Metro PCS 2011 Annual Report Download - page 50

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portion or all of their services. In addition, a number of our customers work in industries or in areas of the country which may
be disproportionately affected by an economic slowdown or recession. More generally, adverse changes in the economy are
likely to negatively affect our customers' ability to pay for existing services and to decrease their interest in purchasing new
services. These same economic conditions may negatively impact our third-party service providers who experience cash flow
problems, liquidity concerns or are unable to obtain or refinance credit such that they may no longer be able to operate. The
resulting impact of such economic conditions on our customers, on consumer and discretionary spending and on our product
and service providers could have a material adverse effect on demand for our products, services and on our business, financial
condition and operating results.
Additionally, there have been significant changes in the political climate and in the composition of the FCC as a result of the
outcome of recent state elections and the last Presidential election in the United States. Several actions indicate that the FCC
will be proactive in and may increase the regulation of wireless services, and we cannot predict with any certainty the nature
and extent of the changes in federal, state and local laws, regulations and policy we will face, or the effect of such elections on
any pending legislation. For example, changes in the political climate could affect the extent to which further consolidation of
wireless carriers will be approved by the government and such changes could reduce our strategic merger and acquisition
options. Further, regulatory requirements, such as open network access, could impose costs on us or limit our ability to provide
our services in a cost effective or profitable way. Any changes in regulation, new policy initiatives, increased taxes or any other
changes in state or federal law may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
We may be unable to enforce or protect our intellectual property and intellectual property rights.
We own, license, develop and use intellectual property, including trade secrets, in our business. While we engage in
measures to protect our intellectual property, such measures offer limited protection and may not prevent the misappropriation
of our information or our proprietary rights. Further, the enforcement of our intellectual property rights may require legal
action, which may be costly and may not be successful, even if our rights are misappropriated or infringed.
We cannot assure you that any patent, trademark or service mark application, whether pending or future, will be granted or
that any existing patent, trademark or service mark will not be infringed, challenged or invalidated or that any such registration
will adequately protect our brand, products or image. If any of our intellectual property rights are infringed, challenged or
invalidated, the costs associated with the protection and attempted enforcement of our rights and the potential loss of such
rights could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
We and our suppliers may be subject to claims of infringement and product liability.
The technologies used in the telecommunications industry are subject to a wide array of patents and other intellectual
property rights. We also are increasingly providing operating systems, applications and content to our customers that may be
subject to patent, trademark, copyright and other intellectual property rights. As a result, third parties may assert infringement
and misappropriation claims against us or our suppliers from time to time based on our or their general business operations, the
equipment, software or services we or they use or provide, the products, services, operating systems, applications and content
we provide, or the specific operation of our wireless networks or service. We or our suppliers may be subject to infringement
or misappropriation claims that, if successful, could preclude our ability to use or sell such product, service, application,
content or network feature, preclude the supplier from supplying us with the products, software, applications, content and
services we require to run our business or offer our product, service, application, content, require the supplier to change the
products, software, applications, content and services they provide to us in a way which could have a material adverse effect on
us, or cause the supplier to increase the charges for their products, software, applications, content and services to us. We also
cannot guarantee that we will be fully protected against all losses associated with an infringement or misappropriation claim
involving our manufacturers, licensors and suppliers who provide us with the equipment, software, applications, content, and
technology that we use in our business. In addition, our suppliers may refuse to, or may be unable to, pay any damages or
honor their defense and indemnification obligations to us, which may result in us having to bear such losses. We may also have
to buy equipment, products, software, applications, content and services from other third party suppliers or pay royalties to the
holders of intellectual property rights.
Moreover, we may be subject to claims that products, software, applications, content and services provided by different
vendors, which we combine with products, software, applications, content or with services provided by other vendors or with
our own products, software, applications, content and services in order to offer products, software, applications, content and
services to our customers, are infringing on or misappropriating the rights of others, and we may not have any indemnification
protection from our vendors for these claims. Further, we have been, and in the future may be, subject to claims that certain
business processes we use, product, service, application, content we provide, software, applications or content we license, or
product, service, application, content we create may infringe on or misappropriate the rights of third parties, and we may have