NetFlix 2008 Annual Report Download - page 22

If our trademarks and other proprietary rights are not adequately protected to prevent use or
appropriation by our competitors, the value of our brand and other intangible assets may be diminished,
and our business may be adversely affected.
We rely and expect to continue to rely on a combination of confidentiality and license agreements with our
employees, consultants and third parties with whom we have relationships, as well as trademark, copyright,
patent and trade secret protection laws, to protect our proprietary rights. We may also seek to enforce our
proprietary rights through court proceedings. We have filed and from time to time we expect to file for trademark
and patent applications. Nevertheless, these applications may not be approved, third parties may challenge any
patents issued to or held by us, third parties may knowingly or unknowingly infringe our patents, trademarks and
other proprietary rights, and we may not be able to prevent infringement without substantial expense to us. If the
protection of our proprietary rights is inadequate to prevent use or appropriation by third parties, the value of our
brand and other intangible assets may be diminished, competitors may be able to more effectively mimic our
service and methods of operations, the perception of our business and service to subscribers and potential
subscribers may become confused in the marketplace, and our ability to attract subscribers may be adversely
affected.
Intellectual property claims against us could be costly and result in the loss of significant rights related to,
among other things, our Web site, our recommendation service, title selection processes and marketing
activities.
Trademark, copyright, patent and other intellectual property rights are important to us and other companies.
Our intellectual property rights extend to our technology, business processes and the content on our Web site. We
use the intellectual property of third parties in merchandising our products and marketing our service through
contractual and other rights. From time to time, third parties allege that we have violated their intellectual
property rights. If we are unable to obtain sufficient rights, successfully defend our use, or develop
non-infringing technology or otherwise alter our business practices on a timely basis in response to claims
against us for infringement, misappropriation, misuse or other violation of third party intellectual property rights,
our business and competitive position may be adversely affected. Many companies are devoting significant
resources to developing patents that could potentially affect many aspects of our business. There are numerous
patents that broadly claim means and methods of conducting business on the Internet. We have not exhaustively
searched patents relative to our technology. Defending ourselves against intellectual property claims, whether
they are with or without merit or are determined in our favor, results in costly litigation and diversion of technical
and management personnel. It also may result in our inability to use our current Web site or our recommendation
service or inability to market our service or merchandise our products. As a result of a dispute, we may have to
develop non-infringing technology, enter into royalty or licensing agreements, adjust our merchandising or
marketing activities or take other actions to resolve the claims. These actions, if required, may be costly or
unavailable on terms acceptable to us.
If we are unable to protect our domain names, our reputation and brand could be adversely affected.
We currently hold various domain names relating to our brand, including Netflix.com. Failure to protect our
domain names could adversely affect our reputation and brand and make it more difficult for users to find our
Web site and our service. The acquisition and maintenance of domain names generally are regulated by
governmental agencies and their designees. The regulation of domain names in the United States may change in
the near future. Governing bodies may establish additional top-level domains, appoint additional domain name
registrars or modify the requirements for holding domain names. As a result, we may be unable to acquire or
maintain relevant domain names. Furthermore, the relationship between regulations governing domain names
and laws protecting trademarks and similar proprietary rights is unclear. We may be unable, without significant
cost or at all, to prevent third parties from acquiring domain names that are similar to, infringe upon or otherwise
decrease the value of our trademarks and other proprietary rights.
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