Symantec 2015 Annual Report Download - page 88

We have more than 2,700 patents, in addition to foreign patents and pending U.S. and foreign patent
applications, which relate to various aspects of our products and technology. The duration of our patents is
determined by the laws of the country of issuance and for the U.S. is typically 17 years from the date of issuance
of the patent or 20 years from the date of filing of the patent application resulting in the patent, which we believe
is adequate relative to the expected lives of our products.
Our products are protected under U.S. and international copyright laws and laws related to the protection of
intellectual property and proprietary information. We take measures to label such products with the appropriate
proprietary rights notices, and we actively enforce such rights in the U.S. and abroad. However, these measures
may not provide sufficient protection, and our intellectual property rights may be challenged. In addition, we
license some intellectual property from third parties for use in our products, and generally must rely on the third
party to protect the licensed intellectual property rights. While we believe that our ability to maintain and protect
our intellectual property rights is important to our success, we also believe that our business as a whole is not
materially dependent on any particular patent, trademark, license, or other intellectual property right.
Seasonality
As is typical for many large technology companies, our business is seasonal. License and maintenance
orders are generally higher in our third and fourth fiscal quarters and lower in our first and second fiscal quarters.
A decline in license and maintenance orders is typical in the first quarter of our fiscal year as compared to license
and maintenance orders in the fourth quarter of the prior fiscal year. In addition, we generally receive a higher
volume of license and maintenance orders in the last month of a quarter, with orders concentrated in the latter
part of that month. We believe that this seasonality primarily reflects customer spending patterns and budget
cycles, as well as the impact of compensation incentive plans for our sales personnel. Revenue generally reflects
similar seasonal patterns but to a lesser extent than orders because revenue is not recognized until an order is
shipped or services are performed and other revenue recognition criteria are met, and because a significant
portion of our in-period revenue comes from our deferred revenue balance.
Employees
As of April 3, 2015, we employed more than 19,000 people worldwide, approximately 44% of whom reside
in the U.S. Approximately 6,100 employees work in sales and marketing, 6,700 in research and development,
4,900 in support and services, and 1,900 in management, manufacturing, and administration.
Available Information
Our Internet address is www.symantec.com. We make available free of charge our annual reports on
Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports as
soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (“SEC”) on our investor relations website located at www.symantec.com/invest. The information
contained, or referred to, on our website is not part of this annual report unless expressly noted. The SEC
maintains a website that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding our
filings at http://www.sec.gov. In addition, you may read and copy any filing that we make with the SEC at the
public reference room maintained by the SEC, located at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. Please call
the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information about the public reference room.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
A description of the risk factors associated with our business is set forth below. The list is not exhaustive and you
should carefully consider these risks and uncertainties before investing in our common stock.
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