Markforged Holding (MKFG) Risk Factors

As a contractor and subcontractor to the U.S. government, we are subject to various laws and regulations that are more restrictive than those applicable to non-government contractors, including the Federal Acquisition Regulations and its supplements, which comprehensively regulate the formation, administration and performance of U.S. government contracts, and the Truth in Negotiations Act and various other laws, which require certain certifications and disclosures. These laws and regulations, among other things: - require that we obtain and maintain material governmental authorizations and approvals to conduct our business as it is currently conducted;- require certification and disclosure of cost and pricing data in connection with certain contract negotiations;- impose rules that define allowable and unallowable costs and otherwise govern our right to reimbursement under certain cost-based U.S. government contracts;- restrict the use and dissemination of information classified for national security purposes and the export of certain products and technical data; and - impose requirements relating to ethics and business practices, which carry penalties for noncompliance ranging from monetary fines and damages to loss of the ability to do business with the U.S. government as a prime contractor or subcontractor. In addition, we may be subject to industrial security regulations of the U.S. Department of Defense and other federal agencies that are designed to safeguard against unauthorized access by foreigners and others to classified and other sensitive U.S. government information. If we were to come under foreign ownership, control or influence, our U.S. government customers could terminate, or decide not to renew, our contracts, or we may be subjected to burdensome industrial security compliance measures. Such a situation could impair our ability to obtain new contracts and subcontracts. The government may also change its procurement practices or adopt new contracting rules and regulations that could be costly to satisfy or that could impair our ability to obtain new contracts.

Most of our sales to government entities have been made indirectly through our VARs and other distribution partners. In some cases, we have entered contracts directly with government customers. There are inherent risks in contracting with governments and their agencies. Government customers can typically terminate, reduce orders under or otherwise modify any of its contracts with us or our VARs for its convenience (i.e., without cause) whether or not we have failed to perform under the terms of the applicable contract. In such case, the government would not be required to pay our VARs or us for the lost profits for the unperformed work. A termination arising out of our VARs or our default could expose our VARs or us to liability and harm our VARs or our ability to compete for future contracts and orders. In addition to unfavorable termination provisions, our VARs or our U.S. government contracts and related regulations contain provisions that allow the U.S. government to unilaterally suspend our VARs or us from receiving new contracts pending resolution of alleged violations of procurement laws or regulations, reduce the value of existing contracts, issue modifications to a contract and potentially restrict exports of our products, services and associated materials. Our VARs or our contracts with government agencies may subject our VARs or us to other risks and give the government additional rights and remedies not typically found in commercial contracts, including rights that allow the government to, for example: - obtain detailed cost or pricing information;- receive "most favored customer" pricing;- require us to prioritize orders from our government customers above our other customers' existing orders, which we may fail to do and, even if we do prioritize such orders, may impact our relationships with our other customers;- perform routine audits;- impose equal employment and hiring standards;- require products to be manufactured in specified countries;- restrict non-U.S. ownership or investment in our company; and/or - pursue administrative, civil or criminal remedies for contractual violations. These rights and remedies have the potential to limit our VARs or our sales to, and increase our VARs or our costs of, doing business with both government and commercial customers, which could materially adversely affect our growth prospects and operating results. Additionally, we sometimes rely on our VARs and other distribution partners to satisfy certain regulatory obligations that we would otherwise have to satisfy if we sold directly to the government entities, and our VARs and other distribution partners may be unable or unwilling to satisfy these obligations in the future. In the event of such termination or change, it may be difficult for us to arrange for another VAR or other distribution partner to sell our solutions to these government entities in a timely manner, and we could lose sales opportunities during the transition.

We operate in a number of countries throughout the world, including countries known to have a reputation for corruption. Doing business on a global basis requires us to comply with anti-corruption laws and regulations imposed by governments around the world with jurisdiction over our operations, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Bribery Act 2010, as well as the laws of the countries where we do business. We are also subject to various trade restrictions, including trade and economic sanctions and export controls, imposed by governments around the world with jurisdiction over our operations. For example, in accordance with trade sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control and the U.S. Department of Commerce, we are prohibited from engaging in transactions involving certain persons and certain designated countries or territories, including Cuba, Iran, Syria, North Korea and the Crimea Region of Ukraine. In light of the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, we are also prohibited from engaging in transactions involving persons and entities located or headquartered in the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DNR and LNR). In addition, our products are subject to export regulations that can involve significant compliance time and may add additional overhead cost to our products. In recent years the United States government has a renewed focus on export matters. For example, the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 and regulatory guidance thereunder have imposed additional controls, and may result in the imposition of further additional controls, on the export of certain "emerging and foundational technologies." Our current and future products may be subject to these heightened regulations, which could increase our compliance costs. For instance, recent amendments to the U.S. Export Administration Regulations ("EAR") increased restrictions on exports to certain "military end-users" and for "military end-uses" by certain persons in Belarus, Burma, Cambodia, China, Iraq, Nicaragua, Russia, or Venezuela, which requires us to perform due diligence on customers and end-users in those countries for potential military connections. Recently, proposed changes to the EAR may further expand the restrictions on export transactions involving end users and end uses with military connections in more countries, thereby increasing the burden and cost of pre-sale due diligence. We also need to monitor the changes in export-related laws and regulations, such as International Traffic in Arms Regulations ("ITAR"), and their applicability to our products and services. If our products or services become subject to the ITAR, we will be required to implement ITAR compliance policies and procedures and we may also be required to obtain licenses, clearances, or authorizations from various regulatory entities. Even in the absence of changes in the ITAR, some of our products, services, or activities may become subject to the ITAR if, for example, we customize them for certain customers in the defense and aerospace industries or if we receive ITAR-controlled information from customers or other parties. If we are not allowed to export our products or services or to engage in certain controlled activities, or if the clearance process is burdensome, our ability to generate revenue would be adversely affected and our operating costs could increase. In addition, international sales of certain of our products may be subject to local laws and regulations in foreign jurisdictions which we may not be familiar with. We may not be allowed to ship our products to certain countries without meeting their local laws and regulations. The failure to comply with any of these laws or regulations could adversely affect our ability to conduct our business and generate revenues. We are committed to doing business in accordance with applicable anti-corruption laws and regulations and with applicable trade restrictions. We are subject, however, to the risk that our affiliated entities or our and our affiliates' respective officers, directors, employees and agents (including distributors and VARs of our products) may take action determined to be in violation of such laws and regulations. Any violation by us or by any of these persons could result in substantial fines, sanctions, civil and/or criminal penalties, or curtailment of operations in certain jurisdictions, and might adversely affect our operating results. In addition, actual or alleged violations could damage our reputation and ability to do business. Although we take precautions to prevent violations of applicable anti-corruption laws and regulations and applicable trade restrictions, we may have exported products in the past in apparent violation of the EAR. If we are found to be in violation of U.S. export control or sanctions laws, it could result in substantial fines and penalties for us and for the individuals working for us. We may also be adversely affected through other penalties, reputational harm, loss of access to certain markets or otherwise.

U.S. government agencies routinely audit and investigate government contractors to monitor performance, cost allocations, cost accounting and compliance with applicable laws, regulations and standards. Since some of our contracts provide for cost reimbursement, the U.S. government has the right to audit our costs even after job completion and after we have billed and recognized the corresponding revenue. The U.S. government also may review the adequacy of, and a contractor's compliance with, its internal control systems and policies, including the contractor's purchasing, property, estimating, compensation and management information systems. Any costs found to be improperly allowed or improperly allocated to a specific contract will not be reimbursed, and any such costs that have already been reimbursed must be refunded, which would affect associated revenue that had already been recognized. While we intend to implement uniform procurement and compliance programs for all of our business, we may be subject to more risks from these audits until we are able to implement such a program effectively. Responding to governmental audits, inquiries or investigations may involve significant expense and divert the attention of our management. If a government review or investigation uncovers improper or illegal activities, we may be subject to civil and criminal penalties and administrative sanctions, including termination of contracts, forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments, damages, fines and suspension or debarment from doing business with U.S. government agencies. In addition, our reputation could be seriously harmed by allegations of impropriety, even if unfounded. Our internal controls may not prevent or detect all improper or illegal activities.

The products we supply are sometimes used in potentially hazardous or critical applications, such as the assembled parts of an aircraft, medical device or automobile. The sale of our products and the provision of related services in general, and to customers in the foregoing industries in particular, exposes us to possible claims for property damage and personal injury or death, which may result from the use of these end-use parts. While we have not experienced any such claims to date, actual or claimed defects in the products we supply could result in our being named as a defendant in lawsuits asserting potentially large claims. We may be potentially liable, in significant amounts, and face significant harm to our reputation if an aircraft, medical or automotive part, component or accessory or any other aviation, medical or automotive product that we have sold, produced or repaired fails due to our fault, in whole or in part, or if an aircraft or automobile for which we have provided services or in which their parts are installed crashes, and the cause can be linked to those parts or cannot be determined. A similar risk arises in connection with sales of our products to customers in the aerospace industry to the extent that the parts produced by those products do not function properly and are responsible for damages. Our commercial contracts generally contain product warranties and limitations on liability and we carry liability insurance in amounts that we believe are adequate for our risk exposure and commensurate with industry norms. While we intend to monitor our insurance coverage as our business continues to grow, claims may arise in the future, and that insurance coverage may not be adequate or available to protect our consolidated company in all circumstances. Additionally, we might not be able to maintain adequate insurance coverage for our business in the future at an acceptable cost. Any liability claim against us that is not covered by adequate insurance could adversely affect our consolidated results of operations and financial condition. Finally, any liability claim against us may cause harm to our brand, reputation and adversely impact our business.

Customers may use our 3D printers to print parts that could be used in a harmful way or could otherwise be dangerous. For example, there have been news reports that additive manufacturing machines were used to print guns or other weapons. We have little, if any, control over what objects our customers print using our products, and it may be difficult, if not impossible, for us to monitor and prevent customers from printing weapons with our products. Additionally, individuals or entities unaffiliated with us could disseminate plans or digital files that could be used with our products to produce parts and items that could be deemed illegal or harmful. While we have never printed weapons on any printers in our offices, there can be no assurance that we will not be held liable if someone were injured or killed by a weapon printed by a third party using one of our products. Additionally, association of such an incident with our products may cause harm to our brand reputation and adversely impact our business.

We hold personal information about a variety of individuals, such as our employees, prospects, and our customers. Processing of personal information is increasingly subject to legislation and regulation in numerous jurisdictions around the world. For example, relevant applicable laws and regulations governing the collection, use, disclosure or other processing of personal information include, in the United States, rules and regulations promulgated under the authority of the Federal Trade Commission, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (the "CCPA") and similar state privacy laws, and state breach notification laws. In particular, the CCPA, among other things, establishes comprehensive data privacy rights for California consumers and imposes certain requirements on how businesses can collect and use personal information about such individuals. The CCPA provides for civil penalties for violations, as well as a private right of action for certain data breaches that result in the loss of personal information. This private right of action may increase the likelihood of, and risks associated with, data breach litigation. The California Privacy Rights Act ("CPRA"), which became effective on January 1, 2023, significantly modified the CCPA, including by expanding consumers' rights concerning their personal information, introducing data minimization and retention requirements, and establishing a state agency vested with the authority to enforce the CCPA. It is not yet fully clear how the CCPA (as amended by the CPRA) will be enforced and how it will be interpreted. The evolving nature of the CCPA may require us to modify our data collection or processing practices and policies and to incur substantial costs and expenses in an effort to comply. Similar laws have been passed in numerous other states and other states have proposed similar new privacy laws, and it is possible that certain of these proposals will pass. Such proposed legislation, if enacted, may add additional complexity, variation in requirements, restrictions and potential legal risk, require additional investment of resources in compliance programs, impact strategies and the availability of previously useful data and could result in increased compliance costs and/or changes in business practices and policies. The existence of privacy laws in different states in the country would make our compliance obligations more complex and costly and may increase the likelihood that we may be subject to enforcement actions or otherwise incur liability for noncompliance. Other states have also proposed and/or passed legislation that regulates the privacy and/or security of certain specific types of information. For example, a small number of states have passed laws that regulate biometric data specifically. The costs associated with these various privacy and security laws may impede our development and could limit the adoption of our services. Further, any failure by our vendors to comply with applicable law or regulations could result in proceedings against us by governmental entities or others. State laws are changing rapidly and there is discussion in the U.S. Congress of a new comprehensive federal data privacy law to which we may likely become subject, if enacted. Moreover, we maintain offices in the European Union ("EU"), specifically, Ireland, and we have customers located in various countries throughout the EU and the United Kingdom ("UK"). Accordingly, in the EU, we are subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (the "EU GDPR"), and related member state implementing legislation. The EU GDPR governs the collection, use, disclosure, transfer or other processing of personal data of individuals in the EU. Among other things, the EU GDPR imposes strict requirements regarding the security of personal data and notification of data breaches to the competent national data protection authorities, imposes limitations on retention of personal data, imposes stringent requirements relating to the consent of data subjects or ensuring another appropriate legal basis applies to the processing of personal data, requires us to maintain records of our processing activities and to document data protection impact assessments where there is high risk processing, ensuring certain measures are in place with third-party processors. The EU GDPR is also explicitly extraterritorial in its application, and could affect our business activities in jurisdictions outside the EU. The EU GDPR imposes sanctions for violations up to the greater of €20 million and 4% of worldwide gross annual revenue. Further, the EU GDPR enables individuals to claim damages for violations and introduces the right for non-profit organizations to bring claims on behalf of data subjects. Noncompliance could also result in the imposition of orders to stop data processing activities. Compliance with the EU GDPR is a rigorous and time-intensive process and requires us to allocate substantial legal costs to the development of necessary policies and procedures and overall compliance efforts. We expect to incur continued costs associated with maintaining compliance with EU GDPR into the future. Additionally, the EU GDPR imposes strict rules on the transfer of personal data outside of the EU to countries that do not ensure an adequate level of protection, like the United States. These transfers are prohibited unless a valid transfer mechanism is implemented, such as the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) published by the EU Commission or binding corporate rules. Transfers made pursuant to the SCCs need to be assessed on a case-by-case basis to ensure the law in the recipient country provides "essentially equivalent" protections to safeguard the transferred data. If the standard is not met, businesses will be required to adopt supplementary measures. Further, the EU and United States have adopted its adequacy decision for the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework ("Framework"), which entered into force on July 11, 2023. This Framework provides that the protection of personal data transferred between the EU and the United States is comparable to that offered in the EU. This provides a further avenue to ensuring transfers to the United States are carried out in line with EU GDPR. Following the withdrawal of the UK from the EU ("Brexit"), the EU GDPR has been incorporated into UK laws ("UK GDPR"). Non-compliance with the UK GDPR may result in monetary penalties of up to £17.5 million or 4% of worldwide revenue, whichever is higher. Despite Brexit, the EU and UK GDPR remain largely aligned. Currently, the most impactful point of divergence relates to transfer mechanisms (i.e., the ability for companies in the EU or the UK to transfer personal information to third countries, including the United States). Like the EU GDPR, the UK GDPR restricts personal data transfers outside the UK to countries not regarded by the UK as providing adequate protection. The UK government has confirmed that personal data transfers from the UK to the EU remain free flowing. The new SCCs do not apply to the UK, but the UK Information Commissioner's Office has published its own transfer mechanism, the International Data Transfer Agreement ("UK IDTA"), which entered into force on 21 March 2022, and enables data transfers originating from the UK. It requires a similar assessment of the data protection provided in the importer's country. In addition, there has been an extension to the Framework to cover UK transfers to the United States. The Framework could be challenged like its predecessor frameworks. There may be further divergence in the future, including with regard to administrative burdens. The UK has announced plans to reform the country's data protection legal framework in its Data Use and Access Bill, which will introduce changes to the UK GDPR. This may lead to additional compliance costs and could increase our overall risk exposure as we may no longer be able to take a unified approach across the EU and the UK. We publicly post documentation regarding our privacy practices as needed to address state, federal and foreign privacy laws. Although we endeavor to comply with our published policies and documentation, we may at times fail to do so or be alleged to have failed to do so. Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with our privacy policies could expose us to costly litigation, significant awards, fines or judgments, civil and/or criminal penalties or negative publicity, and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. The publication of our privacy policy and other documentation that provide promises and assurances about privacy and security can subject us to potential state and federal action if they are found to be deceptive, unfair, or misrepresentative of our actual practices, which could, individually or in the aggregate, materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. The regulatory framework governing the collection, processing, storage, use and sharing of personal information is rapidly evolving and is likely to continue to be subject to uncertainty and varying interpretations at both the domestic and international level. It is possible that these laws, rules and regulations may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent with our practices or the features of our services and platform capabilities, and may not be consistent with one another. The lack of a unified approach to data privacy and protection laws in the U.S. and internationally could lead to complicated and potentially conflicting compliance requirements. Complying with these evolving compliance and operational requirements may impose significant costs, such as costs related to organizational changes, implementing additional protection technologies, modifying our data processing practices and policies, training employees and engaging consultants and legal advisors, which are likely to increase over time and may require that we utilize management's time and/ or divert resources from other initiatives and projects. We cannot yet fully determine the impact these or future laws, rules, regulations and industry standards may have on our business or operations. Additionally, our customers may be subject to differing privacy laws, rules and legislation, which may mean that they require us to be bound by varying contractual requirements applicable to certain other jurisdictions. Adherence to such contractual requirements may impact our collection, use, processing, storage, sharing and disclosure of personal information and may mean we become bound by, or voluntarily comply with, self-regulatory or other industry standards relating to these matters that may further change as laws, rules and regulations evolve. We have incurred, and may continue to incur, significant expenses to comply with evolving mandatory privacy and security standards and protocols imposed by law, regulation, industry standards, shifting merchant and customer expectations, or contractual obligations, and we may not be able to respond quickly or effectively to regulatory, legislative and other developments. These changes may in turn impair our ability to offer our existing or planned features, products and services and/or increase our cost of doing business. Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with any applicable federal, state or foreign laws and regulations relating to data privacy and security could result in damage to our reputation, as well as proceedings or litigation by governmental agencies or other third parties, including class action privacy litigation in certain jurisdictions, which would subject us to significant fines, sanctions, awards, injunctions, penalties or judgments. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Our additive manufacturing technology contains components that are licensed under so-called "open source," "free" or other similar licenses. Open source software is made available to the general public on an "as-is" basis under the terms of a non-negotiable license. We currently combine our proprietary software with open source software and intend to continue doing so in the future. Additionally, we make some of our source code available under open source licenses, which may limit our ability to protect our intellectual property rights in our source code and prevent our competitors or others from using such source code. Our use and distribution of open source software may entail greater risks than use of third-party commercial software because open source licensors generally do not provide warranties or other contractual protections regarding infringement claims or the quality of the code. In addition, if we combine our proprietary software with open source software in a certain manner, we could, under certain open source licenses, be required to disclose or make available the source code of our proprietary software to third parties. We may also face claims alleging noncompliance with open source license terms or infringement or misappropriation of third-party intellectual property rights in open source software. These claims could result in litigation, require us to purchase a costly license or remove the software. In addition, if the license terms for open source software that we use change, we may be forced to re-engineer our solutions, incur additional costs or discontinue the sale of our offerings if re-engineering could not be accomplished on a timely basis. Although we monitor our use of open source software to avoid subjecting our offerings to unintended conditions, there is a risk that these licenses could be construed in a way that could impose unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to commercialize our offerings. We cannot guarantee that we have incorporated open source software in our software in a manner that will not subject us to liability or in a manner that is consistent with our current policies and procedures.

In-house and outsourced manufacturing has been and continues to be a significant part of our business. As a result, we expect to continue to be subject to various risks associated with the manufacturing and supply of products, including the following: - If we fail to supply products in accordance with contractual terms, including terms related to time of delivery and performance specifications, we may be required to repair or replace defective products and may become liable for direct, special, consequential and other damages, even if manufacturing or delivery was outsourced;- Raw materials used in the manufacturing process, labor and other key inputs may become scarce, obsolete and expensive, causing our costs to exceed cost projections and associated revenues;- Manufacturing processes typically involve large machinery, fuels and chemicals, any or all of which may lead to accidents involving bodily harm, destruction of facilities and environmental contamination and associated liabilities;- As our manufacturing operations expand, we expect that a significant portion of our manufacturing will be done in regions outside the United States, either by third-party contractors or in a plant owned by us. Any manufacturing done in such locations presents risks associated with quality control, currency exchange rates, foreign laws and customs, timing and loss risks associated with international transportation and potential adverse changes in the political, legal and social environment in the host country, including the outbreak of war or sustained armed conflict in such host country or its geographic region;- We have made, and may be required to make, representations as to our right to supply and/or license intellectual property and to our compliance with laws. Such representations are usually supported by indemnification provisions requiring us to defend our customers and otherwise make them whole if we license or supply products that infringe on third-party technologies or violate government regulations;- As our manufacturing operations scale, so will our dependence on skilled labor at both in-house and third-party manufacturing facilities. If we are unable to obtain and maintain skilled labor resources, we may be unable to meet customer production demands; and - With scaling production volume, demand for our products may make up a significant percentage of global volume in select categories or commodities. Such commodities could be subject to large pricing swings due to the global political, legal and social environment and could cause our costs to exceed productions and associated revenues. Any failure to adequately manage risks associated with the manufacture and supply of materials and products could adversely affect profits from that segment of our business and/or lead to significant liabilities, which would harm our brand, business, operations and financial condition.

Our additive manufacturing solutions are complex and may contain undetected defects or errors when first introduced or as enhancements are released that, despite testing, are not discovered until after a machine has been used. We may not know which products are affected by defects. These defects could be systemic and could affect all of the products we shipped prior to discovery thereof. It may not be economically feasible to identify, replace or repair all affected products. In the event that the defect is severe enough or impacts customer safety, a product recall may be required. This could result in delayed market acceptance of those products or claims from VARs, customers or others, which may result in litigation, increased customer warranty, support and repair or replacement costs, damage to our reputation and business, or significant costs and diversion of support, management and engineering personnel to correct the defect or error. We may from time to time become subject to warranty or product liability claims related to product quality issues that may require us to take remedial action and could, regardless of merit, lead us to incur significant expenses, result in diversion of management time and attention, damage to our business and reputation and brand, and cause us to fail to retain existing customers or fail to attract new customers. We attempt to include provisions in our agreements with customers that are designed to manage our exposure to potential liability for damages arising from defects or errors in our products. However, it is possible that these provisions may not be effective as a result of unfavorable judicial decisions or laws enacted in the future.

We rely on a limited number of third-party logistics providers for shipping our products. Each third-party logistics provider stores our products in a limited number of warehouses where they prepare and ship our products based on digital instructions. The use of a limited number of third-party logistics providers increases the risk that a fire or damage from another type of disaster at any of the warehouses may result in a disruption of our commercialization efforts. Additionally, because we use a limited number of third-party logistics providers, if there is a disruption in the distribution channels of such third-party logistics providers, including but not limited to any disruption caused by global shipping capacity, labor shortages, or if these providers continue to increase their rates, our business and financial condition could be adversely impacted. If our third-party logistics providers do not fulfill their contractual obligations to us, or refuse or fail to adequately distribute our products, such as by shipping our products to the incorrect recipient, or the agreements are terminated without adequate notice, shipments of our products, and associated revenues, would be adversely affected. In addition, we expect that it may take a significant amount of time if we were required to change our third-party logistics providers and would require significant efforts to provide the systems support required for a new provider to effectively support our operations.

Our business is subject to price competition. Such price competition may adversely affect our results of operation, especially during periods of decreased demand. Decreased demand also adversely impacts the volume of our sales. If our business is not able to offset price reductions resulting from these pressures, or decreased volume of sales due to contractions in the market, by improved operating efficiencies and reduced expenditures, then our operating results will be adversely affected. Although we generally do not have long-term supply agreements, certain of our operating costs are fixed and cannot readily be reduced, which has an impact on our operating results. To the extent the demand for our products slows, or the additive manufacturing market contracts, we may be faced with excess manufacturing capacity and related costs that cannot readily be reduced, which will adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations. Conversely, because we generally do not have long-term supply agreements, we have recently experienced and expect to continue to be subject to the risk of significant cost increases and parts shortages by our suppliers, or decisions by our suppliers to cease selling certain parts and materials to us.

Our success is dependent, in part, upon protecting our proprietary information and technology. Our intellectual property portfolio primarily consists of patents, patent applications, registered and unregistered trademarks, unregistered copyrights, domain names, know-how, and trade secrets. We may be unsuccessful in adequately protecting our intellectual property. Our trade secrets, know-how and other unregistered proprietary rights are a key aspect of our intellectual property portfolio. While we take reasonable steps to protect our trade secrets and confidential information and enter into confidentiality and invention assignment agreements intended to protect such rights, such agreements can be difficult and costly to enforce or may not provide adequate remedies if violated, and we may not have entered into such agreements with all relevant parties. Such agreements may be breached and trade secrets or confidential information may be willfully or unintentionally disclosed, including by employees who may leave our company and join our competitors, or our competitors or other parties may learn of the information in some other way. Additionally, certain unauthorized use of our intellectual property may go undetected, or we may face legal or practical barriers to enforcing our legal rights even where unauthorized use is detected. The disclosure to, or independent development by, a competitor of any of our trade secrets, know-how or other technology not protected by a patent or other intellectual property system could materially reduce or eliminate any competitive advantage that we may have over such competitor. This concern could manifest itself in particular with respect to our proprietary materials that are used with our systems. Portions of our proprietary materials may not be afforded patent protection. Our pending patent applications may not be granted, and we may not be able to obtain foreign patents or pending applications corresponding to our U.S. patents. Even if foreign patents are granted, effective enforcement in foreign countries may not be available. If our patents and other intellectual property do not adequately protect our technology, our competitors may be able to offer products similar to ours. Our competitors may also be able to develop similar technology independently or design around our patents and other intellectual property. Any of the foregoing events would lead to increased competition and reduce our revenue or gross margin, which would adversely affect our operating results. Current laws may not provide for adequate protection of our products, especially in foreign jurisdictions which may have laws that provide insufficient protections to companies. In addition, legal standards relating to the validity, enforceability, and scope of protection of proprietary rights in internet-related businesses are uncertain and evolving, and changes in these standards may adversely impact the viability or value of our proprietary rights. Some license provisions protecting against unauthorized use, copying, transfer, and disclosure of our products, or certain aspects of our products may be unenforceable under the laws of certain jurisdictions. Further, the laws of some countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States, and the laws and mechanisms for protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in some foreign countries may be inadequate. As we continue to operate in foreign countries and expand our international activities, we have encountered and may in the future encounter challenges in navigating the laws of foreign countries, which may adversely affect our ability to protect our proprietary rights. Further,competitors, foreign governments, foreign government-backed actors, criminals, or other third parties may gain unauthorized access to our proprietary information and technology. Accordingly, despite our efforts, we may be unable to prevent third parties from infringing upon or misappropriating our technology and intellectual property or claiming that we infringe upon or misappropriate their technology and intellectual property. To protect our intellectual property rights, we may be required to spend significant resources to monitor, protect, and defend these rights, and we may or may not be able to detect infringement by our customers or third parties. Litigation has been and may be necessary in the future to enforce our intellectual property rights and to protect our trade secrets. Such litigation, regardless of merit, could be costly, time consuming, and distracting to management and key technical personnel, and could result in the impairment or loss of portions of our intellectual property. In particular, in July 2021, Continuous Composites brought a claim in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware against us regarding patent infringement which we recently settled pursuant to the Settlement Agreement. For more information on the Continuous Composites litigation, please reference the Risk Factor section entitled "Risks Related to Our Business and Industry – We have been in the recent past, subject to business and intellectual property litigation." Furthermore, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights may be met with defenses, counterclaims, and countersuits attacking the validity and enforceability of our intellectual property rights. Our inability to protect our proprietary technology against unauthorized copying or use, as well as any costly litigation or diversion of our management's attention and resources, could delay further sales or the implementation of our platform, impair the functionality of our platform, delay introductions of new features, integrations, and capabilities, result in our substituting inferior or more costly technologies into our platform, or injure our reputation. In addition, we may be required to license or pay royalties on additional technology from third parties to develop and market new features, integrations, and capabilities, and we cannot be certain that we could license that technology on commercially reasonable terms or at all, and our inability to license this technology could harm our ability to compete. As part of any settlement or other compromise to avoid complex, protracted litigation, we have and may again in the future agree not to pursue future claims against a third party, including related to alleged infringement of our intellectual property rights. Part of any settlement or other compromise, including the Settlement Agreement, with another party may resolve a potentially costly dispute but may also have future repercussions on our ability to defend and protect our intellectual property rights, which in turn could adversely affect our business.

We believe that the industrial manufacturing market, which today is dominated by conventional manufacturing processes that do not involve additive manufacturing technology, is undergoing a shift towards additive manufacturing for end-use production as well as factory line support. We may not be able to develop effective strategies to raise awareness among potential customers of the benefits of additive manufacturing technologies or our products may not address the specific needs or provide the level of functionality required by potential customers to encourage the continuation of this shift towards additive manufacturing. We must anticipate, sometimes several years in advance, the direction that the additive market is taking. We may not correctly anticipate the direction, which may lead us to invest in the wrong products, which may adversely affect our results of operation and financial condition. If additive manufacturing technology does not continue to gain broader market acceptance as an alternative to conventional manufacturing processes, or if the marketplace adopts additive manufacturing technologies that differ from our technologies, we may not be able to increase or sustain the level of sales of our products, and our operating results would be adversely affected as a result.

Our financial performance may be affected by the mix of products and services we sell during a given period. We expect to continue to offer products at a variety of price points. Sales of certain of our products have, or are expected to have, higher gross margin contributions than others. If our product mix shifts too far into lower gross margin products, or we are unable to maintain or increase gross margins, and we are not able to sufficiently reduce the engineering, production and other costs associated with those products or substantially increase the sales of our higher gross margin products, our profitability could be reduced. Additionally, the introduction of new products or services may further heighten quarterly fluctuations in gross profit and gross profit margins due to manufacturing ramp-up and start-up costs. Relatedly, if our product mix shifts such that our production rates decrease, our product costs and margins may be negatively impacted. We may experience significant quarterly fluctuations in gross profit margins or operating income or loss due to the impact of the mix of products, channels or geographic areas in which we sell our products from period to period.

Demand for our product lines is sensitive to price. We believe our competitive pricing has been an important factor in our results to date. Therefore, changes in our pricing strategies can have a significant impact on our business and ability to generate revenue. Many factors, including our production and personnel costs, our competitors' pricing and marketing strategies, general inflationary pressures, our customers' budgets, the value our products bring to our customers and our desire to hit revenue goals can significantly impact our pricing strategies. If we fail to meet our customers' price expectations in any given period, demand for our products and product lines could be negatively impacted and our business, results of operations and brand could suffer. Our revenue model is evolving and we may introduce new revenue models or avenues that may not be accepted by our customers and as such will not materialize.