ServiceMagic 2010 Annual Report Download - page 23

Table of Contents
could be costly to implement, or if governing jurisdictions interpret or implement their legislation or regulations in ways that otherwise
negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
As privacy and data protection have become more sensitive issues, we may also become exposed to potential liabilities as a result of
differing views on the privacy of consumer and other user data collected by our businesses. Also, we cannot guarantee that our security measures
will prevent security breaches. The failure of any of our businesses, or their various third party vendors and service providers, to comply with
applicable privacy policies or federal, state or similar international laws and regulations or any compromise of security that results in the
unauthorized release of personally identifiable information or other user data could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results
of operations.
We may fail to adequately protect our intellectual property rights or may be accused of infringing intellectual property rights of third parties.
We regard our intellectual property rights, including trademarks, domain names, trade secrets, patents, copyrights and other similar
intellectual property, as critical to our success. For example, the businesses within our principal reporting segments, our Search, Match and
ServiceMagic reporting segments, rely heavily upon their trademarks (primarily Ask.com , our various toolbar brands, Match.com and
ServiceMagic.com and related domain names and logos), through which they market their products and services and seek to build and maintain
brand loyalty and recognition. So long as these businesses continue to use these trademarks to identify their products and services and renew
related trademarks upon their expiration, they will continue to have related trademark protections indefinitely under current trademark laws,
rules and regulations.
The businesses within our Search segment also rely heavily upon trade secrets, primarily search algorithms through which organic search
results are generated. To a lesser extent, these businesses also rely upon patented and patent-pending proprietary technologies and processes,
primarily those relating to search-related products and services, with expiration dates for patented technologies ranging from 2017 to 2027, and
copyrighted material, primarily emoticons, characters and other content that is incorporated into, and used in connection with the marketing of,
toolbars generally.
Our Match segment also relies upon patent-pending proprietary technologies relating to matching process systems and related features,
products and services. Our ServiceMagic segment also relies heavily upon trade secrets, primarily the matching algorithm through which
members of its network of local service professionals are matched with consumers, as well as related patented proprietary technologies that
expire in 2020.
We rely on a combination of laws and contractual restrictions with employees, customers, suppliers, affiliates and others to establish and
protect our various intellectual property rights. For example, we have generally registered and continue to apply to register and renew, or secure
by contract where appropriate, trademarks and service marks as they are developed and used, and reserve, register and renew domain names as
we deem appropriate. Effective trademark protection may not be available or may not be sought in every country in which products and services
are made available and contractual disputes may affect the use of marks governed by private contract. Similarly, not every variation of a domain
name may be available or be registered, even if available.
We also generally seek to apply for patents or for other similar statutory protections as and if we deem appropriate, based on then current
facts and circumstances, and will continue to do so in the future. No assurances can be given that any patent application we have filed will result
in a patent being issued, or that any existing or future patents will afford adequate protection against competitors and similar technologies. In
addition, no assurances can be given that third parties will not create new products or methods that achieve similar results without infringing
upon patents we own.
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