iRobot 2010 Annual Report Download - page 56

Intellectual Property
We believe that our continued success depends in large part on our proprietary technology, the intellectual
skills of our employees and the ability of our employees to continue to innovate. We rely on a combination of patent,
copyright, trademark and trade secret laws, as well as confidentiality agreements, to establish and protect our
proprietary rights.
As of January 1, 2011, we held 82 U.S. patents and more than 150 pending U.S. patent applications. Also, we
held 34 foreign patents, additional design registrations, and more than 100 pending foreign applications. Our
U.S. patents will begin to expire in 2019. We will continue to file and prosecute patent (or design registration, as
applicable) applications when and where appropriate to attempt to protect our rights in our proprietary technologies.
We also encourage our employees to continue to invent and develop new technologies so as to maintain our
competitiveness in the marketplace. It is possible that our current patents, or patents which we may later acquire,
may be successfully challenged or invalidated in whole or in part. It is also possible that we may not obtain issued
patents for our pending patent applications or other inventions we seek to protect. In that regard, we sometimes
permit certain intellectual property to lapse or go abandoned under appropriate circumstances and due to
uncertainties inherent in prosecuting patent applications, sometimes patent applications are rejected and we
subsequently abandon them. It is also possible that we may not develop proprietary products or technologies in the
future that are patentable, or that any patent issued to us may not provide us with any competitive advantages, or that
the patents of others will harm or altogether preclude our ability to do business.
Our registered U.S. trademarks include iRobot, Roomba, Scooba, iRobot Dirt Dog, Create, PackBot,
Negotiator, Aware, Home Base, Looj, Verro, Virtual Wall, and Warrior. Our marks, iRobot, Roomba, Scooba,
and certain other trademarks, have also been registered in selected foreign countries.
Our means of protecting our proprietary rights may not be adequate and our competitors may independently
develop technology that is similar to ours. Legal protections afford only limited protection for our technology. The
laws of many countries do not protect our proprietary rights to as great an extent as do the laws of the United States.
Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized parties have in the past attempted, and may in the
future attempt, to copy aspects of our products or to obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary. Third
parties may also design around our proprietary rights, which may render our protected products less valuable, if the
design around is favorably received in the marketplace. In addition, if any of our products or the technology
underlying our products is covered by third-party patents or other intellectual property rights, we could be subject to
various legal actions. We cannot assure you that our products do not infringe patents held by others or that they will
not in the future. We have received in the past communications from third parties relating to technologies used in our
Roomba floor vacuuming robots that have alleged infringement of patents or violation of other intellectual property
rights. In response to these communications, we have contacted these third parties to convey our good faith belief
that we do not infringe the patents in question or otherwise violate those parties’ rights. Although there have been no
additional actions or communications with respect to these allegations, we cannot assure you that we will not
receive further correspondence from these parties, or not be subject to additional allegations of infringement from
others. Litigation may be necessary to enforce our intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets, to
determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others, or to defend against claims of infringement or
invalidity, misappropriation, or other claims. Any such litigation could result in substantial costs and diversion of
our resources. Moreover, any settlement of or adverse judgment resulting from such litigation could require us to
obtain a license to continue to use the technology that is the subject of the claim, or otherwise restrict or prohibit our
use of the technology. Any required licenses may not be available to us on acceptable terms, if at all. If we attempt to
design around the technology at issue or to find another provider of suitable alternative technology to permit us to
continue offering applicable software or product solutions, our continued supply of software or product solutions
could be disrupted or our introduction of new or enhanced software or products could be significantly delayed.
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