Company: CERO
Filing Date: 2025-04-15
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001213900-25-032134
Chunk: 1678

Company: CERO THERAPEUTICS HOLDINGS, INC.
Filing Date: 2025-04-15
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 1678
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 patent rights, that are important or necessary to the development or manufacture of our product candidates.
It may be necessary for us to use the patented or proprietary technology of third parties to commercialize our product candidates, in
which case we would be required to obtain a license from these third parties. Such a license may not be available on commercially reasonable
terms, or at all, and we could be forced to accept unfavorable contractual terms. If we are unable to obtain such licenses on commercially
reasonable terms, our business could be harmed.

Issued patents covering our product candidates
could be found unpatentable, invalid or unenforceable if challenged in court or the USPTO.

If we initiate legal proceedings
against a third party to enforce a patent covering one of our product candidates, the defendant could counterclaim that the patent covering
our product candidate, as applicable, is invalid and/or unenforceable. In patent litigation in the United States, defendant counterclaims
alleging invalidity and/or unenforceability are commonplace, and there are numerous grounds upon which a third party can assert invalidity
or unenforceability of a patent. Third parties may also raise similar claims before administrative bodies in the United States or abroad,
even outside the context of litigation. Such mechanisms include inter partes review, ex parte re-examination and post grant
review in the United States, and equivalent proceedings in foreign jurisdictions (e.g., opposition proceedings). Such proceedings could
result in revocation or amendment to our patents in such a way that they no longer cover and protect our product candidates. The outcome
following legal assertions of unpatentability, invalidity and unenforceability is unpredictable. With respect to the validity question,
for example, we cannot be certain that there is no invalidating prior art, of which we, our patent counsel and the patent examiner were
unaware during prosecution. If a defendant were to prevail on a legal assertion of unpatentability, invalidity and/or unenforceability,
we would lose at least part, and perhaps all, of the patent protection on our product candidates. Such a loss of patent protection could
have a material adverse impact on our business.

Changes to patent law in the United States
and in foreign jurisdictions could diminish the value of patents in general, thereby impairing our ability to protect our products.

As is the case with other
biopharmaceutical companies, our success is heavily dependent on intellectual property, particularly patents. Obtaining and enforcing
patents in