Company: HMDCF
Filing Date: 2025-03-19
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0001410578-25-000377
Chunk: 82

Company: HUTCHMED (China) Ltd
Filing Date: 2025-03-19
Form: 20-F
Item: Item 1
Chunk 82
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 patents, we could be prevented from marketing our drugs in one or more foreign countries. Any of these outcomes would have a materially adverse effect on our business.

Intellectual property and confidentiality legal regimes in China may not afford protection to the same extent as in the United States or other countries. Implementation and enforcement of PRC intellectual property laws may be deficient and ineffective. Policing unauthorized use of proprietary technology is difficult and expensive, and we or our joint ventures may need to resort to litigation to enforce or defend patents issued to us or them or to determine the enforceability, scope and validity of our proprietary rights or those of others. The experience and capabilities of PRC courts in handling intellectual property litigation varies, and outcomes are unpredictable. Further, such litigation may require a significant expenditure of cash and may divert management’s attention from our or our joint ventures’ operations, which could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. An adverse determination in any such litigation could materially impair our or our joint ventures’ intellectual property rights and may harm our business, prospects and reputation.

Developments in patent law could have a negative impact on our business.

From time to time, authorities in the United States, China, Europe and Japan and other government authorities may change the standards of patentability, and any such changes could have a negative impact on our business. For example, in the United States, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (“ America Invents Act”), which was signed into law in 2011, includes a number of significant changes to U. S. patent law. These changes include a transition from a “first-to-invent” system to a “first-to-file” system, changes to the way issued patents are challenged, and changes to the way patent applications are disputed during the examination process. As a result of these changes, patent law in the United States may favor larger and more established companies that have greater resources to devote to patent application filing and prosecution. The U. S. Patent and Trademark Office (“ USPTO”), has developed regulations and procedures to govern the full implementation of the America Invents Act, and many of the substantive changes to patent law associated with the America Invents Act, and, in particular, the first-to-file provisions became effective on March 16, 2013. Substantive changes to patent law associated with the America Invents Act, including continually developing case law, may affect our ability to obtain patents, and if obtained, to enforce or defend them. Accordingly, it is not clear what, if any