Bridgestone 2004 Annual Report Download - page 27

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25
Operational Risk
The Companies’ pension costs and obligations are dependent on assumptions, including the dis-
count rates, the expected rates of return, and other factors, which are considered reasonable at the
time of calculation. Deteriorating conditions in the financial markets and other factors could cause
the Companies’ actual pension costs and obligations to differ from those assumptions, and that
could adversely affect the Companies’ operating results and financial position.
Alleged infringement of third parties’ intellectual property rights by the Companies could interrupt
the Companies’ ability to use materials or technology and could necessitate compensation for result-
ant damages, which could adversely affect the Companies’ operating results and financial condition.
In addition, events that might not be judged as infringement of the Companies’ intellectual property
by third parties, such as the manufacturing and marketing of products or technologies confusingly
similar to those of the Companies, could diminish the differentiation and competitiveness of the
Companies’ products, which could adversely affect the Companies’ operating results and financial
condition.
The Companies treat intellectual property as a crucial management resource. They work system-
atically to employ their intellectual property effectively in improving their competitive position, to
avoid infringing the intellectual property of third parties, and to protect their wide-ranging intellec-
tual property rights from infringement.
Pension costs
Intellectual property