Dish Network 2010 Annual Report Download - page 20

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plan. Further, certain of our DBS satellites are not presently entitled to any protection from other satellites that are
in conformance with the plan.
Export Control Regulation
The delivery of satellites and related technical information for the purpose of launch by foreign launch services
providers is subject to strict export control and prior approval requirements.
PATENTS AND OTHER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Many entities, including some of our competitors, have or may in the future obtain patents and other intellectual
property rights that cover or affect products or services that we offer. In general, if a court determines that one or
more of our products or services infringes on intellectual property held by others, we may be required to cease
developing or marketing those products or services, to obtain licenses from the holders of the intellectual property at
a material cost, or to redesign those products or services in such a way as to avoid infringing the patent claims. If
those intellectual property rights are held by a competitor, we may be unable to obtain the intellectual property at
any price, which could adversely affect our competitive position.
We may not be aware of all intellectual property rights that our products or services may potentially infringe. In
addition, patent applications in the United States are confidential until the Patent and Trademark Office either
publishes the application or issues a patent (whichever arises first) and, accordingly, our products may infringe
claims contained in pending patent applications of which we are not aware. Further, the process of determining
definitively whether a claim of infringement is valid often involves expensive and protracted litigation, even if we
are ultimately successful on the merits.
We cannot estimate the extent to which we may be required in the future to obtain intellectual property licenses or
the availability and cost of any such licenses. Those costs, and their impact on our results of operations, could be
material. Damages in patent infringement cases may also be trebled in certain circumstances. To the extent that we
are required to pay unanticipated royalties to third parties, these increased costs of doing business could negatively
affect our liquidity and operating results. We are currently defending multiple patent infringement actions. We
cannot be certain the courts will conclude these companies do not own the rights they claim, that our products do not
infringe on these rights, that we would be able to obtain licenses from these persons on commercially reasonable
terms or, if we were unable to obtain such licenses, that we would be able to redesign our products to avoid
infringement. See “Item 3. Legal Proceedings.”
ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS
We are subject to the requirements of federal, state, local and foreign environmental and occupational safety and
health laws and regulations. These include laws regulating air emissions, water discharge and waste management.
We attempt to maintain compliance with all such requirements. We do not expect capital or other expenditures for
environmental compliance to be material in 2011 or 2012. Environmental requirements are complex, change
frequently and have become more stringent over time. Accordingly, we cannot provide assurance that these
requirements will not change or become more stringent in the future in a manner that could have a material adverse
effect on our business.
SEGMENT REPORTING DATA AND GEOGRAPHIC AREA DATA
Following the Spin-off, we operate in only one reportable segment, the DISH Network segment, which provides a
DBS subscription television service in the United States.
EMPLOYEES
We had approximately 22,000 employees at December 31, 2010, most of whom are located in the United States. We
generally consider relations with our employees to be good.