Support.com 2009 Annual Report Download - page 8

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Table of Contents
advantage in the quality and cost of our consumer service offerings, and in our ability to meet the rigorous requirements of channel partners. We maintain
dedicated research and development teams in Redwood City, California, and in Bangalore, India. Research and development expense in our continuing
operations was $5.8 million in 2009, $7.0 million in 2008 and $5.1 million in 2007.
We have developed, currently maintain, and continue to improve proprietary technologies that are key to our services business in several areas. Through
our Service Delivery Management System (“SDMS”), we provide a hosted platform for multi-channel sale and delivery of premium technology services used for
our own service delivery, and that of a number of our partners. Through our Solutions Toolkit, we offer an integrated set of tools for delivery of premium
technology services that enable our personal technology experts deliver consistent, high-quality and efficient service across thousands of consumers. Our PC
Health Check application aids in the sale of premium technology services by offering recommendations to the consumer based on a quick automated diagnostic
of their computer. Our Easy Support software, which is installed on our subscribers’ desktops, enables those subscribers to access our personal technology
experts and facilitates service delivery. Our research and development activities have created integrated service delivery environments that improve efficiency
and reduce average call handle time without compromising the customer experience. Our technologies have also enabled us to operate large, complex services
programs for our channel partners.
In December 2009 we acquired the Sammsoft family of products through our acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Xeriton, Inc. Xeriton, Inc.
developed certain of these products itself and licensed others from a third party, with whom we continue to partner on new products. We expect that new
software products we offer to consumers will be developed principally by third parties as well as internally.
Intellectual Property
We own the registered trademark SUPPORT.COM ® in the United States for specified software and support services, and we have registrations and
common law rights for several related trademarks in the U.S. and certain other countries. We own the domain name www.support.com and other domain names,
and have rights to the phone number 1-800-PCSUPPORT. We have exclusive distribution rights to the Sammsoft line of consumer software products, and
non-exclusive rights to distribute certain other products.
As of December 31, 2009, we retained three issued patents in the United States following the sale of our Enterprise business. We also have patent
applications pending. We may or may not seek additional patents in the future. We do not know if our current patent applications or any future patent application
will result in a patent being issued with the scope of the claims we seek, if at all. Also, we do not know whether any patents we have or may receive will be
challenged or invalidated. It is difficult to monitor unauthorized use of technology, particularly in foreign countries where the laws may not protect our
proprietary rights as fully as they do in the United States, and our competitors may develop technology that competes with ours but nevertheless does not infringe
our intellectual property rights.
We rely on a combination of copyright, trade secret, trademark and contractual protection to establish and protect our proprietary rights that are not
protected by patents. We also enter into confidentiality agreements with our employees and consultants involved in product development. We generally require
our employees, customers and potential business partners to enter into confidentiality agreements before we will disclose any sensitive aspects of our business.
Also, we generally require employees and contractors to agree to assign and surrender to us any proprietary information, inventions or other intellectual property
they generate while working for us in the scope of employment. These precautions, and our efforts to register and protect our intellectual property, may not
prevent misappropriation or infringement of our intellectual property.
Competition
We are active in markets that are highly competitive and subject to rapid change. Although we do not believe there is one principal competitor for all
aspects of our offerings, we do compete with a number of other vendors.
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Source: Support.com, Inc., 10-K, March 12, 2010 Powered by Morningstar® Document Research℠