Company: SERV
Filing Date: 2025-03-06
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001832483-25-000010
Chunk: 78

Company: Serve Robotics Inc. /DE/
Filing Date: 2025-03-06
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 78
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, our business.

If we cannot protect, maintain and, if necessary, enforce our intellectual property rights, our ability to develop and commercialize products may be adversely impacted.

Our success, in large part, depends on our ability to protect and maintain the proprietary nature of our technology. We must prosecute and maintain our existing patents and obtain new patents. Some of our proprietary information may not be patentable, and there can be no assurance that others will not utilize similar or superior solutions to compete with us. We cannot guarantee that we will develop proprietary products that are patentable, and that, if issued, any patent will give us a competitive advantage or that such patent will not be challenged by third parties. The process of obtaining patents can be time consuming with no certainty of success, as a patent may not issue or may not have sufficient scope or strength to protect the intellectual property it was intended to protect. We cannot assure you that our means of protecting our proprietary rights will suffice or that others will not independently develop competitive technology or design around patents or other intellectual property rights issued to us. If any of our products or the technology underlying our products is covered by third-party patents or other intellectual property rights, we could be subject to various legal actions. Even if a patent is issued, it does not guarantee that it is valid or enforceable. Any patents that we or our licensors have obtained or obtain in the future may be challenged, invalidated, or unenforceable. If necessary, we intend to initiate actions to protect our intellectual property, which will be costly and time consuming, and could have an adverse impact on our business, results of operation and financial condition.

We may be subject to claims of infringement of third-party intellectual property rights.

Our operating results may be adversely affected if third parties claim that our products infringed their patent, copyright, or other intellectual property rights. We cannot assure that our products do not, or will not in the future, infringe patents held by others. Although there have been no allegations made to this effect, we cannot assure that we will not receive such correspondence from third parties or competitors in the future. Such assertions could lead to expensive and unpredictable litigation, diverting the attention of management and technical personnel. Litigation may be necessary to enforce our intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets, to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others, or to defend against claims of infringement or invalidity, misappropriation, or other claims. Any such litigation could result in substantial costs and diversion of our resources. Moreover