MoneyGram 2010 Annual Report Download - page 21

Table of Contents
If we are unable to adequately protect our brand and the intellectual property rights related to our existing and any new or enhanced
products and services, or if we are unable to avoid infringing on the rights of others, our business, prospects, financial condition and
results of operations could be adversely affected.
The MoneyGram® brand is important to our business. We utilize trademark registrations in various countries and other tools to protect
our brand. Our business would be harmed if we were unable to adequately protect our brand and the value of our brand was to decrease as
a result.
We rely on a combination of patent, trademark and copyright laws, trade secret protection and confidentiality and license agreements to
protect the intellectual property rights related to our products and services. We also investigate the intellectual property rights of third
parties to prevent our infringement of those rights. We may be subject to claims of third parties that we infringe their intellectual property
rights or have misappropriated other proprietary rights. We may be required to spend resources to defend any such claims or to protect
and police our own rights. Some of our intellectual property rights may not be protected by intellectual property laws, particularly in
foreign jurisdictions. The loss of our intellectual property protection, the inability to secure or enforce intellectual property protection or
to successfully defend against claims of intellectual property infringement could harm our business prospects, financial condition and
results of operation.
We face intense competition, and if we are unable to continue to compete effectively, our business, financial condition and results of
operations would be adversely affected.
The markets in which we compete are highly competitive, and we face a variety of competitors across our businesses, in particular our
largest competitor, The Western Union Company. In addition, new competitors or alliances among established companies may emerge.
Further, some of our competitors have larger and more established customer bases and substantially greater financial, marketing and other
resources than we have. With respect to our money transfer, urgent bill payment and money order businesses, our primary competition
comes from our largest competitor. We cannot anticipate every effect that actions taken by our competitors will have on our business, or
the money transfer and bill payment industry in general.
Money transfer, money order and bill payment services within our Global Funds Transfer segment compete in a concentrated industry,
with a small number of large competitors and a large number of small, niche competitors. We also compete with banks and niche
person-to-person money transfer service providers. The electronic bill payment services within our Global Funds Transfer segment
compete in a highly fragmented consumer-to-business payment industry. Competitors in the electronic payments area include financial
institutions, third parties that host financial institution and bill payment services, third parties that offer payment services directly to
consumers and billers offering their own bill payment services.
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