Columbia Sportswear 2010 Annual Report Download - page 10

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Footwear
We design, develop, market and distribute footwear products for men and women under our Columbia,
Sorel and Montrail brands and for youth under our Columbia and Sorel brands. Our footwear products seek to
address the needs of outdoor consumers who participate in activities that typically involve challenging or unusual
terrain in a variety of weather and trail conditions. Our footwear products include durable, lightweight hiking
boots, trail running shoes, rugged cold weather boots for activities on snow and ice, sandals for use in
amphibious activities, and casual shoes for everyday use. Our Sorel brand primarily offers premium cold weather
footwear for men and women with an increasing focus on young, fashion-conscious female consumers.
Accessories and Equipment
We design, develop, market and distribute a line of Columbia-branded accessories and equipment, including
bags, packs, headwear, scarves and gloves. These products incorporate many of our performance technologies
and complement our apparel and footwear collections to protect consumers during a multitude of outdoor
activities in virtually any climate. We also design, develop, market and distribute a line of Mountain Hardwear
accessories and equipment that includes technically-advanced tents, sleeping systems, backpacks, headwear and
gloves. These products are designed for mountaineering, ultralight backpacking and camping.
Product Design and Innovation
We believe our product innovation efforts are a key factor in our past and future success. We are committed
to designing innovative and functional products for consumers who participate in a wide range of competitive
and recreational outdoor activities, enabling them to enjoy those activities longer and in greater comfort by
keeping them warm or cool, dry and protected. We also place significant value on product designs and fit (the
overall appearance and image of our products) that, along with technical performance features, distinguish our
products in the marketplace.
Our research and development efforts are led by an internal team of specialists who work closely with
independent suppliers to develop products that provide the unique performance benefits needed by consumers
during outdoor activities. We have established working relationships with specialists in the fields of chemistry,
biochemistry, engineering, industrial design, materials research, graphic design, electronics and related fields.
We utilize these relationships, along with consumer feedback, to develop and test innovative performance
products, processes, packaging and displays. We believe that these efforts, coupled with our technical innovation
efforts, represent key factors in the past and future success of our products.
In September 2010, we acquired OutDry Technologies S.r.l., which owns the intellectual property and other
assets comprising the OutDry®brand and related business including patented and patent-pending construction
methods that bond a waterproof, breathable membrane directly to the inside of the outermost layer of a shoe or
glove.
Intellectual Property
We own many trademarks, including Columbia Sportswear Company®, Columbia®, Sorel®, Mountain Hard
Wear®, Montrail®, OutDry®, Pacific Trail®, the Columbia diamond shaped logo, the Mountain Hardwear nut
logo and the Sorel polar bear logo, as well as many other trademarks relating to our brands, products, styles and
technologies. We believe that our trademarks are an important factor in creating a market for our products, in
identifying the Company, and in differentiating our products from competitors’ products. We have design,
process and utility patents as well as pending patent applications in the United States and other nations. We file
applications for United States and foreign patents for inventions, designs and improvements that we believe have
commercial value; however, these patents may or may not ultimately be issued. We believe our success primarily
depends on our ability to continue offering innovative solutions to consumer needs through design, research,
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