NASDAQ OMX Group (NDAQ)

Failure to protect Nasdaq’s, OMX’s and PHLX’s intellectual property rights could harm the combined company’s brand-building efforts and ability to compete effectively.

To protect Nasdaq’s, OMX’s and PHLX’s intellectual property rights, we rely, and the combined company will rely, on a combination of trademark laws, copyright laws, patent laws, trade secret protection, confidentiality agreements and other contractual arrangements with its affiliates, clients, strategic partners and others. The protective steps that the combined company will take may be inadequate to deter misappropriation of its proprietary information. The combined

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company may be unable to detect the unauthorized use of, or take appropriate steps to enforce, its intellectual property rights. Nasdaq has registered, or applied to register, its trademarks in the United States and in over 50 foreign jurisdictions and has pending U.S. and foreign applications for other trademarks. Nasdaq also maintains copyright protection on its Nasdaq-branded materials and pursues patent protection for Nasdaq-developed inventions and processes. OMX claims copyright to the software products developed by OMX, and holds a number of patents, patent applications and licenses, including the names OMX, OMX Nordic Exchange, Genium, OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm AB and OMX Exchanges. PHLX owns or licenses rights to trade names, trademarks, service marks, and domain names that it uses in conjunction with its operations and services. Effective trademark, copyright, patent and trade secret protection may not be available in every country in which we offer or the combined company intends to offer its services. Failure to protect Nasdaq’s, OMX’s and PHLX’s intellectual property adequately could harm the combined company’s brand and affect its ability to compete effectively. Further, defending the combined company’s intellectual property rights could result in the expenditure of significant financial and managerial resources.