Travelzoo 2006 Annual Report Download - page 36

Jurisdictions. Due to the global nature of the Internet, it is possible that, although our transmissions over the
Internet originate primarily in California, the governments of other states and foreign countries might attempt to
regulate our business activities. In addition, because our service is available over the Internet in multiple states and
foreign countries, these jurisdictions may require us to qualify to do business as a foreign corporation in each of
these states or foreign countries, which could subject us to taxes and other regulations.
Intellectual Property
Our success depends to a significant degree upon the protection of our brand names, including Travelzoo and
Travelzoo Top 20. If we were unable to protect the Travelzoo and Travelzoo Top 20 brand names, our business could
be materially adversely affected. We rely upon a combination of copyright, trade secret and trademark laws to
protect our intellectual property rights. The steps we have taken to protect our proprietary rights, however, may not
be adequate to deter misappropriation of proprietary information.
We may not be able to detect unauthorized use of our proprietary information or take appropriate steps to
enforce our intellectual property rights. In addition, the validity, enforceability and scope of protection of
intellectual property in Internet-related industries is uncertain and still evolving. The laws of other countries in
which we may market our services in the future are uncertain and may afford little or no effective protection of our
intellectual property.
On June 21, 1999, Mr. Bartel, our founder, filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”)
to register the trademark “Travelzoo” for “providing information and news in the field of travel via an on-line global
communications network and travel agency services, namely making reservations and booking for transportation,”
“providing information and news in the field of travel via an on-line global communications network and travel
agency services, namely making reservations and booking for temporary lodging,” and “promoting the goods and
services of others through the offer of travel goods and services and shopping club services, namely providing
information on travel goods and services to members.” On January 22, 2001, Mr. Bartel, who filed the trademark
application as an individual, transferred the ownership of the pending trademark “Travelzoo” to Travelzoo Inc. The
mark was registered by the PTO on January 23, 2001.
On March 18, 2002, we filed with the PTO to register the trademark “Top 20” for “promoting the goods and
services of others through the offer of travel goods and services and shopping club services, namely providing
information on travel goods and services to members,” “providing information and news in the field of travel via an
on-line global communications network and travel agency services namely making reservations and booking for
transportation,” and “providing information and news in the field of travel via an on-line global communications
network and travel agency services, namely, making reservations and booking for temporary travel lodging.” The
mark was registered by the PTO on May 13, 2003.
On September 26, 2002, we filed with the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (“OHIM”) of the
European Community to register the trademark “Travelzoo” for “promoting the goods and services of others
through the offer of travel goods and services, shopping club services and information on travel goods and services
to members,” “providing information and news in the fields of travel and transportation via an on-line global
communications network and making reservations and bookings for travel and transportation,” and “providing
information and news in the field of temporary accommodation via an on-line global communications network and
making reservations and bookings for temporary accommodation.” The mark was registered on May 11, 2004.
Employees
As of December 31, 2006, we had 82 employees, of whom 23 worked in sales and marketing, 41 in production,
7 in network operations and software engineering and 11 were involved in finance, administration, and corporate
operations. None of our employees is represented under collective bargaining agreements. We consider our
relations with our employees to be good. Because of our anticipated further growth, we expect that the number of
our employees will continue to increase for the foreseeable future.
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