Company: NWBI
Filing Date: 2025-02-25
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001471265-25-000016
Chunk: 56

Company: Northwest Bancshares, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-02-25
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 56
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ech companies, money market funds and other mutual funds, insurance companies, and brokerage and investment banking firms operating locally and elsewhere. Many of these competitors (whether regional or national institutions) have substantially greater resources and lending limits than we have and may offer certain services that we do not or cannot provide. In addition, some have competitive advantages such as the credit union exemption from paying federal income tax. Competitive factors driven by consumer sentiment or otherwise can also reduce our ability to generate fee income, such as through overdraft fees. Our profitability depends upon our ability to successfully compete in our market areas.

We may be subject to intellectual property-related disputes or may fail to effectively obtain, maintain, defend, or enforce our intellectual property rights.

Our competition, or other third parties, may allege that we have infringed, misappropriated, or otherwise violated their intellectual property rights or challenge our rights in intellectual property that is important to our business. To defend against such allegations and challenges, we may have to engage in litigation that could be expensive, time-consuming, disruptive to our operations, and distracting to management. We may not be successful in defending against any such allegations or challenges, which could subject us to significant monetary damages, require significant license fees or royalty payments (which also may not be available on acceptable terms), restrict our ability to offer our products or services, or otherwise require changes to the way we conduct our business.

We rely on, and expect to continue to rely on, a variety of measures to obtain, maintain, defend, and enforce our intellectual property rights, including intellectual property laws and contractual provisions, including confidentiality agreements, invention assignments, and intellectual property licenses. These measures may not prevent third parties from infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating our intellectual property rights or otherwise duplicating or improving upon our products or services, any of which may adversely affect our competitive position. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Risks Related to Operational Matters

28

Risks associated with system failures, interruptions, or cybersecurity breaches could negatively affect our earnings.

Information technology systems are critical to our business. We use various information technology systems to manage our customer relationships, general ledger, deposits, and loans. We have established policies and procedures to prevent or limit the impact of system failures, interruptions, and cybersecurity breaches, but such events may still occur or may not be adequately addressed if they do occur. In addition, any compromise of our information technology systems could deter customers from using our products and services. Although we