Orbitz 2009 Annual Report Download - page 9

and the stylized “O.” We have four issued U.S. patents. Two of these patents relate to a system and method
for receiving and loading fare and schedule data that allows us to search for fares and book air segments.
These patents are scheduled to expire on November 10, 2024 and April 1, 2022, respectively. The third patent
relates to a method of searching for travel products from multiple suppliers and creating vacation packages.
This patent is scheduled to expire on April 18, 2020. The fourth patent relates to a method for gathering and
analyzing data related to travel conditions and generating and sending a message explaining the travel
conditions to one or more travelers. This patent is scheduled to expire on May 10, 2023. In addition, we have
17 pending patent applications in the U.S. Through these patent applications, we are seeking patent rights in
several areas of our online travel services technology. These areas include technology related to our process
for searching using multiple data providers, our process for synchronizing passenger name and record data,
our supplier link and related booking technology, our system for searching for itineraries based on flexible
travel dates, and our Deal Detector functionality.
Despite these efforts and precautions, we cannot be certain that any of these patent applications will result
in issued patents, or that we will receive any effective protection from competition from any trademarks and
issued patents. It may be possible for a third party to copy or otherwise obtain and use our trade secrets or our
intellectual property without authorization. In that case, legal remedies may not adequately compensate us for
the damages caused by unauthorized use. Further, others may independently and lawfully develop substantially
similar properties.
From time to time, we may be subject to legal proceedings and claims in the ordinary course of our
business, including claims of alleged infringement by us of the trademarks, copyrights, patents and other
intellectual property rights of third parties. In addition, we may have to initiate lawsuits in the future to
enforce our intellectual property rights, protect our trade secrets or to determine the validity and scope of
proprietary rights claimed by others. Any such litigation, regardless of outcome or merit, could consume a
significant amount of financial resources or management time. It could also invalidate or impair our
intellectual rights, or result in significant damages or onerous license terms and restrictions for us. We may
even lose our right to use certain intellectual property or business processes. These outcomes could materially
harm our business. See Item 3, “Legal Proceedings.”
At the time of our IPO, we entered into a Master License Agreement with Travelport, which gives
Travelport licenses to use certain of our intellectual property going forward, including:
• our supplier link technology;
• portions of ebookers’ booking, search and dynamic packaging technologies;
• certain of our products and online booking tools for corporate travel;
• portions of our white label dynamic packaging technology; and
• our extranet supplier connectivity functionality currently being implemented as part of our new
technology platform.
The Master License Agreement granted us the right to use a corporate online booking product that
Travelport was developing at the time we entered into the agreement. The development of this product is now
complete, and we have entered into a value added reseller license with Travelport for this product.
The Master License Agreement generally includes the right to create derivative works and other
improvements. Other than the unrestricted use of our supplier link technology, Travelport is generally
prohibited from sublicensing these technologies to any third party for competitive use. However, Travelport
and its affiliates are not restricted from using the technologies to compete directly with us.
Information about Segments and Geographic Areas
We operate and manage our business as a single operating segment. For geographic related information,
see Note 20 — Segment Information of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
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