Orbitz 2011 Annual Report Download - page 9

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9
brand differentiation and to emphasize distinct features of our businesses that we believe are valuable to our customers.
We have a dedicated marketing team that focuses on generating leads and building relationships with corporate travel
managers. Our Orbitz for Business sales team includes experienced corporate travel managers who are qualified to assist
organizations in choosing between the variety of corporate booking products that we offer.
Intellectual Property
We regard our technology and other intellectual property, including our brands, as a critical part of our business. We
protect our intellectual property rights through a combination of copyright, trademark and patent laws and trade secret and
confidentiality procedures. We have a number of trademarks, service marks and trade names that are registered or for which we
have pending registration applications or common law rights. These include Orbitz, Orbitz Matrix, Flex Search, OrbitzTLC,
OrbitzTLC Mobile Access, the Orbitz design and the stylized “O.” We have eight issued U.S. patents. Four patents relate to a
system and method for receiving and loading fare and schedule data that allows us to search for air fares. These patents are
scheduled to expire on December 11, 2021, April 1, 2022, November 10, 2024 and May 9, 2022, respectively. One patent
relates to a method of searching for travel products from multiple suppliers and creating vacation packages. This patent is
scheduled to expire on August 29, 2027. One patent relates to a system and method for gathering and analyzing data related to
travel conditions and generating and sending a message explaining the travel conditions to one or more travelers. This patent is
scheduled to expire on May 10, 2023. One patent relates to a system and method of creating a matrix display having
neighborhood categories with interactive maps displayed. This patent is scheduled to expire on January 23, 2026. One patent
relates to an air travel booking system which provides the ability to book itineraries directly with the air carriers and having the
ability to book itineraries through a GDS. This patent is scheduled to expire on May 12, 2025. At December 31, 2011, we had
seven pending patent applications in the United States. Through these patent applications, we are seeking patent rights in
several areas of our online travel services technology. These areas include technology related to our system for searching using
multiple data providers, our system for synchronizing passenger name and record data, our supplier link and related booking
technology, our system for searching for itineraries based on flexible travel dates, our system for enabling a user to book travel
via a guest registration, our system for replicating data and changes between databases and our system for automatically
determining travel product price rebates.
Despite these efforts and precautions, we cannot be certain that any of these patent applications will result in issued
patents, or that we will receive any effective protection from competition from any trademarks and issued patents. It may be
possible for a third party to copy or otherwise obtain and use our trade secrets or our intellectual property without authorization.
In that case, legal remedies may not adequately compensate us for the damages caused by unauthorized use. Further, others
may independently and lawfully develop substantially similar properties.
From time to time, we may be subject to legal proceedings and claims in the ordinary course of our business, including
claims of alleged infringement by us of the trademarks, copyrights, patents and other intellectual property rights of third parties.
In addition, we may have to initiate lawsuits in the future to enforce our intellectual property rights, protect our trade secrets or
determine the validity and scope of proprietary rights claimed by others. Any such litigation, regardless of outcome or merit,
could consume a significant amount of financial resources or management time. It could also invalidate or impair our
intellectual property rights, or result in significant damages or onerous license terms and restrictions for us. We may even lose
our right to use certain intellectual property or business processes. These outcomes could materially harm our business. See
Item 3, “Legal Proceedings.”
At the time of the IPO, we entered into a Master License Agreement with Travelport, which grants Travelport licenses to
use certain of our intellectual property going forward, including:
• our supplier link technology;
• portions of ebookers' booking, search and vacation packaging technologies;
• certain of our products and online booking tools for corporate travel;
• portions of our private label vacation packaging technology; and
• our extranet supplier connectivity functionality.
The Master License Agreement granted us the right to use a corporate online booking product developed by Travelport.
We have entered into a value added reseller license with Travelport for this product.