Vistaprint 2013 Annual Report Download - page 25

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to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized parties may copy aspects of our trademarks, websites features and
functionalities or obtain and use information that we consider proprietary, such as the technology used to operate
our websites and our production operations.
We intend to continue to pursue patent coverage in the United States and other countries, but there can be
no guarantee that any of our pending applications or continuation patent applications will be granted. In addition, we
have in the past and may in the future face infringement, invalidity, intellectual property ownership or similar claims
brought by third parties with respect to our current or future patents. Any such claims, whether or not successful,
could be extremely costly, damage our reputation and brands, and substantially harm our business and results of
operations.
Although we hold trademark registrations for the Vistaprint trademark and our other trademarks in
jurisdictions throughout the world, our competitors or other entities may adopt names or marks similar to ours,
thereby impeding our ability to build brand identity and possibly leading to customer confusion. Any claims or
customer confusion related to our trademarks could damage our reputation and brands and substantially harm our
business and results of operations.
Intellectual property disputes and litigation are costly and could cause us to lose our exclusive rights,
subject us to liability, or require us to stop some of our business activities.
From time to time, we are involved in lawsuits or disputes in which third parties claim that we infringe their
intellectual property rights or that we improperly obtained or used their confidential or proprietary information. In
addition, from time to time we receive letters from third parties who claim to have patent rights that cover aspects of
the technology that we use in our business and that the third parties believe we must license in order to continue to
use such technology.
The cost to us of any litigation or other proceeding relating to intellectual property rights, even if resolved in
our favor, could be substantial, and litigation diverts our management's efforts from managing and growing our
business. Potential adversaries may be able to sustain the costs of complex intellectual property litigation more
effectively than we can because they have substantially greater resources. Uncertainties resulting from any
litigation could limit our ability to continue our operations. If any parties successfully claim that our sale, use,
manufacturing or importation of technologies infringes upon their intellectual property rights, we might be forced to
pay significant damages and attorney's fees, and a court could enjoin us from performing the infringing activity,
which could restrict our ability to use certain technologies important to the operation of our business.
Alternatively, we may be required to, or decide to, enter into a license with a third party that claims
infringement by us. Any such license may not be made available on commercially acceptable terms, if at all. In
addition, such licenses are likely to be non-exclusive, and therefore our competitors may have access to the same
technology licensed to us. If we fail to obtain a required license and are unable to design around a third party's
patent, we may be unable to effectively conduct some of our business activities, which could limit our ability to
generate revenues, grow our business or maintain profitability.
In addition, from time to time, we initiate lawsuits, proceedings or claims to enforce our patents, copyrights,
trademarks and other intellectual property rights or to determine the scope and validity of third-party proprietary
rights. Our ability to enforce our intellectual property rights is subject to general litigation risks, as well as uncertainty
as to the enforceability of our intellectual property rights in various countries. When we seek to enforce our rights,
we may be subject to claims that our intellectual property rights are invalid or unenforceable or are licensed to the
party against whom we are asserting a claim. There is also a risk that our assertion of intellectual property rights
could result in the other party's seeking to assert alleged intellectual property rights of its own against us, which
may adversely impact our business in the manner discussed above. Our inability to enforce our intellectual property
rights may negatively impact our competitive position and business.
Our business is dependent on the Internet, and unfavorable changes in government regulation of the
Internet, e-commerce, and email marketing could substantially harm our business and results of
operations.
Due to our dependence on the Internet for our sales, laws specifically governing the Internet, e-commerce
and email marketing may have a greater impact on our operations than other more traditional businesses. Existing
and future laws, such as laws covering pricing, customs, privacy, consumer protection, or commercial email, may