AMD 2004 Annual Report Download - page 70

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buying counterfeit or substandard products, including products that may have been altered, mishandled or damaged, or used products represented as new. Our
inability to control sales of our products on the gray market could have a material adverse effect on us.
If we cannot adequately protect our technology or other intellectual property in the United States and abroad, through patents, copyrights, trade secrets,
trademarks and other measures, we may lose a competitive advantage and incur significant expenses.
We rely on a combination of protections provided by contracts, copyrights, patents, trademarks and other common law rights, such as trade secrets, to
protect our intellectual property. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to adequately protect our technology or other intellectual property from
third party infringement or from misappropriation in the United States and abroad. Any patent licensed by us or issued to us could be challenged, invalidated or
circumvented or rights granted thereunder may not provide a competitive advantage to us. Furthermore, patent applications that we file may not result in issuance
of a patent or, if a patent is issued, the patent may not be issued in a form that is advantageous to us. Despite our efforts to protect our rights, others may
independently develop similar products, duplicate our products or design around our patents and other rights. In addition, it is difficult to monitor compliance
with, and enforce, our intellectual property on a worldwide basis in a cost-effective manner.
We may become a party to intellectual property claims or litigation that could cause us to incur substantial costs or pay substantial damages or prohibit us
from selling our products.
From time to time, we have been notified that we may be infringing intellectual property rights of others. If any such claims are asserted against us, we
may seek to obtain a license under the third party’s intellectual property rights. We cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain all necessary licenses on
satisfactory terms, if at all. In the event we cannot obtain a license, we may be prevented from using some technology, which could result in our having to stop
the sale of some of our products, increase the costs of selling some of our products, or damage our reputation. We could decide, in the alternative, to resort to
litigation to challenge such claims. Such challenges could be extremely expensive and time-consuming and could have a material adverse effect on us. We cannot
assure you that litigation related to the intellectual property rights of us and others will always be avoided or successfully concluded.
Our failure to comply with any applicable environmental regulations could result in a range of consequences, including fines, suspension of production,
alteration of manufacturing processes, sales limitations, and criminal and civil liabilities.
Failure to comply with any applicable environmental regulations could result in a range of consequences including fines, suspension of production,
alteration of manufacturing process, sales limitations, and criminal and civil liabilities.
Existing or future regulations could require us to procure expensive pollution abatement or remediation equipment; to modify product designs; or to incur
other expenses associated with compliance with environmental regulations. Any failure to control the use of, disposal or storage of, or adequately restrict the
discharge of, hazardous substances could subject us to future liabilities and could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Future litigation proceedings may materially adversely affect us.
From time to time we are a defendant or plaintiff in various legal actions. Litigation can involve complex factual and legal questions and its outcome is
uncertain. Any claim that is successfully asserted against us may cause us to pay substantial damages. In addition, future litigation may result in injunctions
against future product sales. Even if we were to prevail, any litigation could be costly and time-consuming and would divert the
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Source: ADVANCED MICRO DEVIC, 10-K, March 01, 2005