TripAdvisor 2013 Annual Report Download - page 23

Certain of the companies we do business with are also our competitors. The consolidation of our competitors
and partners, including Expedia (through its investment in Trivago) and Priceline (through its acquisition of Kayak),
may affect our competitiveness and partner relationships. As the market evolves for online travel content and the
technology supporting it, including new platforms such as smartphone and tablet computing devices, we anticipate
that the existing competitive landscape will change and new competitors may emerge.
Intellectual Property
Our intellectual property, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, domain names, trade dress, proprietary
technology and trade secrets, is an important component of our business. We rely on our intellectual property
rights in our content, proprietary technology, software code, ratings indexes, databases of reviews and forum
content, images, videos, graphics and brands. We have acquired some of our intellectual property rights through
licenses and content agreements with third parties. These licenses and agreements may place restrictions on our
use of the intellectual property.
We protect our intellectual property by relying on our terms of use, confidentiality procedures and
contractual provisions, as well as on international, national, state and common law rights. In addition, we enter
into confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with employees and contractors, and confidentiality
agreements with other third parties. We protect our brands by pursuing the trademark registration of our core
brands, such as TripAdvisor and the Owl Logo, maintaining our trademark portfolio, securing contractual
trademark rights protection when appropriate, and relying on common law trademark rights when appropriate.
We also register copyrights and domain names as deemed appropriate. Additionally, we protect our trademarks,
domain names and copyrights with an enforcement program and the use of intellectual property licenses.
We have considered, and will continue to consider, the appropriateness of filing for patents to protect future
inventions, as circumstances may warrant. However, many patents protect only specific inventions and there can
be no assurance that others may not create new products or methods that achieve similar results without
infringing upon patents owned by us.
Government Regulation
We are subject to a number of United States federal and state and foreign laws and regulations that affect
companies conducting business on the Internet, many of which are still evolving and being tested in courts, and
could be interpreted in ways that could harm our business. These may involve user privacy, libel, rights of
publicity, data protection, content, intellectual property, distribution, electronic contracts and other
communications, competition, protection of minors, consumer protection, taxation and online payment services.
In particular, we are subject to United States federal and state and foreign laws regarding privacy and protection
of user data. Foreign data protection, privacy, and other laws and regulations are often more restrictive than those
in the United States. United States federal and state and foreign laws and regulations are constantly evolving and
can be subject to significant change. In addition, the application and interpretation of these laws and regulations
is often uncertain, particularly in the new and rapidly-evolving industry in which we operate. There are also a
number of legislative proposals pending before the United States Congress, various state legislative bodies, and
foreign governments concerning data protection which could affect us.
In addition, we provide advertising data and information and conduct marketing activities that are subject to
United States federal and state consumer protection laws that regulate unfair and deceptive practices,
domestically and internationally. The United States and European Union have begun to adopt legislation that
regulates certain aspects of the Internet, including online editorial and user-generated content, user privacy,
behavioral targeting and online advertising, taxation, and liability for third-party activities.
United States federal, state and foreign governments are also considering alternative legislative and
regulatory proposals that would increase regulation on Internet advertising. It is impossible to predict whether
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