Company: TALK
Filing Date: 2025-03-12
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000950170-25-038107
Chunk: 57

Company: Talkspace, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-03-12
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 57
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 be challenged successfully and found to be invalid or unenforceable in the future. If we are unable to secure or maintain patent coverage, our technology could become subject to competition from the sale of similar competing products. 

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Competitors may also be able to design around our now held or later issued patents. Changes in either the patent laws or interpretation of the patent laws in the United States and other countries may diminish the value of such patents or narrow the scope of our patent protection. If these developments were to occur, we could face increased competition.

From time to time, patents issued to us relating to our software and technology may be infringed by the products or processes of others. The cost of enforcing patent rights against infringers, if such enforcement is required, could be significant and the time demands could interfere with our normal operations. Efforts to defend our intellectual property rights could incur significant costs and may or may not be resolved in our favor. If we fail to successfully enforce our intellectual property rights, our competitive position could suffer, which could harm our operating results. Regardless of the outcome, the cost and distraction associated with any such enforcement efforts could harm our business.

We could incur substantial costs as a result of any claim of infringement of another party’s intellectual property rights. 

We could become a party to intellectual property litigation and other infringement proceedings. The cost to us of any intellectual property litigation or other infringement or misappropriation proceeding, even if resolved in our favor, could be substantial. Some of our would-be competitors may sustain the costs of such litigation more effectively than we can because of their greater financial resources.

Regardless of the merits of any intellectual property litigation, we may be required to expend significant management time and financial resources on the defense of such claims, and any adverse outcome of any such claim or the above referenced review could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. We expect that we may receive in the future notices that claim we or our customers using our solution have misappropriated, misused or otherwise infringed other parties’ intellectual property rights, particularly as the number of competitors in our market grows and the functionality of applications amongst competitors overlaps. Our existing, or any future, litigation, whether or not successful, could be extremely costly to defend, divert our management’s time, attention and resources, damage our reputation and brand and substantially harm our business.

We employ individuals who were previously employed at other companies in our field, including our competitors or potential competitors. Although we try to ensure that our employees and