Vistaprint 2011 Annual Report Download - page 30

Form 10-K
Our primary brand is “Vistaprint.” As of June 30, 2011, we held trademark registrations for the
Vistaprint trademark in 22 jurisdictions, including registrations in our major markets in North America,
Europe, and Asia Pacific.
Our competitors or other entities may adopt names or marks similar to ours, thereby impeding
our ability to build brand identity and possibly leading to customer confusion. There are several
companies that currently incorporate or may incorporate in the future “Vista” into their company,
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, subject us to liability or require us to stop some of our business activities.
From time to time, we may be involved in lawsuits or disputes in which third parties claim that
we infringe their intellectual property rights or that we improperly obtained or used their confidential or
proprietary information. In addition, from time to time we receive letters from third parties who claim to
have patent rights that cover aspects of the technology that we use in our business and that the third
parties believe we must license in order to continue to use such technology.
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
managing and 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 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, which
could restrict our ability to use certain technologies important to the operation of our business.
Alternatively, we may be required to, or decide to, enter into a license with a third party that
claims infringement by us. Any such patent license 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, grow our
business or maintain profitability.
In addition, from time to time, we initiate lawsuits, proceedings or claims to enforce our patents,
copyrights, trademarks and other intellectual property rights or to determine the scope and validity of
third-party proprietary rights. Our ability to enforce our intellectual property rights 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 our
intellectual property rights are invalid or unenforceable or are licensed to the party against whom we
are asserting a claim. There is also a risk that our assertion of intellectual property rights could result
in the other party’s 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 may negatively impact our competitive position and business.
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