Priceline 2014 Annual Report Download - page 38

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Judicial Actions Relating to Assessments Issued by Individual Cities, Counties and States
We may seek judicial review of assessments issued by an individual city or county. Currently pending actions seeking such a review
include:
Administrative Proceedings and Other Possible Actions
to our charges and remittance of amounts to cover state and local travel transaction taxes. Among others, the City of Paradise Valley, Arizona;
fifteen cities (and one county) in Colorado; Arlington, Texas; Lake County, Indiana; and state tax officials from Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana,
Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin have begun formal or
informal administrative procedures or stated that they may assert claims against us relating to allegedly unpaid state or local travel transaction
taxes. Between 2008 and 2010, we received audit notices from more than forty cities in the state of California. The audit proceedings in those
cities have not been active but have not been formally closed. We have also been contacted for audit by five counties in the state of Utah.
Patent Infringement
On February 9, 2015, International Business Machines Corporation ("IBM") filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District
of Delaware against us and our subsidiaries KAYAK Software Corporation, OpenTable, Inc. and priceline.com LLC (the "Subject Companies").
In the complaint, IBM alleges that the Subject Companies have infringed and continue to willfully infringe certain IBM patents that IBM claims
relate to the presentation of applications and advertising in an interactive service, preserving state information in online transactions and single
sign-on processes in a computing environment and seeks unspecified damages (including a request that the amount of compensatory damages be
trebled), injunctive relief and costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees. We believe the claims to be without merit and intend to contest them
vigorously.
34
• Priceline.com, Inc., et al. v. Broward County, Florida (Second Judicial Circuit, Leon County, Florida; filed in January 2009);
(Florida First District Court of Appeal; filed in February 2013); (Florida Supreme Court; notice to invoke jurisdiction filed in
February 2014);
• Priceline.com, Inc. v. Indiana Department of State Revenue
(Indiana Tax Court; filed in March 2009);
• Priceline.com, Inc., et al. v. City and County of San Francisco, California, et al. (California Superior Court, County of Los
Angeles; filed in June 2009); (California Court of Appeal; appeal filed in December 2013); Priceline.com, Inc. v. City and
County of San Francisco, California, et al. (California Superior Court, County of Los Angeles; filed in November 2013);
• Priceline.com, Inc. v. Miami-Dade County, Florida, et al. (Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court for Miami-Dade, County, Florida;
filed in December 2009);
• priceline.com Incorporated, et al. v. Osceola County, Florida, et al. (Second Judicial Circuit, Leon County, Florida; filed in
January 2011);
• In the Matter of the Tax Appeal of priceline.com Inc. and In the Matter of the Tax Appeal of Travelweb LLC (Tax Appeal
Court of the State of Hawaii; filed in March 2011) (Hawaii Supreme Court; appeal transferred in December 2013); In the
Matter of the Tax Appeal of priceline.com Inc. and In the Matter of the Tax Appeal of Travelweb LLC (Tax Appeal Court of
the State of Hawaii, filed in July 2012) (Hawaii Supreme Court; appeal transferred in December 2013); In the Matter of the
Tax Appeal of priceline.com Inc. and In the Matter of Tax Appeal of Travelweb LLC (Tax Appeal Court of the State of
Hawaii, filed in June 2013); In the Matter of the Tax Appeal of priceline.com Inc. and In the Matter of Tax Appeal of
Travelweb LLC
(Tax Appeal Court of the State of Hawaii; filed in January 2014); In the Matter of the Appeal of priceline.com
Incorporated (Tax Appeal Court of the State of Hawaii; filed in August 2014);
• Expedia, Inc. et al. v. City of Portland
(Circuit Court for Multnomah County, Oregon, filed in February 2012);
• Expedia, Inc., et al. v. City and County of Denver, et al. (District Court for Denver County, Colorado, filed in March 2012);
(Colorado Court of Appeal; appeal filed in April 2013); (Colorado Supreme Court; petition for review filed in August 2014);
and
• Expedia, Inc., et al. v. Oregon Department of Revenue
(Oregon Tax Court; filed in September 2013).