Company: ADPT
Filing Date: 2025-03-03
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000950170-25-030913
Chunk: 114

Company: Adaptive Biotechnologies Corp
Filing Date: 2025-03-03
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 114
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 be certain that there is no invalidating prior art, of which we and the patent examiner were unaware during prosecution. A successful third-party challenge to our patents could result in the unenforceability or invalidity of such patents, which could have a material adverse impact on our business. Furthermore, if the breadth or strength of protection provided by our patents and patent applications is threatened, regardless of the outcome, it could dissuade companies from collaborating with us to license, develop or commercialize current or future products and services. 

We may not be aware of all third-party intellectual property rights potentially relating to our immune medicine platform, products and services. Publications of discoveries in the scientific literature often lag behind the actual discoveries, and patent applications in the U.S. and other jurisdictions are typically not published until approximately 18 months after filing or, in some cases, not until such patent applications issue as patents. We might not have been the first to make the inventions covered by each of our pending patent applications and we might not have been the first to file patent applications for these inventions. To determine the priority of these inventions, we may have to participate in interference proceedings, derivation proceedings or other post-grant proceedings declared by the USPTO. The outcome of such proceedings is uncertain, and other patent applications may have priority over our patent applications. Such proceedings could also result in substantial costs to us and divert our management’s attention and resources. 

We rely on a third party license in relation to certain sequencing technology and if we lose these licenses then we may be subjected to future litigation. 

We are a party to a license agreement that grants us rights to use certain intellectual property, including patents and patent applications, typically in certain specified fields of use. Some of those licensed rights could provide us with freedom to operate for aspects of our products and services. We may need to obtain additional licenses from others to advance our research, development and commercialization activities. 

Our success may depend in part on the ability of our licensor to obtain, maintain and enforce patent protection for our licensed intellectual property. Our licensor may not successfully prosecute the patent applications we license. Even if patents issue in respect of these patent applications, our licensors may fail to maintain these patents, may determine not to pursue litigation against other companies that are infringing these patents or may pursue such litigation less aggressively than we would. Without protection for the intellectual property we license, other companies might be able to offer substantially identical products for sale, which could adversely affect our competitive business position and harm our business prospects.