The Hartford 2009 Annual Report Download - page 26

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We may not be able to protect our intellectual property and may be subject to infringement claims.
We rely on a combination of contractual rights and copyright, trademark, patent and trade secret laws to establish and protect our
intellectual property. Although we use a broad range of measures to protect our intellectual property rights, third parties may infringe or
misappropriate our intellectual property. We may have to litigate to enforce and protect our copyrights, trademarks, patents, trade
secrets and know-how or to determine their scope, validity or enforceability, which represents a diversion of resources that may be
significant in amount and may not prove successful. The loss of intellectual property protection or the inability to secure or enforce the
protection of our intellectual property assets could have a material adverse effect on our business and our ability to compete.
We also may be subject to costly litigation in the event that another party alleges our operations or activities infringe upon another
party’ s intellectual property rights. Third parties may have, or may eventually be issued, patents that could be infringed by our
products, methods, processes or services. Any party that holds such a patent could make a claim of infringement against us. We may
also be subject to claims by third parties for breach of copyright, trademark, trade secret or license usage rights. Any such claims and
any resulting litigation could result in significant liability for damages. If we were found to have infringed a third-party patent or other
intellectual property rights, we could incur substantial liability, and in some circumstances could be enjoined from providing certain
products or services to our customers or utilizing and benefiting from certain methods, processes, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets
or licenses, or alternatively could be required to enter into costly licensing arrangements with third parties, all of which could have a
material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Item 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.
Item 2. PROPERTIES
As of December 31, 2009 and 2008, The Hartford owned building space of approximately 2.7 million and 2.5 million square feet,
respectively, of which approximately 2.3 million and 2.1 million square feet, respectively, comprised its Hartford, Connecticut location
and other properties within the greater Hartford, Connecticut area. In addition, as of December 31, 2009 and 2008, The Hartford leased
approximately 5.0 million and 5.7 million square feet, respectively, throughout the United States of America, and approximately 220
thousand square feet, for both 2009 and 2008, in other countries. All of the properties owned or leased are used by one or more of all
eleven reporting segments, depending on the location. For more information on reporting segments, see Part I, Item 1, Business of The
Hartford – Reporting Segments. The Company believes its properties and facilities are suitable and adequate for current operations.
Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
For a discussion of legal proceedings, see Note 12 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, which is incorporated herein by
reference.
Item 4. SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS
No matter was submitted to a vote of security holders of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. during the fourth quarter of 2009.