Company: ZLAB
Filing Date: 2025-02-27
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001628280-25-008409
Chunk: 191

Company: Zai Lab Ltd
Filing Date: 2025-02-27
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 191
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 third party illegally disclosed or misappropriated our trade secrets is difficult, expensive, and time-consuming, with the outcome being unpredictable. 

Our trade secrets could become known or even be independently discovered by other parties, including our competitors. If any of our trade secrets were to be disclosed or independently developed, we would have no right to prevent others from using that information to compete against us, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. 

If our products or product candidates infringe, misappropriate, or otherwise violate the intellectual property rights of third parties, we may incur substantial liabilities, and we may be unable to sell or commercialize these products and product candidates.

Our success depends significantly on our ability to develop, manufacture, market, and sell our commercial products and use our proprietary technologies without infringing, misappropriating, or otherwise violating the patents and other 

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proprietary rights of third parties. The biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries are characterized by extensive litigation regarding patents and other intellectual property rights. We may become party to, or threatened with, litigation or other proceedings regarding intellectual property rights with respect to our products, product candidates, or technologies that could negatively affect our business. 

Third parties may assert claims of patent infringement against us, regardless of merit, based on their existing patents or based on later issued patents. Even if we believe such claims are without merit, there is no assurance that a court would find in our favor on questions of patent infringement or counterclaims pertaining to the underlying patent(s) asserted against us. A court of competent jurisdiction could hold that a third-party patent is valid, enforceable, and infringed by us, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. 

If we are found to have infringed a third party’s patent rights, and we are unsuccessful in demonstrating that such patent(s) are invalid or unenforceable, we could be required to: 

•obtain royalty-bearing licenses from such third party to the relevant patent(s), which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, require substantial licensing and royalty payments, or may not be available at all, and even if we were able to obtain such licenses, they could be non-exclusive, thereby giving our competitors and other third parties access to the same technologies licensed to us; 

•defend against additional litigation or administrative proceedings in the same and/or other jurisdiction(s); 

•reformulate affected product(s) so that they do not infringe the intellectual property rights of others,