Company: NCNA
Filing Date: 2025-03-20
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0000950170-25-042709
Chunk: 77

Company: NuCana plc
Filing Date: 2025-03-20
Form: 20-F
Item: Item 3
Chunk 77
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 take additional measures under trademark law to protect such new proprietary name). As a means to enforce our trademark rights and prevent infringement, we may be required to file trademark claims against third

parties or initiate trademark opposition proceedings. This can be expensive and time-consuming, particularly for a company of our size. We may not be able to protect our rights to these trademarks and trade names, which we need to build name recognition among potential partners or customers in our markets of interest. At times, competitors may adopt trade names or trademarks similar to ours, thereby impeding our ability to build brand identity and possibly leading to market confusion. In addition, there could be potential trade name or trademark infringement claims brought by owners of other registered trademarks or trademarks that incorporate variations of our registered or unregistered trademarks or trade names. Over the long term, if we are unable to establish name recognition based on our trademarks and trade names, then we may not be able to compete effectively and our business may be adversely affected. Our efforts to enforce or protect our proprietary rights related to trademarks, trade secrets, domain names, copyrights or other intellectual property may be ineffective and could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and could adversely impact our business, financial condition, results of operations, or prospects.
 Third parties may initiate legal proceedings alleging that we are infringing their intellectual property rights, the outcome of which would be uncertain and could hurt our business.
 Our commercial success depends upon our ability to develop, manufacture, market and sell NUC-7738 and NUC-3373 and our other potential product candidates and use our proprietary technologies without infringing the proprietary rights of third parties. While our product candidates are in preclinical studies and clinical trials, we believe that the use of our product candidates in these nonclinical studies and clinical trials falls within the scope of the exemptions provided by 35 U.S.C. Section 271(e) in the United States, which exempts from patent infringement liability activities reasonably related to the development and submission of information to the FDA. As NUC-7738, NUC-3373 and our other potential product candidates progress toward commercialization, the possibility of patent infringement claims against us increases. There can be no assurance that our product candidates do not infringe other parties’ patents or other proprietary rights, however, and competitors or other parties may assert that we infringe their proprietary rights in any event.
 We may become party to, or threatened with, future adversarial proceedings or litigation regarding intellectual property rights covering our products and technology, including interference or derivation proceedings before