Company: IMCR
Filing Date: 2025-02-26
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001671927-25-000006
Chunk: 153

Company: Immunocore Holdings plc
Filing Date: 2025-02-26
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 153
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 the introduction of such a system. Under the unitary patent system, European applications have the option, upon grant of a patent, of becoming a Unitary Patent which will be subject to the jurisdiction of the Unitary Patent Court (“UPC”). As the UPC is a new court system, precedent has not yet been established, increasing the uncertainty of any litigation. Patents granted before the implementation of the UPC have the option of opting out of the jurisdiction of the UPC and remaining as national patents obtained through the European Patent Office. Patents under the jurisdiction of the UPC will be potentially vulnerable to a single UPC-based revocation challenge that, if successful, could invalidate the patent in all countries who are signatories to the UPC. We cannot predict with certainty the long-term effects of any potential changes.

If our trademarks and trade names are not adequately protected, then this may impede our ability to build and sustain name recognition in our markets of interest and our business may be adversely affected.

We may rely on trademarks and trade names to protect our business. If our trademarks and trade names are not adequately protected, this may impede our ability to build and sustain name recognition in our markets of interest and our business may be adversely affected. We may not be able to protect our rights to these trademarks and trade names, which we need to support name recognition among potential partners or customers in our markets of interest. At times, competitors may adopt trade names or trademarks similar to ours, thereby impeding our ability to build brand identity and possibly leading to market confusion. In addition, there could be potential trade name or trademark oppositions or infringement claims brought by owners of other registered or unregistered trademarks or trade names that incorporate elements which are identical or similar to our trademarks or trade names. For example, our U.S. trademark application for ImmTAX was previously subject to an opposition filed by Immatics and we brought counterclaims against three of Immatics’s U.S. registered trademarks for IMMATICS. In addition, Immatics previously filed invalidation actions against U.K. and EU trademark registration for IMMTAX. While we were successful in defending this opposition and Immatics were required to reimburse our legal costs in 2023, if we are unsuccessful in defending trademark cases in the future that directly relate for example, to our commercial products, we could be required to change our branding or trademarks, which could cause us to incur substantial costs and impede our ability to build and sustain name recognition for such platform. Over the long term, if we are unable to successfully register our