Symantec 2012 Annual Report Download - page 100

be engaged in with a strategic partner or vendor could adversely affect our ability to access software, operating
system, and hardware platforms of such partner or vendor, or cause such partner or vendor to choose not to offer
our products to their customers. In addition, any legal action to protect proprietary information that we may bring
or be engaged in, alone or through our alliances with the Business Software Alliance (“BSA”), or the Software &
Information Industry Association (“SIIA”), could be costly, may distract management from day-to-day
operations, and may lead to additional claims against us, which could adversely affect our operating results.
In January 2012, we became aware of disclosure of the source code for 2006-era versions of certain of our
Norton and pcAnywhere products, which we believe was the result of a theft of source code that occurred in
2006. Any unauthorized disclosure of a significant portion of this source code could result in the loss of future
trade secret protection for that source code. This could make it easier for third parties to compete with our
products by copying functionality, which could adversely affect our revenue, operating margins, results of
operations and cash flows, as well as our reputation. Unauthorized disclosure of the source code also could
increase the security risks described under “Our software products, SaaS Offerings and website may be subject to
intentional disruption that could adversely impact our reputation and future sales” below.
From time to time we are a party to class action and other lawsuits, which often require significant
management time and attention and result in significant legal expenses, and which could, if not determined
favorably, negatively impact our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
We have been named as a party to class action lawsuits, and we may be named in additional litigation. The
expense of defending such litigation may be costly and divert management’s attention from the day-to-day
operations of our business, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, and cash flows. In
addition, an unfavorable outcome in such litigation could result in significant monetary damages or injunctive
relief that could negatively impact our ability to conduct our business, results of operations, and cash flows.
Third parties claiming that we infringe their proprietary rights could cause us to incur significant legal
expenses and prevent us from selling our products.
From time to time, we receive claims that we have infringed the intellectual property rights of others,
including claims regarding patents, copyrights, and trademarks. Because of constant technological change in the
segments in which we compete, the extensive patent coverage of existing technologies, and the rapid rate of
issuance of new patents, it is possible that the number of these claims may grow.In addition, former employers
of our former, current, or future employees may assert claims that such employees have improperly disclosed to
us the confidential or proprietary information of these former employers. Any such claim, with or without merit,
could result in costly litigation and distract management from day-to-day operations. If we are not successful in
defending such claims, we could be required to stop selling, delay shipments of, or redesign our products, pay
monetary amounts as damages, enter into royalty or licensing arrangements, or satisfy indemnification
obligations that we have with some of our customers. We cannot assure you that any royalty or licensing
arrangements that we may seek in such circumstances will be available to us on commercially reasonable terms
or at all. We have made and expect to continue making significant expenditures to investigate, defend and settle
claims related to the use of technology and intellectual property rights as part of our strategy to manage this risk.
In addition, we license and use software from third parties in our business. These third party software
licenses may not continue to be available to us on acceptable terms or at all, and may expose us to additional
liability. This liability, or our inability to use any of this third party software, could result in shipment delays or
other disruptions in our business that could materially and adversely affect our operating results.
Our software products, SaaS Offerings and website may be subject to intentional disruption that could
adversely impact our reputation and future sales.
Despite our precautions and significant ongoing investments to protect against security risks, data protection
breaches, cyber-attacks and other intentional disruptions of our products and offerings, we expect to be an
ongoing target of attacks specifically designed to impede the performance of our products and offerings and harm
21