Salesforce.com 2013 Annual Report Download - page 22

• pressure on the creditworthiness of sovereign nations, particularly in Europe, where we have customers
and a balance of our cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities. Liquidity issues or political
actions by sovereign nations could result in decreased values of these balances;
• regional data privacy laws that apply to the transmission of our customers’ data across international
borders;
• treatment of revenue from international sources and changes to tax codes, including being subject to
foreign tax laws and being liable for paying withholding income or other taxes in foreign jurisdictions;
• foreign currency fluctuations and controls;
• different pricing environments;
• difficulties in staffing and managing foreign operations;
• different or lesser protection of our intellectual property;
• longer accounts receivable payment cycles and other collection difficulties;
• natural disasters, acts of war, terrorism, pandemics or security breaches; and
• regional economic and political conditions.
Any of these factors could negatively impact our business and results of operations.
Additionally, our international subscription fees are paid either in U.S. dollars or local currency. As a result,
fluctuations in the value of the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies may make our service more expensive for
international customers, which could harm our business.
We have been and may in the future be sued by third parties for various claims including alleged
infringement of proprietary rights.
We are involved in various legal matters arising from the normal course of business activities. These may
include claims, suits, government investigations and other proceedings involving alleged infringement of third-
party patents and other intellectual property rights, and commercial, corporate and securities, labor and
employment, wage and hour, and other matters.
The software and Internet industries are characterized by the existence of a large number of patents,
trademarks and copyrights and by frequent litigation based on allegations of infringement or other violations of
intellectual property rights. We have received in the past and may receive in the future communications from
third parties, including practicing entities and non-practicing entities, claiming that we have infringed their
intellectual property rights. For example, we have received a notice from a large non-practicing entity alleging
that we infringe upon certain of its patents. We continue to analyze the potential merits of such claim, if any, the
potential defenses and counterclaims to such claim and we have been engaged in discussions with this entity with
respect to these matters. No litigation has been filed to date.
In addition, we have been, and may in the future be, sued by third parties for alleged infringement of their
claimed proprietary rights. Our technologies may be subject to injunction if they are found to infringe the rights
of a third party or we may be required to pay damages, or both. Many of our subscription agreements require us
to indemnify our customers for third-party intellectual property infringement claims, which would increase the
cost to us of an adverse ruling on such a claim.
The outcome of any claims or litigation, regardless of the merits, is inherently uncertain. Any claims and
lawsuits, and the disposition of such claims and lawsuits, whether through settlement or licensing discussions, or
litigation, could be time-consuming and expensive to resolve, divert management attention from executing our
business plan, result in efforts to enjoin our activities, lead to attempts on the part of other parties to pursue
similar claims and, in the case of intellectual property claims, require us to change our technology, change our
business practices and/or pay monetary damages or enter into short- or long-term royalty or licensing
agreements.
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