Nutrisystem 2009 Annual Report Download - page 15

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Please find page 15 of the 2009 Nutrisystem annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

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• direct delivery to their door;
• easy to follow and stay on the program;
• food can be easily prepared in minutes;
• wide variety of food; and
• they do not feel hungry while on the program.
Information Systems
Our ecommerce and community websites, both of which are based primarily on third party software
customized to meet our business needs, are each hosted in a top tier, co-location facility. These facilities provide
redundant network connections, an uninterruptible power supply, physical and fire security and diesel generated
power back up for the equipment upon which our website relies. Our servers and our network are monitored 24
hours a day, seven days a week.
We use a variety of security techniques to protect our confidential customer data. When our customers place
an order or access their account information, we secure that transaction by using the best available encryption
technologies, including secure sockets layer, or SSL. Our customer data is protected against unauthorized access
by security measures that meet or exceed all payment card industry and government guidelines. We employ a
variety of industry leading technology providers including VeriSign, CyberSource and SecureWorks to further
ensure the security of our credit card transactions and the safety of our customers’ personal information.
Intellectual Property
We own numerous domestic and international trademarks and other proprietary rights that are important to
our business. Depending upon the jurisdiction, trademarks are valid as long as they are used in the regular course
of trade and/or their registrations are properly maintained. We believe the protection of our trademarks,
copyrights, patents, domain names, trade dress, and trade secrets is important to our success. We aggressively
protect our intellectual property rights by relying on a combination of watch services and trademark, copyright,
patent, trade dress and trade secret laws, and through the domain name dispute resolution system.
Employees
As of December 31, 2009, we had approximately 612 administrative, sales, counseling and customer service
personnel, 27 employees dedicated to fulfillment and 41 employees in marketing. None of our employees is
represented by a labor union, and we consider relations with our employees to be good.
Seasonality
Typically in the weight loss industry, revenue is strongest in the first quarter and lowest in the fourth
calendar quarter. We believe our business experiences seasonality, driven by the predisposition of dieters to
initiate a diet and the placement of our advertising based on the price and availability of certain media.
Available Information
All periodic and current reports, registration statements, code of conduct and other material that the
Company is required to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including the Company’s
annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to
those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “1934 Act
Reports”), are available free of charge through the Company’s investor relations page at www.nutrisystem.com.
Such documents are available as soon as reasonably practicable after electronic filing of the material with the
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