Company: HCWB
Filing Date: 2025-04-28
Form Type: DRS
Source: 0000950123-25-003769
Chunk: 69

Company: HCW Biologics Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-04-28
Form: DRS
Chunk 69
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 of intellectual property rights is difficult, unpredictable, time-consuming, and expensive, we may fail in enforcing our
rights, in which case our competitors may be permitted to use our technology without being required to pay us any license fees. In addition, litigation involving our patents carries the risk that one or more of our patents will be held invalid (in
whole, in part, or on a claim-by-claim basis) or held unenforceable. Such an adverse court ruling could allow third parties to commercialize our product candidates or methods, or our immunotherapy platform technology, and then compete directly with
us, without payment to us.

Even if resolved in our favor, such litigation and other legal proceedings may cause us to incur significant
expenses and would be likely to divert significant resources from our core business, including distracting our technical and management personnel from their normal responsibilities, and may impact our reputation. In addition, there could be public
announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments, and if securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the price of our Common
Stock. Such litigation or proceedings could substantially

40

Confidential Treatment Requested by HCW Biologics Inc.

Pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83

increase our operating losses and reduce our resources available for development activities. We may not have sufficient financial or other resources to adequately conduct such litigation or
proceedings. Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of such litigation or proceedings more effectively than we can because of their substantially greater financial resources. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and
continuation of patent litigation or other proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our ability to compete in the marketplace.

Intellectual property rights of third parties could adversely affect our ability to develop or commercialize our product candidates, such that we could be required to litigate or obtain licenses from third parties in order to develop or market our product candidates.

Our commercial
success depends, in part, on our ability to develop, manufacture, market, and sell our product candidates or any products, if approved, without infringing or otherwise violating the intellectual property and other proprietary rights of third
parties. Our competitive position may suffer if patents issued to third parties or other third-party intellectual property rights cover our methods or product candidates or elements thereof, our manufacture or uses relevant to our development plans,
our product candidates or other attributes of our product candidates, or