Company: ARWR
Filing Date: 2025-11-25
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000879407-25-000029
Chunk: 97

Company: ARROWHEAD PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
Filing Date: 2025-11-25
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 97
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 abroad. If we are unable to adequately protect our owned intellectual property or derive sufficient value from our licensed or owned intellectual property, the value of your investment may decline.

In addition, patent grant standards by the USPTO and its foreign counterparts are not always uniform or predictable, and subject to change. For example, the America Invents Act enacted a number of changes to U.S. patent laws, which may prevent us from adequately protecting our inventions and discoveries, including our ability to seek injunctive relief, pursue infringement claims, and obtain substantial damage awards. An example of a major provision of the America Invents Act is the change in the U.S. patent policy from a first-to-invent to a first-to-file practice. Additionally, the USPTO and patent offices in other jurisdictions have often required that patent applications directed to pharmaceutical and/or biotechnology-related inventions be limited or narrowed substantially to cover only the specific innovations exemplified in the patent application, thereby limiting the scope of protection against competitive challenges. Accordingly, even if we or our licensors are able to obtain patents, the patents might be substantially narrower than anticipated. Thus, there is no assurance as to the degree and range of protections any of our patents, if issued, may afford us or whether patents will be issues.  Foreign counterparts to this law are also not uniform, and there is no worldwide policy governing the subject matter and scope of claims granted in a pharmaceutical or biotechnology patent. Uncertainty, arising from changing laws, can impact our ability to protect our patents and other proprietary rights.

We are party to technology license agreements with third parties that require us to satisfy obligations to keep them effective and, if these agreements are terminated, our technology and our business could be seriously and adversely affected.

We are party to license agreements to incorporate third-party proprietary technologies into our drug products under development or our manufacturing processes. These license agreements require us to pay royalties and satisfy other conditions. If we fail to satisfy our obligations under these agreements, the terms of the licenses may be materially modified, such as by rendering currently exclusive licenses non-exclusive, or may give our licensors the right to terminate their respective agreement with us, which could limit our ability to implement our current business plan and harm our business and financial condition.

We may be and have been subject to patent infringement claims, which could result in substantial costs and liability and prevent us from commercializing our potential products.

Because the intellectual property landscape in the fields in which we participate is rapidly evolving and interdisciplinary, it is difficult to conclusively assess our freedom to operate