Company: BWNB
Filing Date: 2025-03-31
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001630805-25-000007
Chunk: 160

Company: Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-03-31
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 160
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 the United States.

We rely on intellectual property law and confidentiality agreements to protect our intellectual property. We also rely on intellectual property we license from third parties. Our failure to protect our intellectual property rights, or our inability to obtain or renew licenses to use intellectual property of third parties, could adversely affect our business.

Our success depends, in part, on our ability to protect our proprietary information and other intellectual property. Our intellectual property could be stolen, challenged, invalidated, circumvented or rendered unenforceable. In addition, effective intellectual property protection may be limited or unavailable in some foreign countries where we operate.

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Our failure to protect our intellectual property rights may result in the loss of valuable technologies or adversely affect our competitive business position. We rely significantly on proprietary technology, information, processes and know-how that are not subject to patent or copyright protection. We seek to protect this information through trade secret or confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, subcontractors or other parties, as well as through other security measures. These agreements and security measures may be inadequate to deter or prevent misappropriation of our confidential information. In the event of an infringement of our intellectual property rights, a breach of a confidentiality agreement or divulgence of proprietary information, we may not have adequate legal remedies to protect our intellectual property. Litigation to determine the scope of intellectual property rights, even if ultimately successful, could be costly and could divert management's attention away from other aspects of our business. In addition, our trade secrets may otherwise become known or be independently developed by competitors.

In some instances, we have augmented our technology base by licensing the proprietary intellectual property of third parties. In the future, we may not be able to obtain necessary licenses on commercially reasonable terms, which could have a material adverse effect on our operations.

Risks Related to Government Regulation

We are subject to government regulations that may adversely affect our future operations.

Many aspects of our operations and properties are affected by political developments and are subject to both domestic and foreign governmental regulations, including those relating to:

•the construction and manufacture of renewable, environmental and thermal products;

•clean air and other environmental protection legislation;

•taxation of domestic and foreign earnings;

•tariffs, duties, trade sanctions or trade wars and other trade barriers imposed by countries that restrict or prohibit business transactions in certain markets or in certain goods;

•user privacy, security, data protection, content, and online-payment services;

•intellectual property; 

•transactions in or with foreign countries or officials; and

•use of local employees and