Groupon 2013 Annual Report Download - page 18

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quarterly sequential revenue growth rates. We recognized 29.9%, 27.3%, and 30.6% of our annual revenue during the fourth quarter
of 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively.
Regulation
We are subject to a number of foreign and domestic laws and regulations that affect companies conducting business on
the Internet. As a company in a new and rapidly innovating industry, we are exposed to the risk that many of these laws may evolve
or be interpreted by regulators or in the courts in ways that could materially affect our business. These laws and regulations may
involve taxation, unclaimed property, intellectual property, product liability, travel, distribution, electronic contracts and other
communications, competition, consumer protection, the provision of various online payment and point of sale services, employee,
merchant and customer privacy and data security or other areas.
The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (the "CARD Act"), as well as the laws of most
states, contain provisions governing gift cards, gift certificates, stored value or pre-paid cards or coupons ("gift cards"). Groupon
vouchers may be included within the definition of "gift cards" under many laws. In addition, certain foreign jurisdictions have
laws that govern disclosure and certain product terms and conditions, including restrictions on expiration dates and fees that may
apply to Groupon vouchers as well as warranty requirements. There are also a number of legislative proposals pending before the
U.S. Congress, various state legislative bodies and foreign governments that could affect us, and our global operations may be
constrained by regulatory regimes and laws in Europe and other jurisdictions outside the United States that may be more restrictive
and adversely impact our business.
Various U.S. laws and regulations, such as the Bank Secrecy Act, the Dodd-Frank Act, the USA PATRIOT Act and the
CARD Act impose certain anti-money laundering requirements on companies that are financial institutions or that provide financial
products and services. These laws and regulations broadly define financial institutions to include money services businesses such
as money transmitters, check cashers and sellers or issuers of stored value. Requirements imposed on financial institutions under
these laws include customer identification and verification programs, record retention policies and procedures and transaction
reporting. We do not believe that we are a financial institution subject to these laws and regulations.
Intellectual Property
We protect our intellectual property rights by relying on federal, state and common law rights, as well as contractual
restrictions. We control access to our proprietary technology by entering into confidentiality and invention assignment
agreements with our employees and contractors, and confidentiality agreements with third parties.
In addition to these contractual arrangements, we also rely on a combination of trade secrets, copyrights, trademarks,
service marks, trade dress, domain names and patents to protect our intellectual property. As of December 31, 2013, Groupon and
its related entities owned a number of trademarks and servicemarks registered or pending in the United States and internationally.
In addition, as of December 31, 2013, we owned a number of issued U.S. patents, had additional pending patent applications, and
owned copyright registrations.
Circumstances outside our control could pose a threat to our intellectual property rights. For example, effective intellectual
property protection may not be available in the United States or other countries in which we operate. Also, the efforts we have
taken to protect our proprietary rights may not be sufficient or effective. Any significant impairment of our intellectual property
rights could harm our business or our ability to compete. Also, protecting our intellectual property rights is costly and time-
consuming. Any unauthorized disclosure or use of our intellectual property could make it more expensive to do business and harm
our operating results.
Companies in the Internet, social media technology and other industries may own large numbers of patents, copyrights
and trademarks or other intellectual property rights and may request license agreements, threaten litigation or file suit against us
based on allegations of infringement or other violations of intellectual property rights. We are currently subject to, and expect to
face in the future, lawsuits and allegations that we have infringed the intellectual property rights of third parties, including our
competitors and non-practicing entities. As we face increasing competition and as our business grows, we will likely face more
claims of infringement, and may experience an adverse result which could impact our business and/or our operating results.
Employees
As of December 31, 2013, there were 3,362 employees in our North America segment, consisting of 1,421 sales
representatives and 1,941 corporate, operational and customer service representatives, 3,695 employees in our EMEA segment,
consisting of 1,777 sales representatives and 1,918 corporate, operational and customer service representatives, and 4,226