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future profits. This may cause competitive restrictions for Evonik-Group with a detrimental impact on the
asset, financial and profit situation of Evonik-Group as well as its general business activities.
Should Evonik-Group not invoke and/or have invoked its rights within the scope of the provisions of the
German Employee Invention Act (Arbeitnehmererfindergesetz) or similar regulations in other countries there
may be a risk of the individual employees eventually becoming owners of the rights relating to the respective
invention. Evonik-Group would then have to acquire license rights from these employees or obtain licenses
for similar/alternative technologies from third parties in order to be permitted to use these technologies or
procedures. Furthermore, employee inventors may raise remuneration claims against Evonik-Group for
inventions made by them in the course of their employment.
Since Evonik-Group's competitors also submit patent applications relating to their inventions to a significant
extent and obtain the relevant protection, Evonik-Group may infringe third parties' patents and other
intellectual property rights. Evonik-Group may have to rely on using third parties' technologies by acquiring
the relevant licenses which would entail license fees and other costs. Possible supply and production
restrictions due to patent infringements or the subsequent acquisition of the relevant licenses may have a
detrimental impact on the asset, financial and profit situation of Evonik-Group as well as its general business
activities.
Information technology risks
In order to secure its operability in all three business areas Evonik-Group is dependent on the efficient and
uninterrupted functionality of its servers and data processing systems. Given that the latter are, however,
particularly susceptible to interferences, damages, breakdowns, computer viruses, fires and similar events as
well as attacks by computer hackers, an interruption or breakdown of the operations cannot entirely be ruled
out despite the comprehensive control, monitoring and security systems. If an interruption or breakdown of
Evonik-Group's servers or data processing systems occurs affecting the operation of one or more business
areas at Evonik-Group this may have a detrimental impact on the asset, financial and profit situation of
Evonik-Group as well as its general business activities.
Evonik-Group stores and uses a large amount of private data in its data processing systems, in particular in
connection with the administration of lessee data in the Real Estate Business Area and all of the employee-related
information of the entire group. It is thus subject to the Federal Data Protection Act (Bundesdatenschutzgesetz)
and similar regulations. Unauthorised access to such information by a third party may cause damage to Evonik-
Group's reputation, constitute infringements of administrative and criminal law and grant the affected persons a
right to damage claims against the relevant Evonik-Group company. Events of this kind may have a detrimental
impact on the asset, financial and profit situation of Evonik-Group as well as its general business activities.
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