i
re
d
un
d
er t
he
S
ecur
i
t
i
es Exc
h
an
g
e Act o
f
1934, as amen
d
e
d
,w
hi
c
h
we re
f
er to as t
h
e Exc
h
an
g
e Act;
•
i
ncreas
i
n
g
cost an
d
comp
l
ex
i
t
yi
nt
h
e proper app
li
cat
i
on o
f
U.S.
g
enera
lly
accepte
d
account
i
n
g
pr
i
nc
i
p
l
es
,
which we refer to as GAAP
;
39