Company: BCHT
Filing Date: 2025-03-31
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001477932-25-002237
Chunk: 234

Company: Birchtech Corp.
Filing Date: 2025-03-31
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 234
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 range of participants, including companies that operate in both the mercury capture and water treatment industries.  Our major competitors in the mercury capture and water treatment markets includes companies such as Arq, Inc. (formerly Advanced Emissions Solutions, Inc.), Norit Activated Carbon, Calgon Carbon Corporation, and Nalco Company LLC (also known as Nalco Water, an Ecolab company).  Many of our competitors employ larger sales staff and are well established in the market with greater financial and operational resources.  Our ability to compete successfully depends in part upon our ability to offer superior technology, including a superior team of technical personnel.  If we are unable to maintain our competitive position, we could lose market share to our competitors which is likely to adversely impact our financial results.

We may not be able to successfully protect our intellectual property rights.

We have a patent portfolio relating to mercury removal of 35 granted patents worldwide, consisting of 27 U.S. patents and 8 foreign patents (Canada, Germany and China) with expiration dates ranging from August 2025 to September 2034.  While we actively pursue new patents and technological advancements to replace expiring patents, there is no guarantee that future patents will be granted, or that they will be able to provide and/or allow us to maintain the same level of market protection. As a result, we may not be able to successfully protect proprietary aspects of our technology.

With regard to our water treatment technologies, we have to date filed two provisional patent applications in the U.S. relating to water treatment. However, provisional applications do not provide enforceable patent rights unless they are converted into non-provisional applications and successfully granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. There is no assurance that our pending provisional applications will result in issued patents, or that any patents granted will provide meaningful protection against competitors.

We may not be successful in patent litigation.

Patent litigation, like most types of commercial litigation, can be expensive, time-consuming, and unpredictable.  Any such litigation may require us to spend a substantial amount of time and money and could distract management from our day-to-day operations. There is no assurance that we will be successful in any such litigation.  Moreover, in an infringement proceeding, a court may decide that one or more of our patents are not valid or enforceable, or a court may refuse to stop the other party from using the technology at issue on the grounds that our patents do not cover the technology in question. An adverse result in any litigation could put