Vistaprint 2008 Annual Report Download - page 19

We place advertisements on the websites of companies such as eBay and Amazon, contract for
targeted e-mail marketing services from vendors such as IntegraClick and MyPoints, and contract for
placement on leading search engines such as Google and Yahoo!. We maintain affiliate programs with
companies such as UPromise under which we permit program members to include hyperlinks to our
websites on their sites and in promotional materials and we pay program members for sales generated
through those links.
We have entered into a variety of strategic partnerships that facilitate access to customers that
would be difficult to reach through direct marketing channels. We focus on cultivating opportunities with
strategic importance in the small business marketplace and seek to partner with companies that have
large numbers of well established small business customer relationships.
For example, we have developed a scalable capability to address the market of customers who
choose to order customized products and services through retail environments such as office
superstores, retailers and copy storefronts, through strategic partnerships with third parties, including
OfficeMax. We have also entered into strategic partnerships with online and software vendors to small
businesses, such as Intuit. We believe we are positioned to develop even broader and deeper
relationships in these markets.
In addition, we create co-branded versions of our websites and web landing or splash pages for
companies in a variety of industries, such as franchised organizations seeking brand consistency. In
general, these arrangements involve payment of a commission or revenue share to these companies
for sales of our products and services generated through these websites and web pages.
Intellectual Property
We seek to protect our proprietary rights through a combination of patent, copyright, trade secret,
and trademark law and contractual restrictions, such as confidentiality agreements and proprietary rights
agreements. We enter into confidentiality and proprietary rights agreements with our employees,
consultants and business partners, and control access to and distribution of our proprietary information.
We currently hold 17 issued United States patents and 3 patents in other countries. Subject to our
continued payment of required patent maintenance fees, our currently issued patents will expire
between December 2016 and May 2025. In addition, we currently have more than 40 patent
applications pending in the United States and other countries and we intend to pursue corresponding
patent coverage in additional countries to the extent we believe such coverage is justified, appropriate,
and cost efficient. Our issued patents relate generally to our automated process for receiving,
processing, aggregating and producing multiple individual print jobs and to automated processes for
facilitating document creation at a client system.
From time to time, third parties may allege that we have violated their intellectual property rights.
In addition, a third party may claim that we have improperly obtained or used its confidential or
proprietary information. We have in the past received letters from third parties that state that these third
parties have patent rights that cover aspects of the technology that we use in our business and that the
third parties believe we are obligated to license in order to continue to use such technology. Any claims
that our products or processes infringe the intellectual property rights of others, regardless of the merit
or resolution of such claims, could cause us to incur significant costs in responding to, defending, and
resolving such claims, and may divert the efforts and attention of our management and technical
personnel away from our business. As a result of such intellectual property infringement claims, we
could be required or otherwise decide it is appropriate to:
‰pay damages;
‰discontinue manufacturing, using, or selling particular products subject to infringement claims;
Form 10-K
15