Clearwire 2009 Annual Report Download - page 33

th
at t
h
e PISC pet
i
t
i
on’s narrow scope e
li
m
i
nate
d
any nee
df
or t
h
e FCC to su
bj
ect
i
ts
d
ec
i
s
i
on to approve t
he
Transactions to further review.
I
n connection with the FCC’s approval of the Transactions, we committed to meet the Sprint Nextel Mer
g
e
r
O
rder conditions that require Sprint to offer service in the 2.
5
GHz band to a population of no less than 1
5
million
A
mer
i
cans
b
y August 7, 2009. T
hi
s
d
ep
l
oyment
i
nc
l
u
d
es areas w
i
t
hi
nam
i
n
i
mum o
f
n
i
ne o
f
t
h
e nat
i
on’s mos
t
p
o
p
ulous 100 BTAs and at least one BTA less
p
o
p
ulous than the nation’s 200th most
p
o
p
ulous BTA. In these ten
BTAs, t
h
e
d
ep
l
oyment covers at
l
east one-t
hi
r
d
o
f
eac
h
BTA’s popu
l
at
i
on. T
h
e part
i
es
f
urt
h
er comm
i
tte
d
to o
ff
er
s
er
v
ice in the 2.
5G
Hz band to at least 1
5
million more Americans in areas
w
ithin a minimum of nine additional
BTAs in the 100 most
p
o
p
ulous BTAs, and at least one additional BTA less
p
o
p
ulous than the nation’s 200th most
p
opulous BTA, by August 7, 2011. In these additional ten BTAs the deployment will cover at least one-third of eac
h
BTA’s popu
l
at
i
on. We expect to sat
i
s
f
y eac
h
o
f
t
h
ese con
di
t
i
ons w
i
t
h
our ex
i
st
i
ng mar
k
ets an
d
our p
l
anne
d
ne
w
m
ar
k
ets. On Au
g
ust 4, 2009, we
fil
e
d
a
l
etter w
i
t
h
t
h
e FCC prov
idi
n
g
not
i
ce t
h
at we
h
ave
f
u
lfill
e
d
t
h
e
fi
rst part o
f
t
h
e
2.
5
GHz spectrum build-out condition and indicatin
g
that we are well on our wa
y
to meetin
g
the second part of the
c
ondition
.
Internet Taxat
i
o
n
T
he Internet Tax Freedom Act, which was si
g
ned into law in October 2007, renewed and extended until
November 2014 a moratorium on taxes on Internet access and multiple, discriminatory taxes on electronic
c
ommerce un
d
er t
h
e Internet Tax Free
d
om Act. T
hi
s morator
i
um was sc
h
e
d
u
l
e
d
to exp
i
re
i
n Novem
b
er 2007, an
d
i
ts extens
i
on preserve
d
t
h
e“
g
ran
df
at
h
er
i
n
g
”o
f
states t
h
at taxe
d
Internet access
b
e
f
ore Octo
b
er 1998 to a
ll
ow t
h
e
m
t
o continue to do so. The moratorium does not apply to taxes levied or measured on net income, net worth o
r
p
roperty va
l
ue an
dd
oes not exten
d
to a tax on te
l
ecommun
i
cat
i
ons serv
i
ces. Certa
i
n states
h
ave enacte
d
var
i
ou
s
t
axes on Internet access or e
l
ectron
i
c commerce, an
d
se
l
ecte
d
states’ taxes are
b
e
i
n
g
conteste
d
. State tax
l
aws ma
y
n
ot be successfull
y
contested and future state and federal laws imposin
g
taxes or other re
g
ulations on Internet acces
s
an
d
e
l
ectron
i
c commerce may ar
i
se, any o
f
w
hi
c
h
cou
ld i
ncrease t
h
e cost o
f
our serv
i
ces an
d
cou
ld
mater
i
a
ll
yan
d
a
d
verse
l
ya
ff
ect our
b
us
i
ness
.
Intellectual Pro
p
ert
y
We review our technological developments with our technology staff and business units to identify and captur
e
i
nnovat
i
ve an
d
nove
lf
eatures o
f
our core tec
h
no
l
o
gy
t
h
at prov
id
eusw
i
t
h
commerc
i
a
l
a
d
vanta
g
es an
d fil
e paten
t
applications as necessar
y
to protect these features both in the United States and elsewhere. We hold 32 issued United
S
tates patents, and we also have well over 100 pendin
g
United States patent applications. We currentl
y
hold 22
i
ssue
d
patents an
dh
ave 30 pen
di
ng patent app
li
cat
i
ons
i
nvar
i
ous
f
ore
i
gn
j
ur
i
s
di
ct
i
ons. Assum
i
ng t
h
at a
ll
m
aintenance fees and annuities continue to be
p
aid, the United States
p
atents ex
p
ire on various dates fro
m
2017 until 202
5
and the international
p
atents ex
p
ire on various dates from 2018 until 2022.
With respect to trademarks, “Clearwire” and the associated Clearwire corporate lo
g
o, “ClearBusiness,
”
“
C
l
earC
l
ass
i
c,” “C
l
earPrem
i
um” an
d
“C
l
earVa
l
ue” are among our reg
i
stere
d
tra
d
emar
k
s
i
nt
h
eUn
i
te
d
States, an
d
we have issued or pendin
g
trademark re
g
istrations coverin
g
additional trademarks in the United States and all
c
ountries of the European Union and ei
g
ht other
j
urisdictions.
E
m
pl
o
y
ees
As o
f
Decem
b
er 31, 2009, we
h
a
d
approx
i
mate
l
y 3,280 emp
l
oyees
i
nt
h
eUn
i
te
d
States an
d
approx
i
mate
ly
160 emplo
y
ees in our international operations
.
Our emplo
y
ees enter into a
g
reements containin
g
confidentialit
y
restrictions. We have never had a wor
k
s
toppa
g
e and no emplo
y
ees are represented b
y
a labor or
g
anization. We believe our emplo
y
ee relations are
g
ood
.
Our Corporate Informatio
n
We are a De
l
aware corporat
i
on. Our pr
i
nc
i
pa
l
execut
i
ve o
ffi
ces are
l
ocate
d
at 4400 Car
ill
on Po
i
nt, K
i
r
kl
an
d
,
W
ashin
g
ton 98033, and our telephone number is (42
5
) 216-7600. Our website address is http://www.clearwire.com.
23