Wendy's 2013 Annual Report Download - page 21

We have registered certain trademarks and have other trademark registrations pending in the United States and
certain foreign jurisdictions. The trademarks that we currently use have not been registered in all of the countries
outside of the United States in which we do business or may do business in the future and may never be registered in
all of these countries. We cannot assure you that all of the steps we have taken to protect our intellectual property in
the United States and foreign countries will be adequate. The laws of some foreign countries do not protect
intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States.
In addition, we cannot assure you that third parties will not claim infringement by us in the future. Any such
claim, whether or not it has merit, could be time-consuming, result in costly litigation, cause delays in introducing
new menu items, require costly modifications to advertising and promotional materials or require us to enter into
royalty or licensing agreements. As a result, any such claim could harm our business and cause a decline in our results
of operations and financial condition.
Our current insurance may not provide adequate levels of coverage against claims that may be filed.
We currently maintain insurance we believe is adequate for businesses of our size and type. However, there are
types of losses we may incur that cannot be insured against or that we believe are not economically reasonable to
insure, such as losses due to natural disasters or acts of terrorism. In addition, we currently self-insure a significant
portion of expected losses under workers compensation, general liability and property insurance programs.
Unanticipated changes in the actuarial assumptions and management estimates underlying our reserves for these losses
could result in materially different amounts of expense under these programs, which could harm our business and
adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
Changes in legal or regulatory requirements, including franchising laws, payment card industry rules, overtime
rules, minimum wage rates, government-mandated health care benefits, tax legislation, federal ethanol policy
and accounting standards, may adversely affect our ability to open new restaurants or otherwise hurt our
existing and future operations and results.
Each Wendy’s restaurant is subject to licensing and regulation by health, sanitation, safety and other agencies in
the state and/or municipality in which the restaurant is located, as well as to Federal laws, rules and regulations and
requirements of non-governmental entities such as payment card industry rules. State and local government
authorities may enact laws, rules or regulations that impact restaurant operations and the cost of conducting those
operations. There can be no assurance that we and/or our franchisees will not experience material difficulties or
failures in obtaining the necessary licenses or approvals for new restaurants, which could delay the opening of such
restaurants in the future. In addition, more stringent and varied requirements of local governmental bodies with
respect to tax, zoning, land use and environmental factors could delay or prevent development of new restaurants in
particular locations.
Federal laws, rules and regulations address many aspects of our business, such as franchising, federal ethanol
policy, minimum wages and taxes. We and our franchisees are also subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act, which
governs such matters as minimum wages, overtime and other working conditions, along with the ADA, family leave
mandates and a variety of other laws enacted by the states that govern these and other employment law matters.
Changes in laws, rules, regulations and governmental policies could increase our costs and adversely affect our existing
and future operations and results.
Changes in government-mandated health care benefits under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
(“PPACA”) are also anticipated to increase our costs and the costs of our franchisees. Our compliance with the
PPACA may result in significant modifications to our employment and benefits policies and practices. Because of
continuing modification of existing regulations and the absence of final implementing regulations, we currently
cannot predict the timing or amount of those cost increases or modifications to our business practices. However, the
cost increases may be material and such modifications to our business practices may be disruptive to our operations
and impact our ability to attract and retain personnel.
Changes in accounting standards, or in the interpretation of existing standards, applicable to us could also affect
our future results.
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