American Home Shield 2010 Annual Report Download - page 18

Table of Contents
We may not be able to adequately protect our intellectual property and other proprietary rights that are material to our business.
Our ability to compete effectively depends in part on our rights to service marks, trademarks, trade names and other intellectual property rights we own
or license, particularly our registered brand names, ServiceMaster, Terminix, TruGreen, TruGreen LandCare, Merry Maids, ServiceMaster Clean, American
Home Shield, AmeriSpec and Furniture Medic. We have not sought to register or protect every one of our marks either in the United States or in every
country in which they are used. Furthermore, because of the differences in foreign trademark, patent and other intellectual property or proprietary rights laws,
we may not receive the same protection in other countries as we would in the United States. If we are unable to protect our proprietary information and brand
names, we could suffer a material adverse impact on our reputation, business, financial position, results of operations and cash flows.
Litigation may be necessary to enforce our intellectual property rights and protect our proprietary information, or to defend against claims by third parties
that our products or services infringe their intellectual property rights. Any litigation or claims brought by or against us could result in substantial costs and
diversion of our resources. A successful claim of trademark, patent or other intellectual property infringement against us, or any other successful challenge to
the use of our intellectual property, could subject us to damages or prevent us from providing certain services under our recognized brand names, which could
have a material adverse impact on our reputation, business, financial position, results of operations and cash flows.
Disruptions or security failures in our information technology systems could create liability for us and/or limit our ability to effectively monitor,
operate and control our operations and adversely impact our reputation, business, financial position, results of operations and cash flows.
Our information technology systems facilitate our ability to monitor, operate and control our operations. Changes or modifications to our information
technology systems could cause disruption to our operations or cause challenges with respect to our compliance with laws and regulations. For example,
delays, higher than expected costs or unsuccessful implementation of new information technology systems at American Home Shield could adversely impact
our operations. In addition, any disruption in or failure of our information technology systems to operate as expected could, depending on the magnitude of
the problem, adversely impact our business, financial position, results of operations and cash flows, including by limiting our capacity to monitor, operate and
control our operations effectively. Failures of our information technology systems could also lead to violations of privacy laws related to our customers and
employees. If our disaster recovery plans do not work as anticipated, or if the third party vendors to which we have outsourced certain information
technology, contact center or other services fail to fulfill their obligations to us, our operations may be adversely impacted and any of these circumstances
could adversely impact our reputation, business, financial position, results of operations and cash flows.
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