Vistaprint 2010 Annual Report Download - page 32

product or service names. There could be potential trade name or trademark infringement claims
brought by owners of other registered trademarks or trademarks that incorporate variations of the
term Vistaprint or our other trademarks, and we may institute such claims against other parties. Any
claims or customer confusion related to our trademarks could damage our reputation and brand and
substantially harm our business and results of operations.
Intellectual property disputes and litigation are costly and could cause us to lose our
exclusive rights or be subject to liability or require us to stop some of our business activities.
From time to time, we are involved in lawsuits or disputes in which third parties claim that we
infringe their intellectual property rights or improperly obtained or used their confidential or proprietary
information. In addition, from time to time we receive 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.
Similarly, companies or individuals with whom we currently have a business relationship, or have had
a past business relationship, may commence an action seeking rights in one or more of our patents or
pending patent applications.
The cost to us of any litigation or other proceeding relating to intellectual property rights, even if
resolved in our favor, could be substantial, and litigation diverts our management’s efforts from
growing our business. Potential adversaries may be able to sustain the costs of complex intellectual
property litigation more effectively than we can because they have substantially greater resources.
Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of any litigation could limit our ability to
continue our operations. If any parties successfully claim that our sale, use, manufacturing or
importation of technologies infringes upon their intellectual property rights, we might be forced to pay
significant damages and attorney’s fees, and a court could enjoin us from performing the infringing
activity. Thus, the situation could arise in which our ability to use certain technologies important to the
operation of our business would be restricted by a court order.
Alternatively, we may be required to, or decide to, enter into a license with a third party that
claims infringement by us. Any license required under any patent may not be made available on
commercially acceptable terms, if at all. In addition, such licenses are likely to be non-exclusive and,
therefore, our competitors may have access to the same technology licensed to us. If we fail to obtain
a required license and are unable to design around a third party’s patent, we may be unable to
effectively conduct certain of our business activities, which could limit our ability to generate revenues
or maintain profitability and possibly prevent us from generating revenue sufficient to sustain our
operations.
In addition, we may need to resort to litigation to enforce a patent issued to us or to determine
the scope and validity of third-party proprietary rights. Our ability to enforce our patents, copyrights,
trademarks, and other intellectual property is subject to general litigation risks, as well as uncertainty
as to the enforceability of our intellectual property rights in various countries. When we seek to
enforce our rights, we may be subject to claims that the intellectual property right is invalid, is
otherwise not enforceable, or is licensed to the party against whom we are asserting a claim. In
addition, our assertion of intellectual property rights could result in the other party seeking to assert
alleged intellectual property rights of its own against us, which may adversely impact our business in
the manner discussed above. Our inability to enforce our intellectual property rights under these
circumstances may negatively impact our competitive position and our business.
You can find information about certain lawsuits that we have filed to enforce or protect our
intellectual property rights and that have been filed against us for alleged infringement of other parties’
intellectual property rights in the section of this Report entitled, “Item 3 – Legal Proceedings.”
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