Company: FTCI
Filing Date: 2025-03-31
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000950170-25-047224
Chunk: 53

Company: FTC Solar, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-03-31
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 53
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    Patents Granted

    Patents Allowed and Pending for Examination

    United States

    49

    2

    Australia

    4

    1

    All other

    7

    1

    Total

    60

    4

 Our issued U.S. patents are expected to expire between 2027 and 2043. 

Our trademarks and trade names include, but are not limited to, Voyager Tracker, Pioneer Tracker, SUNPATH, SUNOPS and FTC Solar, which are protected under applicable intellectual property laws. Our pending patent and trademark applications or other applications for intellectual property registrations may not be approved, issued or granted, and our existing and future intellectual property rights may not be valid, enforceable or sufficiently broad to prevent competitors from using technology similar to or the same as our proprietary technology, to prevent our contract manufacturers from providing similar technology to our competitors or to sufficiently allow us to develop and maintain recognized brands. Additionally, our intellectual property rights may afford only limited protection of our intellectual property and may not (i) prevent our competitors or contract manufacturers from duplicating our processes or technology, (ii) prevent our competitors from gaining access to our proprietary information and technology or (iii) permit us to gain or maintain a competitive advantage. Any impairment or other failure to obtain sufficient intellectual property protection could impede our ability to market our products and services, negatively affect our competitive position and harm our business and operating results, including forcing us to, among other things, rebrand or re-design our affected products and services. In countries where we have not applied for patent protection or trademark or other intellectual property registration or where effective patent, trademark, trade secret and other intellectual property laws and judicial systems may not be available to the same extent as in the United States, we may be at greater risk that our proprietary rights will be circumvented, misappropriated, infringed or otherwise violated.

28

To protect our unregistered intellectual property, including our trade secrets and know-how, we rely in part on trade secret laws and confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with our employees and independent contractors. We also require third parties, such as our customers and contract manufacturers, which may have access to our proprietary technologies and information to enter into non-disclosure agreements or other contracts containing obligations to maintain the confidentiality of our intellectual property. Such measures, however, provide only limited protection, and our confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements and other agreements containing confidentiality provisions may not prevent unauthorized disclosure or use of our confidential information, especially after