Raptor regards patents and other proprietary technology rights as key elements in building a successful biotechnology company. Accordingly, we plan to protect all of our technology, inventions and improvements to our inventions by filing patent applications in a timely fashion. We plan to seek patent protection first in the United States, then in Canada, Japan, the Western European countries and additional countries on a selective basis in order to protect inventions we regard as important to the development of our business.

We also rely on trade secrets and unpatentable know-how that we seek to protect, in part, by confidentiality agreements. It is our policy to require our employees, consultants, contractors, manufacturers, outside scientific collaborators and sponsored researchers, board of directors, technical review board and other advisors to execute confidentiality agreements upon the commencement of employment or consulting relationships with us. These agreements will provide that all confidential information developed or made known to the individual during the course of the individual's relationship with us is kept confidential and not disclosed to third parties except under specific limited circumstances.