Under Armour 2007 Annual Report Download - page 18

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Intellectual Property
We believe we own the material trademarks used in connection with the marketing, distribution and sale of
all of our products, both domestically and internationally, where our products are currently either sold or
manufactured. Our major trademarks include the UA Logo and UNDER ARMOUR®, both of which are
registered in the United States, the European Union, Japan, Taiwan, China, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa
and Canada, among other places. We also own trademark registrations for HEATGEAR®, COLDGEAR®,
ALLSEASONGEAR®, PROTECT THIS HOUSE®, THE ADVANTAGE IS UNDENIABLE ®, DUPLICITY®,
MPZ®and I THINK YOU HEAR US COMING®. In addition, we have applied to register numerous other
trademarks including: CLICK-CLACK™, BOOM-BOOM TAP™, ARMOUR™ and THE FUTURE IS
OURS™. We also own domain names for our primary trademarks and hold copyrights for our Good-Bye Girl™
and Protect this House™ commercials. We intend to continue to strategically register, both domestically and
internationally, trademarks and copyrights we utilize today and those we develop in the future. We will continue
to aggressively police our trademarks and pursue those who infringe, both domestically and internationally.
We believe that the distinctive marks that we use in connection with our products are important in building
our brand image and distinguishing our products from those of others. These marks are among our most valuable
assets. In addition to our distinctive marks, we also place significant value on our trade dress, which is the overall
image and appearance of our products, and we believe that our trade dress helps to distinguish our products in the
marketplace.
The intellectual property rights in the technology, fabrics and processes used to manufacture our products
generally are owned or controlled by our suppliers. As a result, our ability to obtain patent protection for our
products is limited and we currently do not own any fabric or process patents. We focus our efforts on obtaining
patent protection for what we believe to be strategic, new product applications in the marketplace. We have filed
and will continue to file patent applications in connection with certain of our products that we believe offer a
unique utility or function. In 2007, we were issued a utility patent for our DUPLICITY®Sports Bra and several
design patents for our footwear. We will continue to file patent applications where we deem appropriate to
protect our inventions and designs, and we expect the number of applications to grow as our business grows and
as we continue to innovate in a range of product categories.
Competition
The market for performance athletic apparel and footwear is highly competitive and includes many new
competitors as well as increased competition from established companies expanding their production and
marketing of performance products. The fabrics and technology used in manufacturing our products are generally
not unique to us, and we do not currently own any fabric or process patents. Many of our competitors are large
apparel, footwear and sporting goods companies with strong worldwide brand recognition and significantly
greater resources than us, such as Nike and adidas. We also compete with other manufacturers, including those
specializing in outdoor apparel, and private label offerings of certain retailers, including some of our customers.
In addition, purchasing decisions by retailers and their decisions regarding the limited use of floor space in
their stores means that we also must compete with others to develop relationships with retailers for their limited
attention. We believe we have been successful in this area because of the good relationships we have developed
and as a result of the strong sales of our products. However, if retailers earn greater margins from our
competitors’ products, they may favor the display and sale of those products.
We believe that we have been able to compete successfully because of our brand image and recognition, the
performance and quality of our products and our selective distribution policies. We also believe that our focused
gearline merchandising story differentiates us from our competition. In the future we expect to compete for
consumer preferences and expect that we may face greater competition on pricing. This may favor larger
competitors with lower costs per unit of product produced that can spread the effect of price discounts across a
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