Company: CRL
Filing Date: 2025-02-19
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001100682-25-000011
Chunk: 66

Company: CHARLES RIVER LABORATORIES INTERNATIONAL, INC.
Filing Date: 2025-02-19
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 66
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 be breached, or might not be fully enforceable. Our intellectual property rights might not prevent our competitors from independently developing intellectual property that is similar to or duplicative of ours. Also, enforcement of our intellectual property rights may also require substantial investments of time, money, and oversight, and may not result in success. If we are unable to secure and maintain our intellectual property rights, or if we are unable to prevent misappropriation or infringement, our business could be adversely affected. 

Furthermore, we respect third-party intellectual property rights, and make efforts to avoid violating valid and enforceable intellectual property rights, and seek to procure and pay for licenses from the holders of intellectual property rights that we seek to use. In some cases, we are asked to utilize components and processes that are provided to us by our clients. 

Customers of our CDMO business, for example, may utilize intellectual property for the production of their products, the manufacture of which has been contracted to us. Failure by us and/or our customers to secure and maintain rights to third-party intellectual property rights could have a material adverse effect, including reduced revenue as a result in a delay or cancellation of the manufacture of products and involvement in judicial and administrative proceedings in which we are named as a party.

Further, the drug discovery, drug development, and drug manufacturing industry has a history of patent and other intellectual property litigation and these lawsuits will likely continue. This may be exacerbated by the increased use of cell-based and new alternative model methods not involving animal models, which may supplement and/or replace or supplant the use of traditional living animal models in biomedical research. Refer to “Risk Factors – New technologies may be developed, validated and increasingly used in biomedical research, which could reduce demand for some of our products and services.” herein for our assessment of certain other relevant risk factors on this topic. Litigation can be expensive, time consuming, and can divert management’s attention from other business concerns. If we do not prevail in an infringement lawsuit brought against us, we may be compelled by a court to pay substantial damages, including treble damages, and be ordered to stop the challenged activity, or obtain a license on unnegotiated and/or unfavorable terms.

Our by-laws designate the state courts located in the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain actions, including derivative actions, which could limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with the Company and its directors, officers, other employees, or the Company's stockholders and may