Company: ALGN
Filing Date: 2025-05-08
Form Type: 10-Q
Source: 0001097149-25-000034
Chunk: 109

Company: ALIGN TECHNOLOGY INC
Filing Date: 2025-05-08
Form: 10-Q
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 109
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 competitive position.

We rely on our portfolio of issued and pending patent applications in the United States and other countries to protect a large part of our IP and our competitive position; however, these patents may not prevent third parties from producing competing products similar in design to ours if they are invalidated, held unenforceable, circumvented or otherwise limited in scope. Furthermore, our foreign patent protections may be more limited in geographic scope than those under U.S. patent and IP laws. 

Additionally, any of our patent applications may not result in an issued patent or the scope of the patent ultimately issued may be narrower than initially sought. We may not be afforded the protection of a patent if our currently pending or future patent filings do not result in the issuance of patents or we fail to timely apply for patent protection. We may not apply for a patent if our personnel fail to disclose or recognize new patentable ideas or innovations. We may choose not to file a foreign patent application if the limited protections provided by a foreign patent do not outweigh the costs to obtain it. Further, third parties may file patents or develop IP strategies that prevent or limit the effectiveness of our patents.

We also protect our IP through copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and confidentiality obligations. We generally enter into confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants and collaborative partners upon commencement of a relationship with us. However, despite the existence of these protections, we have experienced incidents in which our proprietary information has been misappropriated and believe it could be misappropriated in the future. If these agreements do not provide meaningful protection against the unauthorized use or disclosure of our trade secrets or other confidential information, adequate remedies may not exist to prevent unauthorized uses or disclosures.

Enforcement of our IP rights is time-consuming and costly, and could ultimately prove to be unsuccessful. In certain jurisdictions, enforcement of IP rights is more difficult due to legislation and geopolitical circumstances. As we launch our products in different regions at different times, our products may be acquired and reverse engineered by potential competitors in regions where infringement is more difficult to pursue. 

Our inability to maintain the proprietary nature of our technology through patents, copyrights, or trade secrets would impair our competitive advantages and could have a material effect on our operating results, financial condition, and future growth prospects. In particular, a failure to protect our IP rights might allow competitors to copy our technology or create counterfeit or pirated versions of our products, which could adversely affect our reputation, pricing, and market share. 

Litigation regarding our IP rights, rights claimed by third parties or IP litigation by