Company: VCYT
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001384101-25-000014
Chunk: 102

Company: VERACYTE, INC.
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 102
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 property assignment agreements, with our employees, independent contractors, consultants, academic institutions, corporate partners, and, when needed, our advisors. Such agreements may not be enforceable or may not provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets or other proprietary information in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure or other breaches of the agreements, and we may not be able to prevent such unauthorized disclosure. Further, we cannot be certain that such agreements have been entered into with all 

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relevant parties, or that competitors will not otherwise gain access to our trade secrets or independently develop substantially equivalent information and techniques. If we are required to assert our rights against such parties, it may result in significant cost and distraction.

Monitoring unauthorized disclosure may be difficult, and we may not know whether the steps we have taken to prevent such disclosure are, or will be, adequate. If we were to enforce a claim that a third-party had illegally obtained and was using our trade secrets, it may be expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome may be unpredictable. In addition, courts outside the United States may be less willing to protect trade secrets.

We may also be subject to claims that our employees have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed trade secrets or other proprietary information of their former employers, or to claims that we have improperly used or obtained such trade secrets. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. If we fail in defending such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights and face increased competition to our business. A loss of key research personnel work product may hamper or prevent our ability to commercialize potential products, which could harm our business. Even if we are successful in defending against these claims, litigation may result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management.

Further, competitors may attempt to replicate some or all of the competitive advantages we derive from our development efforts, willfully infringe our intellectual property rights, design around our protected technology, or develop their own competitive technologies that fall outside of our intellectual property rights. Others may independently develop similar or alternative products and technologies or replicate any of our products and technologies. To the extent our intellectual property offers inadequate protection, or is found to be invalid or unenforceable, we would be exposed to a greater risk of direct competition. If our intellectual property does not adequately protect us against competitors’ products and methods, our competitive position could be adversely affected, as could our business.

If we are unable to enforce or defend our intellectual property effectively, our business may be harmed.

Litigation may be necessary