Ubisoft 2009 Annual Report Download - page 37

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United States) and consumer protection, including but not limited to the protection of minors, by putting in
place systematic procedures for parental consent, and respect for and protection of personal data.
The Company is continuing to improve its internal controls by implementing procedures adapted to comply
with the directives and principles set out by professional bodies and the applicable local laws. It is a member
of the ESA (Entertainment Software Association) in the United States, the ISFE (Interactive Software
Federation of Europe) and the SELL (Syndicat des Éditeurs de Logiciels de Loisirs) in France, and complies
with the classification systems PEGI (Europe) and ESRB (United States).
1.1.7.2.3 Risks associated with intellectual property rights
Given the importance of the prominence of its brands and the piracy problem faced by all players in the
video game industry, the Company has taken the necessary measures to protect its portfolio of commercial
brands as well as the other intellectual property rights that it holds:
• Procedure for checking the pre-existence of brands proposed for games at European and
international level, registration of brands and domain names of games designed at European and
international level;
• Legal monitoring of brands that are similar or identical to those of the Company and that have been
registered by third parties at a global level;
• A dedicated anti-pirating team, whose task is to carry out a technology watch, advise development
teams and coordinate action between the various internal and external teams;
• Copyright infringement and piracy proceedings in France and abroad, pressing civil claims in criminal
proceedings where applicable, or via any other available criminal or civil avenues, and measures
against hackers in order to obtain the removal of games illegally put online.
Ubisoft is not dependent on any particular patents.
1.1.7.2.4 Licensing agreement risks
Every year, Ubisoft signs a series of partnership agreements with, in particular, prestigious partners such as
film studios, television channels and celebrities, enabling it to develop its game catalogue and increase
sales.
The biggest licensor accounts for nearly 7 % of sales.
The potential interruption of certain partnerships, for whatever reason, at the behest of Ubisoft or its partners,
would likely have a negative impact on the revenue and future performance of the Company as it would not
be offset by other new licenses.
Ubisoft has established a number of internal procedures at both marketing team and development team level
to ensure the proper implementation of licensing agreements and compliance with the instructions of its
partners, particularly through tools for sharing information and internal control procedures at all stages of
production.
1.1.7.3 Operational risks
1.1.7.3.1 Risk of dependency on customers
Because it has many large retailer customers in numerous countries, the Company believes it has no
significant dependency on any customer that could affect its growth plan. The weightings of the 10 largest
customers have remained stable over the last three financial years.
Share of the main customers in the Group’s sales ex-VAT:
Share in % 2009/2010 2008/2009 2007/2008
Top customer10 % 10 % 11 %
Top 5 customers32 % 33 % 35 %
Top 10 customers45 % 46 % 47 %