Company: RWT-PA
Filing Date: 2025-03-03
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000930236-25-000007
Chunk: 259

Company: REDWOOD TRUST INC
Filing Date: 2025-03-03
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 259
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 greater for business activities that are new for us or have non-standardized terms, for areas of our business that we have rapidly expanded or are in the process of expanding, or for areas of our business that rely on new employees or on third parties with whom we have only recently established relationships, as further discussed within these Risk Factors.

Our business may be adversely affected if our reputation is harmed. Our brand recognition is important to the success of our business and we are exposed to intellectual property-related risks associated with our brands.

Our business is subject to significant reputational risks. If we fail, or appear to fail, to address various issues that may affect our reputation, our business could be harmed. Issues could include real or perceived legal or regulatory violations or could be the result of a failure in governance, inability to achieve workforce engagement, governance, or climate-risk related initiatives, or a failure to accurately report associated metrics, risk-management, technology, or operations. Similarly, market rumors and actual or perceived association with counterparties whose own reputation is under question could harm our business. Lawsuits brought against us (or the resolution of lawsuits brought against us), claims of employee misconduct, claims of wrongful termination, adverse publicity, conflicts of interest, ethical issues, or failure to maintain the security of our information technology systems or to protect personal information could also cause significant reputational damage. Such reputational damage could result not only in an immediate financial loss, but could also result in a loss of business relationships, the ability to raise capital, the ability to recruit and retain human resources, and the ability to access liquidity through borrowing facilities.

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Our brand recognition is important to our business. We operate using various brand names, such as Redwood, Sequoia, Aspire, CoreVest®, RWT Horizons®, SEMT®, and CAFL®. We seek to protect the intellectual property that our brand names represent from infringement, however, we may not be able to detect or adequately protect against infringement on our brand names. Moreover, we may exposed to the risk that third parties allege that we are infringing on their intellectual property rights through the use of our brand names and such third parties may seek to prevent us from using them or restrict the manner in which we use them. We may be involved in legal proceedings to defend our intellectual property rights or to assert claims of infringement against others. These legal proceedings could be costly and time-consuming and may not result in favorable outcomes. An adverse ruling could result in the loss of our intellectual property rights, a requirement to discontinue