Digimarc CORP - Annual Report: 2011 (Form 10-K)

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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011 December 31, 2011

OR

For the transition period from                    to                    

Commission File Number 001-34108

DIGIMARC CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

9405 SW Gemini Drive, Beaverton, Oregon 97008

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

(503) 469-4800

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: NONE

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  ¨    No  x

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yes  ¨    No  x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.    x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes  ¨    No  x

The aggregate market value of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, held by non-affiliates of the registrant, based on the closing price of our common stock on The Nasdaq Global Market on the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed fiscal second quarter (June 30, 2011), was approximately $236 million. Shares of common stock beneficially held by each officer and director have been excluded from this computation because these persons may be deemed to be affiliates. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for any other purposes.

As of February 15, 2012, 7,099,338 shares of the registrant’s common stock were outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the registrant’s proxy statement pursuant to Regulation 14A (the “Proxy Statement”) for its 2012 annual meeting of shareholders are incorporated by reference into Items 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 of Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The registrant intends to file the Proxy Statement not later than 120 days after the end of the fiscal year covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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PART I

Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to (i) “Digimarc,” “we,” “our” and “us” refer to Digimarc Corporation and (ii) “Old Digimarc” refers to the former Digimarc Corporation, which merged with and into a wholly owned subsidiary of L-1 Identity Solutions, Inc. (“L-1”) on August 13, 2008, and its consolidated subsidiaries (other than us).

All dollar amounts are in thousands, unless otherwise noted.

Digimarc Discover is a registered trademark of Digimarc Corporation. This Annual Report on Form 10-K also includes trademarks and trade names owned by other parties, and all other such trademarks and trade names mentioned in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are the property of their respective owners.

The following discussion of Digimarc’s business contains forward-looking statements relating to future events or the future financial performance of Digimarc. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Please see the discussion regarding forward-looking statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K in Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, under the caption “Forward-Looking Statements.”

The following discussion of our business should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes and other financial information appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Overview

Digimarc Corporation enables governments and enterprises around the world to give digital identities to media and objects that computers can sense and recognize and to which they can react. Our technology provides the means to infuse persistent digital information, perceptible only to computers and digital devices, into all forms of media content. The unique digital identifier placed in media generally persists with it regardless of the distribution path and whether it is copied, manipulated or converted to a different format, and does not affect the quality of the content or the enjoyment or other traditional uses of it. Our technology permits computers and digital devices to quickly identify relevant data from vast amounts of media content.

Our technologies, and those of our licensees, span a range of media content, enabling our customers and those of our partners to:

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At the core of our intellectual property is a signal processing innovation known as “digital watermarking,” which allows imperceptible digital information to be embedded in all forms of digitally designed, produced or distributed media content and some physical objects, including photographs, movies, music, television, personal identification documents, financial instruments, industrial parts and product packages. The digital information can be detected and read by a wide range of computers, mobile phones and other digital devices.

Digital watermarking allows our customers to embed digital data into any media content that is digitally processed at some point during its lifecycle. The technology can be applied to printed materials, video, audio, and images. The inclusion of these digital signals enables a wide range of improvements in security and media management, and new business models for distribution and consumption of media content. Over the years our technology and intellectual property portfolios have grown to encompass many related technologies.

We provide solutions directly and through our licensees. Our proprietary technology has proven to be a powerful element of document security, giving rise to our long-term relationship with a consortium of central banks, which we refer to as the Central Banks, and many leading companies in the information technology industry. We and our licensees have successfully propagated digital watermarking in music, movies, television broadcasts, images and printed materials. Digital watermarks have been used in these applications to improve media rights and asset management, reduce piracy and counterfeiting losses, improve marketing programs, permit more efficient and effective distribution of valuable media content and enhance consumer entertainment and commercial experiences.

Banknote counterfeit deterrence was the first commercially successful use of our technologies in a large scale system to deter banknote counterfeiting. More recently, innovations based on Old Digimarc’s digital watermarking technology and experience have been leveraged to create new products to deter counterfeiting and tampering of driver licenses and other government-issued secure credentials. In parallel, Old Digimarc’s business partners, under patent or technology licenses from us, are delivering digital watermarking solutions to track and monitor the distribution of music, images, television and movies to consumers. In November of 2007, we announced a relationship with The Nielsen Company (US) LLC, or Nielsen, to license our patents in support of Nielsen’s industry leading television audience measurement.

On July 1, 2009, we commenced operation of two joint ventures with Nielsen. In connection with these joint ventures, we terminated our agreement with Nielsen, dated as of October 1, 2007, to enter into the joint venture agreements, and entered into a new patent license agreement. Under the first joint venture, TVaura LLC, Digimarc and Nielsen engage in the development of copyright filtering solutions, royalty/audit solutions for online video and audio rights organizations, guilds or other organizations involved in the reconciliation of royalties, residuals and other payments, and other related products. Under the second joint venture, TVaura Mobile LLC, Digimarc and Nielsen engage in the development of certain enhanced television offerings, and other related products. We provide technical and development services to TVaura LLC’s business. Digimarc and Nielsen each own approximately one half of each joint venture.

On April 30, 2010, following our Annual Meeting and approval by our shareholders, we changed our state of incorporation from Delaware to Oregon by means of a merger into a newly formed, wholly owned Oregon subsidiary.

On October 5, 2010, we entered into a patent licensing arrangement with IV Digital Multimedia Inventions, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company affiliated with Intellectual Ventures (“IV”), pursuant to which we granted an exclusive license to sublicense, subject to pre-existing encumbrances and a grant-back license, an aggregate of approximately 900 of the 1,200 patents and applications held by us noted below in the section titled “Technology and Intellectual Property.”

Financial information about geographic areas is included in Note 5 of our Notes to Financial Statements.

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Customers and Business Partners

Our revenues are generated through commercial and government applications of our technology. We generate a majority of our revenue from service and license fees paid to us under long-term contracts with the Central Banks, Nielsen, IV, Civolution, Verance Corporation (“Verance”) and our joint venture with Nielsen, TVaura LLC. The remainder of our revenues are generated primarily from patent and technology license fees and royalties paid by commercial business partners providing media identification and management solutions to movie studios and music labels, television broadcasters, creative professionals and other customers around the world. Patent and technology licensing is expected to continue to contribute most of the revenues from our non-government customers for the foreseeable future.

In 2011, revenues from government contracts accounted for approximately 28% of our total revenue, and revenues generated under our contract with the Central Banks accounted for substantially all of the revenue generated under our government contracts. Our government contracts typically span one or more base years and multiple option years. A government agency generally has the right to not exercise option periods.

Information about customers that accounted for 10% or more of revenue in the last three years is included in Note 5 of our Notes to Financial Statements.

Products and Services

We provide media identification and management solutions to commercial entities and government customers and license our technology and patent inventions to other solution providers. Our largest government customer is the Central Banks, with whom we have for the last 13 of years been developing, deploying, supporting and continuing to enhance a system to deter digital counterfeiting of currency using personal computers and digital reprographics.

We license primarily to commercial entities who use our technology and patented inventions in the media and entertainment industry. Commercial customers use a range of solutions from our business partners and us to identify, track, manage and protect content as it is distributed and consumed—either digitally or physically—and to enable new consumer applications to access networks and information from personal computers and mobile devices. Many movie studios, record labels, broadcasters, creative professionals and other customers rely on digital watermarking as a cost-effective means to:

Digital watermarks are easily embedded into all forms of media and are imperceptible to human senses, but quickly detected by computers, networks or other digital devices like smartphones. Unlike barcodes and tags, a watermarking solution does not require publishers to give up valuable space in magazines and newspapers; nor does it impact the overall layout or aesthetics of the publication. One of our more recent product offerings is the Digimarc Discover™ platform, which delivers a range of rich media experiences to its readers on their smartphones. Unique to the Digimarc Discover platform is its ability to use various content identification technologies as needed, including our patented digital watermarking technology.

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As part of our intellectual property marketing and patent monetization efforts, our key objectives in building relationships with potential customers and partners are to:

Current licensees include, but are not limited to, AlpVision SA, AquaMobile, Arbitron, Civolution, Digital Space, IV, Microsoft Corporation, Monic, The Nielsen Company, Signum Technologies, Verance and Verimatrix, Inc.

Technology and Intellectual Property

We develop intellectual property to differentiate our products and technology, mitigate infringement risks, and develop opportunities for licensing. Our broad patent portfolio covers a wide range of methods, applications, system architectures and business processes.

Most of our patents relate to various methods for embedding and decoding digital information in video, audio and images, whether the content is rendered in analog or digital formats. The digital information is generally embedded by making subtle modifications to the fundamental elements of the content itself, generally at a signal processing level. The changes necessary to embed this information are so subtle that they are generally not noticeable by people during normal use. Because the message is carried by the content itself, it is file-format independent. The embedded digital information generally survives most normal content transformations, including compression, edits, rotation, scaling, re-sampling, file-format transformations, copying, scanning and printing.

Our patent portfolio contains a number of innovations in digital watermarking, pattern recognition (sometimes referred to as “fingerprinting”), digital rights management and related fields. To protect our significant efforts in creating our technology, we have implemented an extensive intellectual property protection program that relies on a combination of patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret laws, and nondisclosure agreements and other contracts. As a result, we believe we have one of the world’s most extensive patent portfolios in digital watermarking and related fields, with approximately 1,200 granted and pending U.S. and foreign filings as of December 31, 2011. We continue to develop and broaden our portfolio of patented inventions in the fields of media identification and management technology and related applications and systems. We devote significant resources to developing and protecting our inventions and continuously seek to identify and evaluate potential licensees for our patents.

For a discussion of activities and costs related to our research and development in the last three years, please read “Research, development and engineering” under Part II, Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

Markets

Our patented inventions are used in various media identification and management products and solutions supporting a variety of media objects, from movies and music to banknotes and secure credentials. Each media object enabled by our inventions creates the potential for several applications, such as:

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We believe the market for most of these applications is in the early stages of development and that existing solutions represent only a small portion of the potential market for our products, services and technology.

Competition

No single competitor or small number of competitors dominate our market. Our competitors vary depending on the application of our products and services. Our business partners and we generally compete with non-digital watermarking technologies for the security or marketing budgets of the producers and distributors of media objects, documents, products and advertising. These alternatives include, among other things, encryption-based security systems and technologies and solutions based on fingerprinting and pattern recognition. Our competitive position in digital watermarking application is strong because of our large, high quality, sophisticated patent portfolio and our substantial and growing amount of intellectual property in related media security and management innovations that span basic technologies, applications, system designs and business processes. Our intellectual property portfolio allows us to use proprietary technologies that are well regarded by our customers and partners and not available to our competitors. We compete based on the variety of features we offer and a traditional cost/benefit analysis against alternative technologies and solutions. We anticipate that our competitive position within some markets may be affected by factors such as reluctance to adopt new technologies and by changes in government regulations.

Backlog

Based on projected commitments we have for the periods under contract with our respective customers, we anticipate our current contracts as of December 31, 2011 will generate a minimum of $44 million in revenue through early 2015, the remaining term of these contracts. We expect approximately $28 million of this amount to be recognized as revenue during 2012. Some factors that lead to increased backlog include:

Some factors that lead to decreased backlog include:

The mix of these factors, among others, dictates whether our backlog increases or decreases for any given period. Our backlog may not result in actual revenue in any particular period, because the orders, awards and contracts included in our backlog may be subject to modification, cancellation or suspension. We may not realize revenue on certain contracts, orders or awards included in our backlog or the timing of any realization may change.

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Employees

At December 31, 2011, we had 109 full-time employees, including 21 in sales, marketing, technical support and customer support; 66 in research, development and engineering, including intellectual property; and 22 in finance, administration, information technology and legal.

Our employees are not covered by any collective bargaining agreement, and we have never experienced a work stoppage. We believe that our relations with our employees are good.

Available Information

We make available free of charge through our website at www.digimarc.com our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to these and other reports filed or furnished by us pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as soon as reasonably practicable after we file these materials with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The following risks relate principally to our business and our status as a publicly-traded company. The risks and uncertainties described below are those risks of which we are aware and that we consider to be material to our business. If any of the following risks and uncertainties develops into actual events, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected. In that case, the trading price of our common stock could decline. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows may be affected by a number of factors, including the factors set forth below.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS

(1) A small number of customers account for a substantial portion of our revenues, and the loss of any large contract could materially disrupt our business.

Historically, we have derived a significant portion of our revenues from a limited number of customers. Five customers, the Bank for International Settlements (acting on behalf of the Central Banks), Nielsen (including the joint ventures TVaura LLC and TVaura Mobile LLC), IV, Verance and Civolution represented approximately 94% of our revenue for the year ended December 31, 2011. Most of our revenues come from long-term contracts generally having terms of three to five years, with some licenses for the life of the associated patents, which could be up to 20 years. The agreements with some of these customers provide minimum or fixed payment obligations that expire within the next few years. Some contracts we enter into contain termination for convenience provisions. If we were to lose such a contract for any reason, or if revenues from variable payment obligations do not replace revenues under the existing fixed payment obligations, our financial results could be adversely affected.

We expect to continue to depend upon a small number of customers for a significant portion of our revenues for the foreseeable future. The loss of, or decline in, orders or backlog from one or more major customers could reduce our revenues and have a material adverse effect on our financial results.

(2) Although we achieved profitability in 2008, 2010 and 2011, we may not sustain profitability, particularly if we were to lose large contracts.

For the year ended December 31, 2011, we generated net income of $5.7 million, including a tax benefit of $2.6 million originating from the release of a valuation allowance against deferred tax assets, and resulted in increasing retained earnings to $7.1 million. Our profit was primarily due to licensing arrangements with IV that we entered into in the fourth quarter of 2010. On a quarterly basis, our operating results have been inconsistent.

Maintaining profitability in the future will depend upon a variety of factors, including our ability to maintain and obtain more significant partnerships like those we have with the Central Banks, Nielsen, IV, Civolution and Verance. Profitability will also depend on growth in revenues of our licensees and our efficiency in executing our

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business strategy and capitalizing on new opportunities. Various adverse developments, including the loss of large contracts, the expiration of fixed payment obligations on our contracts or cost overruns on our existing contracts, could have a negative effect on our revenues, margins and profitability.

(3) We may be adversely affected by variability of contracted arrangements.

We have frequently agreed to modify the terms of contractual arrangements with our customers, partners and licensees in response to changes in circumstances underlying the original contractual arrangements, and it is likely that we will do so in the future. As a result of this practice, the terms of our contractual arrangements with our customers, partners and licensees may vary over time and, depending on the particular modification, could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Some of our customers report royalties to us based on their revenues and their interpretation and allocation of contracted royalty rates. It is possible that the originally reported royalties could differ materially from those determined by an audit performed by us or a third party, or self-corrected by the customer.

(4) A significant portion of our future revenue is subject to commercial and government contracts and development of new markets that may involve unpredictable delays and other unexpected changes. Such volatility and uncertainty might limit our actual revenue in any given quarter or year.

We derive substantial portions of our revenue from commercial contracts tied to development schedules or development of new markets, which could shift for months, quarters or years as the needs of our customers and the markets in which they participate change. Government agencies and commercial customers also face budget pressures that introduce added uncertainty. Any shift in development schedules, the markets in which we or our licensees participate, or customer procurement processes, which are outside our control and may not be predictable, could result in delays in bookings forecasted for any particular period, could affect the predictability of our quarterly and annual results, and might limit our actual revenue in any given quarter or year, resulting in reduced and less predictable revenue and adversely affecting profitability.

The Company is also expanding into new markets, which involve inherent risk and unpredictability. Until recent years, the Company’s business was focused primarily on digital watermarking and related signal processing technology. The Company’s work in that field dated back to the early 1990s, so that by the time of the 1999 public offering of our predecessor company, we were an established competitor or participant in that area, and had a historical perspective that provided certain advantages. Those advantages continued to grow and serve us as our tenure in the field lengthened.

In recent years, particularly with the proliferation of smartphones and increased demands in the public sector for enhanced covert security options, we have investigated other technologies that may provide attractive future opportunities. These generally include technologies that leverage our strength in signal processing and support our vision for intuitive, pervasive computing. As we seek to expand outside our historical expertise, we lack the history and insight that benefited us in the watermarking field. We also lack the size and scale typical of contractors providing products and services to the federal government. While we were in the vanguard of commercial application of digital watermarking, we are not so uniquely poised in these other disciplines. Accordingly, it may be difficult for us to replicate our watermarking success in other technologies we might pursue.

(5) The market for our products is highly competitive, and alternative technologies or larger companies that compete with us may undermine, limit or eliminate the market for our products’ technologies, which would decrease our revenue and profits.

The markets in which we compete for business are intensely competitive and rapidly evolving. We expect competition to continue from both existing competitors and new market entrants. We face competition from other companies and from alternative technologies, including some of our customers and licensees. Because the market solutions based on our technologies are still in an early stage of development, we also may face competition from unexpected sources.

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Alternative technologies that may directly or indirectly compete with particular applications of our watermarking technologies include:

In the competitive environments in which we operate, product generation, development and marketing processes relating to technology are uncertain and complex, and require accurate prediction of demand as well as successful management of various risks inherent in technology development. In light of these uncertainties, it is possible that our failure to successfully accommodate future changes in technologies related to our technology could have a long-term negative effect on our growth and results of operations.

New developments are expected to continue, and discoveries by others, including current and potential competitors, possibly could render our services and products noncompetitive. Moreover, because of rapid technological changes, we may be required to expend greater amounts of time and money than anticipated to develop new products and services, which in turn may require greater revenue streams from those products and services to cover developmental costs. Many of the companies that compete with us for some of our business, as well as other companies with whom we may compete in the future, are larger and may have greater technical, financial, marketing and political resources than we do. These resources could enable these companies to initiate severe price cuts or take other measures in an effort to gain market share or otherwise impede our progress. We may be unable to compete successfully against current or future participants in our market or against alternative technologies, and the competitive pressures we face could decrease our revenue and profits in the future.

(6) We may not realize all the expected benefits of our patent licensing arrangement with Intellectual Ventures.

In connection with our patent licensing arrangement with IV, we granted an exclusive license to sublicense a substantial portion of our patent assets to IV in exchange for various strategic and financial benefits. We may not realize all the expected benefits of our patent licensing arrangement with IV, including the expected full payment of the license issue fee, profit participation revenues, reduction of patent prosecution and maintenance costs, and full payment for the assistance we provide to IV with respect to the licensed patents. Any failure to realize these

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expected benefits could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows. We have given IV control over both prosecution and enforcement of these assets. While IV can seek our assistance and has committed to pay for it, we cannot guarantee that they will seek our assistance in prosecution, nor enforce the patents to the extent we would.

(7) The joint ventures we entered into with Nielsen may not provide a return on investment on the initial and subsequent cash contributions, because of the risks attendant in any start-up company and competition that the proposed products and services of the joint ventures face.

TVaura LLC is a jointly owned company that we established with Nielsen to focus on the discovery, development and commercialization of copyright filtering solutions, royalty/audit systems or products for online video and audio rights organizations, guilds or other organizations involved in reconciliation of royalties, residuals and other payments, and other related products. TVaura Mobile LLC is a jointly owned company that we established with Nielsen to focus on the discovery, development and commercialization of certain enhanced television offerings and other related products, an area of burgeoning competition and increasing emphasis to Nielsen and Digimarc. As part of these joint ventures, we licensed to each of TVaura LLC and TVaura Mobile LLC all of our patents and technology not already subject to exclusive license grants to other licensees. The products that have been developed to date, and additional products contemplated by the joint ventures, which are still in the development stage, will require additional investment and oversight before they can be brought to market. If the joint ventures are successful in developing these products, the products will be new and untested, and they may not have a ready market. Starting in 2012 and for the foreseeable future, most of our investment will be in TVaura Mobile LLC.

We cannot predict how the market will react to our product offerings or any potential revenue that may be realized. We provided initial financial support to both joint ventures through October 2011, and additional investment will be required, regardless of whether the joint ventures are successful in their product development efforts. Our continued investment in these two joint ventures may result in neither product offerings nor a return on investment.

In connection with TVaura LLC and TVaura Mobile LLC, we may experience:

Moreover, each of TVaura LLC and TVaura Mobile LLC is operated as an independent company and governed by a members’ committee. We and Nielsen can elect an equal number of representatives to serve on each members’ committee. Each joint venture develops products pursuant to an operating plan that is approved by the members’ committee. Since Nielsen has significant oversight and voting rights with respect to major business decisions of TVaura LLC and TVaura Mobile LLC, we do not have control over the joint ventures’ operations, including business decisions that may affect each joint venture’s profitability or success in meeting its objectives. For any of these reasons, or as a result of other factors, we may not realize the anticipated benefits of the joint ventures, and our participation in the joint ventures could adversely affect the results of our other business efforts.

(8) Disagreements between Nielsen and us regarding strategy and priorities of the joint ventures or shortage of additional funding for the joint ventures may impede the development of joint venture products, which could negatively affect the value of our investment in TVaura LLC and TVaura Mobile LLC.

Potential disagreements between Nielsen and us regarding a development decision or any other decision submitted to either joint venture’s members’ committee may cause significant delays in the development and

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commercialization of the particular joint venture’s products and technology and could negatively affect the value of our investment in the joint ventures. In addition, neither we nor Nielsen have any obligation to fund the joint ventures beyond the initial cash contributions provided in the joint venture agreements. If the joint ventures are unable to generate cash sufficient to develop and commercialize their products, and if additional funding is unavailable from us, Nielsen or third parties, we may not recognize the intended benefits of the joint ventures.

(9) Our future growth will depend to some extent on our successful implementation of our technology in solutions provided by third parties.

Our business and strategy rely substantially on deployment of our technology by our licensees and other third-party software developers and original equipment manufacturers. For example, one form of our technology is commonly deployed in image editing applications to permit users of these products to read data embedded in imagery, and thereby identify ownership and discern the identities of image owners. Another form of our technology is used in our anti-counterfeiting products. Our patented inventions are also being deployed as part of Digital Cinema systems to theatres around the world by companies that integrate technologies and subsystems. In addition, we rely on the ability of IV to license our patented inventions to third party licensees pursuant to the patent licensing arrangement we entered into with IV in October 2010. If third parties who include our technology in their products or otherwise license our intellectual property for use in their products cease to do so, or we fail to obtain other partners who will incorporate, embed, integrate or bundle our technology, or these partners are unsuccessful in their efforts, our efforts to expand deployment of our technology and increase licensing revenues would be adversely affected. Consequently, our ability to increase revenues would be adversely affected and we may suffer other adverse effects to our business. In addition, if our technology does not perform according to market expectations, our future sales would suffer as customers seek other providers.

(10) We depend on our management and key employees for our future success. If we are not able to retain, hire or integrate these employees, we may not be able to meet our commitments.

Our success depends to a significant extent on the performance and continued service of our management and our intellectual property team. The loss of the services of any of these employees could limit our growth or undermine customer relationships.

Due to the high level of technical expertise that our industry requires, our ability to successfully develop, market, sell, license and support our products, services, and intellectual property depends to a significant degree upon the continued contributions of our key personnel in engineering, sales, marketing, operations, legal and licensing, many of whom would be difficult to replace. We believe our future success will depend in large part upon our ability to retain our current key employees and our ability to attract, integrate and retain these personnel in the future. It may not be practical for us to match the compensation some of our employees could garner at other employment. In addition, we may encounter difficulties in hiring and retaining employees because of concerns related to our financial performance or operating results. These circumstances may have a negative effect on the market price of our common stock, and employees and prospective employees may factor in the uncertainties relating to our stability and the value of any equity-based incentives in their decisions regarding employment opportunities and decide to leave our employ. Moreover, our business is based in large part on patented technology, which is a unique and sophisticated signal processing technology. New employees require substantial training, involving significant resources and management attention. Competition for experienced personnel in our business can be intense. If we do not succeed in attracting new, qualified personnel or in integrating, retaining and motivating our current personnel, our growth and ability to deliver products and services that our customers require may be hampered. Although our employees generally have executed agreements containing non-competition clauses, we do not assure you that a court would enforce all of the terms of these clauses or the agreements generally. If these clauses were not fully enforced, our employees could be able to freely join our competitors. Although we generally attempt to control access to and distribution of our proprietary information by our employees, we do not assure you that the confidential nature of our proprietary information will be maintained in the course of such future employment. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our financial and business prospects.

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(11) If leading companies in our industry or standard-setting bodies or institutions downplay, minimize or reject the use of our technology, deployment may be slowed and we may be unable to achieve revenue growth, particularly in the media and entertainment sectors.

Many of our business endeavors, such as our licensing of intellectual property in support of audio and video copy-control applications, can be impeded or frustrated by larger, more influential companies or by standard-setting bodies or institutions downplaying, minimizing or rejecting the value or use of our technology. A negative position by these companies, bodies or institutions, if taken, may result in obstacles for us that we would be incapable of overcoming and may block or impede the adoption of digital watermarking, particularly in the media and entertainment market. In addition, potential customers in the media and entertainment industry may delay or reject initiatives that relate to deployment of our technology. Such a development would make the achievement of our business objectives in this market difficult or impossible.

(12) We are subject to risks encountered by companies developing and relying upon new technologies, products and services for substantial amounts of their growth or revenue.

Our business and prospects must be considered in light of the risks and uncertainties to which companies with new and rapidly evolving technology, products and services are exposed. These risks include the following:

Some of our key technology and solutions from our patent or technology licensees are in the development stage. Consequently, products incorporating our technology and solutions are undergoing technological change and are in the early stages of introduction in the marketplace. Delays in the adoption of these products or adverse competitive developments may result in delays in the development of new revenue sources or the growth in our revenue. In addition, we may be required to incur unanticipated expenditures if product changes or improvements are required. Moreover, new industry standards might redefine the products that we or our licensees are able to sell, especially if these products are only in the prototype stage of development. If product changes or improvements are required, success in marketing these products by us or our licensees and achieving profitability from these products could be delayed or halted. We also may be required to fund any changes or improvements out of operating income, which could adversely affect our profitability.

(13) We may not be able to adequately protect or enforce our intellectual property, and we may be subject to infringement claims and other litigation, which could adversely affect our business.

Our success depends in part on licensing our proprietary technology. To protect our intellectual property portfolio, we rely on a combination of patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret rights, confidentiality procedures and licensing arrangements. Unlicensed copying and use of our intellectual property or infringement of our intellectual property rights may result in the loss of revenue to us. Although we devote significant resources to developing and protecting our technologies, and periodically evaluate potential competitors of our technologies for infringement of our intellectual property rights, these infringements may nonetheless go undetected or may arise in the future.

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We face risks associated with our patent position, including the potential need from time to time to engage in significant legal proceedings to enforce our patents, the possibility that the validity or enforceability of our patents may be challenged, and the possibility that third parties will be able to compete against us without infringing our patents. Our recently resolved litigation with Verance, which brought a declaratory judgment action alleging that certain of our patents are invalid or not infringed, is an example. Budgetary concerns may cause us not to file or continue litigation against known infringers of our patent rights, or may cause us not to file for, or pursue, patent protection for all of our inventive technology, in jurisdictions where they may have value. Some governmental entities that might infringe our intellectual property rights may enjoy sovereign immunity from such claims. Failure to reliably enforce our patent rights against infringers may make licensing more difficult. If we fail to protect our intellectual property rights and proprietary technology adequately, if there are changes in applicable laws that are adverse to our interests, or if we become involved in litigation relating to our intellectual property rights and proprietary technology or relating to the intellectual property rights of others, our business could be seriously harmed because the value ascribed to our intellectual property could diminish and result in a lower stock price, or we may incur significant costs in bringing legal proceedings against third parties who are infringing our patents.

Effective protection of intellectual property rights may be unavailable or limited. Patent protection throughout the world is generally established on a country-by-country basis. We have applied for patent protection in the U.S. and in various other countries. We do not assure you, however, that pending patents will be issued or that issued patents will be valid or enforceable. Failure to obtain these patents or failure to enforce those patents that are obtained may result in a loss of revenue to us. We do not assure you that the protection of our proprietary rights will be adequate or that our competitors will not independently develop similar technologies, duplicate our services or design around any of our patents or other intellectual property rights.

In the ordinary course of building strategic business relationships with potential partners we may encounter companies that we believe are infringing on our patent portfolio. When we encounter these companies we believe are infringing, we try to negotiate a license to our patents. If we are unable to negotiate a license and continue to believe they are infringing on our patents, we may file a lawsuit and incur legal fees in the process.

Patents have finite lives, and our ability to continue to commercially exploit our patents is limited to the term of the patents. Our earliest patents will begin expiring in July 2012. The size and strength of our portfolio depends on the number of patents that have been granted, offset by the number of patents that expire, in any given year. We continue to grow our patent portfolio, but we cannot assure that we will be able to exploit newer patents to the extent that we have our earlier patents.

We are the exclusive licensee under some third-party patents, and may need the assistance of these parties if we choose to enforce any of these patent rights. The cooperation of these third parties cannot be assured. Although we rely on some of these technologies for our products or for our licenses to third parties to date, the licensed patents have not been material to our operations.

As more companies engage in business activities relating to digital watermarking, and develop corresponding intellectual property rights, it is increasingly likely that claims may arise which assert that some of our products or services infringe upon other parties’ intellectual property rights. These claims could subject us to costly litigation and divert management resources. These claims may require us to pay significant damages, cease production of infringing products, terminate our use of infringing technology or develop non-infringing technologies. In these circumstances, continued use of our technology may require that we acquire licenses to the intellectual property that is the subject of the alleged infringement, and we might not be able to obtain these licenses on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Our use of protected technology may result in liability that threatens our continuing operation.

Some of our contracts include indemnity and similar provisions regarding our non-infringement of third-party intellectual property rights. As deployment of our technology increases, and more companies enter our markets, the likelihood of a third party lawsuit resulting from these provisions increases. If an infringement arose in a context

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governed by such a contract, we may have to refund to our customer amounts already paid to us or pay significant damages, or we may be sued by the party whose intellectual property has allegedly been infringed upon.

As part of our confidentiality procedures, we generally enter into non-disclosure agreements with our employees, directors, consultants and corporate partners, and attempt to control access to and distribution of our technology, solutions, documentation and other proprietary information. Despite these procedures, third parties could copy or otherwise obtain and make unauthorized use of our technology, solutions or other proprietary information or independently develop similar technologies, solutions or information. The steps that we have taken to prevent misappropriation of our solutions, technology or other proprietary information may not prevent their misappropriation.

(14) If our revenue models and pricing structures relating to products and services that are under development do not gain market acceptance, the products and services may fail to attract or retain customers and we may not be able to generate new or sustain existing revenue.

Some of our business involves embedding digital watermarks in traditional and digital media, including secure documents, audio, video and imagery, and licensing our intellectual property. Our revenue stream is based primarily on a combination of development, consulting, subscription and license fees from a variety of media identification and management applications. We also launched our Digimarc Discover initiative during 2011, which incorporates new business and pricing models for licensing access to our online services portal and value added service providers. We have not fully developed revenue models for some of these future digital watermarking applications and licensing endeavors. Because some of our products and services are not yet well-established in the marketplace, and because some of these products and services will not directly displace existing solutions, we cannot be certain that the pricing structure for these products and services will gain market acceptance or be sustainable over time or that the marketing for these products and services will be effective.

(15) If we are unable to respond to regulatory or industry standards effectively, or if we are unable to develop and integrate new technologies effectively, our growth and the development of our products and services could be delayed or limited.

Our future success will depend in part on our ability to enhance and improve the responsiveness, functionality and features of our products and services, and those of our business partners, in accordance with regulatory or industry standards. Our ability to remain competitive will depend in part on our ability to influence and respond to emerging industry and governmental standards in a timely and cost-effective manner. If we are unable to influence these or other standards or respond to these standards effectively, our growth and the development of various products and services could be delayed or limited.

Our market is characterized by new and evolving technologies. The success of our business will depend on our ability to develop and integrate new technologies effectively and address the increasingly sophisticated technological needs of our customers in a timely and cost-effective manner. Our ability to remain competitive will depend in part on our ability to:

We do not assure you that we will be successful in responding to these technological and industry challenges in a timely and cost-effective manner. If we are unable to develop or integrate new technologies effectively or respond to these changing needs, our margins could decrease, and our release of new products and services and the deployment of our watermarking technology could be adversely affected.

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(16) We may need to retain additional employees or contract labor in the future in order to take advantage of new business opportunities arising from increased demand, which could increase costs and impede our ability to achieve or sustain profitability in the short term.

We have staffed our company with the intent of achieving and sustaining profitability. Our current staffing levels could affect our ability to respond to increased demand for our services. In addition, to meet any increased demand and take advantage of new business opportunities in the future, we may need to increase our workforce through additional employees or contract labor. Although we believe that increasing our workforce would potentially support anticipated growth and profitability, it would increase our costs. If we experience such an increase in costs, we may not succeed in achieving or sustaining profitability in the short term.

(17) An increase in our operations outside of the U.S. subjects us to risks additional to those to which we are exposed in our domestic operations.

We believe that revenue from sales of products and services to commercial, governmental and other customers outside the U.S. could represent a growing percentage of our total revenue in the future. International sales and services are subject to a number of risks that can adversely affect our sales of products and services to customers outside of the U.S., including the following:

We do not have an extensive operational infrastructure for international business. We generally depend on local or international business partners and subcontractors for performance of substantial portions of our business. These factors may result in greater risk of performance problems or of reduced profitability with respect to our international programs in these markets. In addition, if foreign customers, in particular foreign government authorities, terminate or delay the implementation of our products and services, it may be difficult for us to recover our potential losses.

(18) The terms and conditions of our contracts could subject us to damages, losses and other expenses if we fail to meet delivery and other performance requirements.

Our service contracts typically include provisions imposing:

To the extent these provisions involve performance over extended periods of time, risks of noncompliance may increase. From time to time we have experienced delays in system implementation, timely acceptance of programs, concerns regarding program performance and other contractual disputes. If we fail to meet contractual milestones or other performance requirements as promised, or to successfully resolve customer disputes, we

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could incur liability for damages, as well as increased costs, lower margins, or compensatory obligations in addition to other losses, such as harm to our reputation. Any unexpected increases in costs to meet our contractual obligations or any other requirements necessary to address claims and damages with regard to our customer contracts could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial results.

(19) Products deploying our technology could have unknown defects or errors, which may give rise to claims against us, divert application of our resources from other purposes or increase our project implementation and support costs.

Products and services as complex as those we offer or develop may contain undetected defects or errors. Furthermore, we often provide complex implementation, integration, customization, consulting and other technical services in connection with the implementation and ongoing maintenance of our products. Despite testing, defects or errors in our products and services may occur, which could result in delays in the development and implementation of products and systems, inability to meet customer requirements or expectations in a timely manner, loss of revenue or market share, increased implementation and support costs, failure to achieve market acceptance, diversion of development resources, injury to our reputation, increased insurance costs, increased service and warranty costs and warranty or breach of contract claims. Although we attempt to reduce the risk of losses resulting from warranty or breach of contract claims through warranty disclaimers and liability limitation clauses in our sales agreements when we can, these contractual provisions are sometimes not included and may not be enforceable in every instance. If a court refuses to enforce the liability limiting provisions of our contracts for any reason, or if liabilities arise that were not contractually limited or adequately covered by insurance, the expense associated with defending these actions or paying the resultant claims could be significant.

(20) The security systems used in our product and service offerings may be circumvented or sabotaged by third parties, which could result in the disclosure of sensitive information or private personal information or cause other business interruptions that could damage our reputation and disrupt our business.

Our business relies on computers and other information technologies, both internal and at customer locations. The protective measures that we use may not prevent security breaches, and failure to prevent security breaches may disrupt our business, damage our reputation, and expose us to litigation and liability. A party who is able to circumvent security measures could misappropriate sensitive or proprietary information or materials or cause interruptions or otherwise damage our products, services and reputation, and the property of our customers. If unintended parties obtain sensitive data and information, or create bugs or viruses or otherwise sabotage the functionality of our systems, we may receive negative publicity, incur liability to our customers or lose the confidence of our customers, any of which may cause the termination or modification of our contracts. Further, our insurance coverage may be insufficient to cover losses and liabilities that may result from these events.

In addition, we may be required to expend significant capital and other resources to protect ourselves against the threat of security breaches or to alleviate problems caused by these breaches. Any protection or remedial measures may not be available at a reasonable price or at all, or may not be entirely effective if commenced.

(21) We are periodically involved in the ordinary course of business in litigation, and an adverse resolution of such litigation may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

From time to time, in our normal course of business, we are a party to various legal claims, actions and complaints. As part of our patent licensing program, we bring claims or counterclaims of patent infringement to enforce our patent rights. Given the uncertain nature of litigation generally, we are not able to estimate the amount or range of gain or loss that could result from an outcome of litigation. Litigation can be expensive, lengthy, and disruptive to normal business operations. The results of complex legal proceedings are often

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uncertain and difficult to predict. We could incur charges in excess of any currently established accruals and, to the extent available, excess liability insurance. An unfavorable outcome in any legal proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR CAPITAL STOCK

(22) Our common stock price may be volatile, and you could lose all or part of your investment in shares of our common stock.

The price of shares of our common stock may fluctuate as a result of changes in our operating performance or prospects and other factors. Some specific factors that may have a significant effect on the price of shares of our common stock include:

(23) Our common stock price may increase or decrease on no material news or developments.

As a thinly-traded microcap company, volatility in the equity securities market may disproportionately affect swings in our stock price, upward and downward. Over the past year, we have had significant fluctuations in our stock price and market capitalization on no material news or developments. We suspect that the effects of computerized trading also exacerbate fluctuations in our stock price.

(24) Our corporate governance documents, our rights agreement and Oregon law may delay or prevent an acquisition of us that shareholders may consider favorable, which could decrease the value of your shares.

Our articles of incorporation and bylaws and Oregon law contain provisions that could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us without the consent of our board of directors. These provisions include supermajority voting requirements for shareholders to amend our organizational documents and limitations on actions by our shareholders by written consent. In addition, our board of directors has the right to issue preferred stock without shareholder approval, which could be used to dilute the stock ownership of a potential hostile acquirer. On July 31, 2008, our Board of Directors adopted a rights agreement pursuant to which one one-hundredth (1/100) of a preferred stock purchase right will be issued for each outstanding share of our common stock. In general terms, our rights agreement works by imposing a significant penalty upon any person or group that acquires 15% or more of our outstanding common stock without the approval of our Board of

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Directors. Oregon law also restricts the ability to vote shares of stock acquired in a transaction that causes the acquiring person to control at least one-fifth, one-third or one-half of the votes entitled to be cast in the election of directors. Shares acquired in a control share acquisition have no voting rights except as authorized by a vote of the shareholders. Although we believe these provisions protect our shareholders from coercive or otherwise unfair takeover tactics and thereby provide for an opportunity to receive a higher bid by requiring potential acquirers to negotiate with our board of directors, these provisions apply even if the offer may be considered beneficial by some shareholders.

None.

We lease our principal administrative, marketing, research, and intellectual property development facility, which is approximately 46,000 square feet in size and located in Beaverton, Oregon. In May 2010 we entered into an amendment with the landlord to extend the length of our facilities lease through August 2016. See Note 9 to our financial statements for further lease related disclosures.

Verance Corporation, a Digimarc licensee, filed a declaratory judgment action against Digimarc in the United States District Court in Delaware on September 30, 2010, alleging the invalidity and non-infringement of 22 patents held by Digimarc. Verance Corp. v. Digimarc Corp., 1:10-cv-00831-UNA. The District Court dismissed Verance’s action. On September 9, 2011 Verance filed a Notice of Appeal with the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. On December 6, 2010, Digimarc filed suit against Verance Corporation in the District of Oregon seeking payment for breach of contract by Verance related to Verance’s failure to make payments under the licensing agreement between Digimarc and Verance. Digimarc Corp. v. Verance Corp., CV’10-1489 JE.

In January 2012, Digimarc and Verance entered into mediation, sponsored by the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. The mediation resulted in a resolution, on January 31, 2012, of all disputes between the parties, including dismissal of all actions and appeals, a payment of $8 million by Verance for amounts due through the third quarter of 2011, a payment of approximately $852,500 for fourth quarter 2011 royalties, entry by the parties into a three year agreement (starting in the fourth quarter of 2011) with blended royalty rates for unified fields of use, and a grant to Verance of nine annual renewal options.

Digimarc was named as one of several defendants in a complaint filed by Walker Digital, LLC (“Walker”), in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware on April 22, 2011, case number 11-cv-00363-UNA, alleging patent infringement. The case was settled in early October 2011 with a negotiated patent license arrangement between TVaura Mobile LLC and Walker.

Not applicable.

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PART II

Our common stock began trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC in October 2008 under the symbol “DMRC.” The closing price of our common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market was $29.20 on February 15, 2012. The following table lists the high and low sales prices of our common stock for the periods indicated, as reported by The Nasdaq Global Market.

At February 15, 2012, we had 203 shareholders of record of our common stock, as shown in the records of our transfer agent. Since many holders hold shares in “street name,” we believe that there is a significantly larger number of beneficial owners of our common stock than the number of record holders.

We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our capital stock. We have repurchased a significant number of shares over the last few years.

Since the inception of our stock repurchase program in April 2009, through December 31, 2011, our Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of $10.0 million of our common stock. As of December 31, 2011, we had repurchased 216,244 shares under this program at an aggregate purchase price of $4.7 million. Shares of our common stock may be purchased in the open market or through privately negotiated transactions, subject to market conditions. This repurchase program does not obligate us to acquire any specific number of shares or to acquire shares over any specified period of time.

On January 26, 2011, the Company repurchased 552,536 shares of its common stock from Koninklijke Philips Electronics, N.V., in a privately negotiated transaction. The shares were purchased for an aggregate price of approximately $14.9 million, including transaction fees.

In addition to the stock repurchase program described above, and the withholding (repurchase) of shares of common stock in connection with the vesting of restricted shares, described below, from time to time, we repurchase shares in connection with stock option exercises, to cover exercise price and taxes.

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The following table sets forth information regarding purchases of our equity securities during the three-month period ended December 31, 2011:

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STOCK PERFORMANCE GRAPH

The following graph compares the performance of our common stock with the performance of (i) the Nasdaq U.S. Index and (ii) a peer group selected by us. The comparison assumes $100 was invested on October 17, 2008, the first day of trading in our common stock at the closing price on that date and in each of the two indices at the closing price on that date and assumes reinvestment of any dividends. We believe that the companies in the peer group are comparable to us in terms of line-of-business, market capitalization, revenues, and number of employees, and therefore, comprise an appropriate peer group for purposes of comparing stock performance. The comparisons in the graph are based on historical data and are not indicative of, nor intended to forecast, future performance of our common stock.

Companies included in the Peer Group index of the stock performance graph are as follows:

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The selected financial data set forth below should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and the notes to the financial statements and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” which are included elsewhere in this report.

On August 1, 2008, Old Digimarc (“predecessor”) spun off its wholly owned subsidiary, DMRC LLC, which was formed in anticipation of the spin-off and held all of the assets and liabilities of Old Digimarc’s Digital Watermarking Business. We changed our name back to Digimarc Corporation shortly after the spin-off.

Until August 1, 2008, we were a wholly owned subsidiary of DMRC LLC, which immediately prior to the spin-off was a wholly owned subsidiary of Old Digimarc. DMRC LLC was formed in Delaware on June 18, 2008, in anticipation of the spin-off of the Digital Watermarking Business. Prior to the spin-off, in a transaction which we refer to as the restructuring, Old Digimarc contributed all of the assets and liabilities related to its Digital Watermarking Business, together with all of Old Digimarc’s cash, including cash received upon the exercise of stock options, to DMRC LLC. The restructuring did not result in the loss of any significant Digital Watermarking Business customers or contracts.

Following the restructuring, all of the limited liability company interests of DMRC LLC were transferred to a newly created trust for the benefit of Old Digimarc record holders on the basis of one limited liability company interest of DMRC LLC for every three and one-half shares of Old Digimarc common stock held by the shareholder as of the spin-off record date and time. DMRC LLC then merged with and into DMRC Corporation, and each limited liability company interest of DMRC LLC was converted into one share of common stock of DMRC Corporation. After completion of the acquisition of Old Digimarc by L-1, DMRC Corporation changed its name to Digimarc Corporation. As a result, upon effectiveness of the Form 10 on October 16, 2008, each Old Digimarc record holder received one share of Digimarc common stock for every three and one-half shares of Old Digimarc common stock held by the shareholder as of the spin-off record date and time, and we became an independent, publicly-traded company owning and operating the Digital Watermarking Business.

The following tables set forth our selected financial information as of and for each of the years in the five-year period ended December 31, 2011, which has been derived from audited financial statements as of December 31, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, and 2007, and as of August 1, 2008 , and years ended December 31, 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2007; and for the periods August 2, 2008 through December 31, 2008 and January 1, 2008 through August 1, 2008. The selected predecessor financial information presented may not reflect the results of operations or financial condition that would have resulted had we been operating as an independent, publicly-traded company during the periods presented.

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Statement of Operations Data (1)

Balance Sheet Data (1)

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The financial information in the predecessor financial statements does not include all of the expenses that would have been incurred had the predecessor been a separate, stand-alone public entity. As such, the predecessor financial information does not reflect the financial position, results of operations and cash flows of Digimarc’s current business had the predecessor operated as a separate, stand-alone public entity during the period presented in the predecessor financial statements. Additionally, the predecessor financial statements include proportional allocations of various shared services common costs of Old Digimarc because specific identification of these expenses was not practicable. Operating costs of Digimarc on a stand-alone basis have been higher than those allocated to the predecessor operations under the shared services methodology applied in the predecessor financial statements. Consequently, the financial position, results of operations and cash flows reflected in the predecessor financial statements may not be indicative of those that would have been achieved had the predecessor operated as a separate, stand-alone entity for the period reflected in the predecessor financial statements.

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The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations contains forward-looking statements relating to future events or the future financial performance of Digimarc, which involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Please see the discussion regarding forward-looking statements included at the end of this discussion, under the caption “Forward-Looking Statements” and Item 1A, “Risk Factors” for a discussion of some of the uncertainties, risks and assumptions associated with these statements.

The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our financial statements and the related notes and other financial information appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

All dollar amounts are in thousands, unless otherwise noted.

Overview

Digimarc Corporation enables governments and enterprises around the world to give digital identities to media and objects that computers can sense and recognize and to which they can react. Our inventions provide the means to infuse persistent digital information, perceptible only to computers and digital devices, into all forms of media content. The unique digital identifier placed in media generally persists with it regardless of the distribution path and whether it is copied, manipulated or converted to a different format, and does not affect the quality of the content or the enjoyment or other traditional uses of it. Our technology permits computers and digital devices to quickly identify relevant data from vast amounts of media content.

Our growth strategy encompasses both our government and commercial businesses. We plan additional investment in research and development of a commercial mobile platform that boosts device specific capabilities.

To protect our significant efforts in creating our inventions, we have implemented an extensive intellectual property protection program that relies on a combination of patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret laws, and nondisclosure agreements and other contracts. We believe we have one of the world’s most extensive patent portfolios in the field of digital watermarking and related media enhancement innovations, with approximately 1,200 granted and pending U.S. and foreign filings as of December 31, 2011. Most of these patents are subject to an exclusive patent licensing arrangement as described further below.

As part of our intellectual property marketing initiative and patent monetization strategy, on October 5, 2010, we entered into a patent licensing arrangement with IV Digital Multimedia Inventions, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company affiliated with IV, pursuant to which we granted an exclusive license to sublicense, subject to pre-existing encumbrances and a grant-back license, an aggregate of approximately 900, of the 1,200, noted above, patents and applications held by us.

We believe recent intellectual property licensing initiatives we have commenced represent substantial opportunities for us to grow our license and subscription revenues, as well as our service revenues. These initiatives, however, may require additional investment in our intellectual property enforcement program and research and development.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (“U.S. GAAP”) requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. On an on-going basis, we evaluate our estimates, including those related to bad debts, fixed assets, intangible assets, income taxes, long-term service contracts, marketable securities, and contingencies and litigation. We base our estimates on

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historical experience and on various other assumptions we believe to be reasonable in the circumstances. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

Some of our accounting policies require higher degrees of judgment than others in their application. These include revenue recognition on long-term service contracts, revenue recognition on license and subscription arrangements, impairments and estimation of useful lives of long-lived assets, contingencies and litigation, patent costs, stock- based compensation and income taxes (valuation allowance). We believe the following critical accounting policies affect our more significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our financial statements:

Revenue recognition:

We derive our revenue primarily from development services and licensing of our patent portfolio:

Revenue is recognized in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 605 “Revenue Recognition” and 985 “Software” when the following four criteria are met:

Some customer arrangements encompass multiple deliverables, such as patent license, professional services, software subscriptions, and maintenance fees. For arrangements that include multiple deliverables, we identify separate units of accounting at inception based on the consensus reached under ASC 605, which provides that revenue arrangements with multiple deliverables should be divided into separate units of accounting if certain criteria are met. The consideration for the arrangement is allocated to the separate units of accounting using the relative selling price method.

The relative selling price method allocates the consideration based on our specific assumptions rather than assumptions of a marketplace participant, and any discount in the arrangement proportionally to each deliverable on the basis of each deliverable’s selling price.

Applicable revenue recognition criteria are considered separately for each separate unit of accounting as follows:

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Deferred revenue consists of billings in advance for professional services, licenses and subscriptions for which revenue has not been earned.

Impairments and estimation of useful lives of long-lived assets: We periodically assess long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable, in accordance with the provisions of ASC 360 “Property, Plant and Equipment.” This statement requires that long-lived assets and certain identifiable intangibles be reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. Recoverability of assets to be held and used is measured by a comparison of the carrying amount of an asset to future net undiscounted cash flows expected to be generated by the asset. If the assets are considered to be impaired, the impairment to be recognized is measured by the amount by which the carrying amount of the assets exceeds the fair value of the assets. Fair value is determined based on discounted cash flows or appraised values, depending on the nature of the asset. Also, we periodically review the useful lives of long-lived assets whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the useful life may have changed. If the estimated useful lives of the assets do change, we adjust the depreciation or amortization period to a shorter or longer period, based on the circumstances identified.

Contingencies and litigation: We periodically evaluate all pending or threatened contingencies or commitments, if any, that are reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on our operations or financial position. We assess the probability of an adverse outcome and determine if it is remote, reasonably possible or probable as defined in accordance with the provisions of ASC 450 “Contingencies.” If information available prior to the issuance of our financial statements indicates that it is probable that an asset has been impaired or a liability has been incurred at the date of our financial statements, and the amount of the loss, or the range of probable loss can be reasonably estimated, then the loss is accrued and charged to operations. If no accrual is made for a loss contingency because one or both of the conditions pursuant to ASC 450 are not met, but the probability of an adverse outcome is at least reasonably possible, we will disclose the nature of the contingency and provide an estimate of the possible loss or range of loss, or state that such an estimate cannot be made.

Patent costs: Costs associated with the application and award of patents in the U.S. and various other countries are capitalized and amortized on a straight-line basis over the term of the patents as determined at award date, which varies depending on the pendency period of the application, generally approximating seventeen years. Capitalized patent costs include internal legal labor, professional legal fees, government filing fees and translation fees related to obtaining the Company’s patent portfolio.

Costs associated with the maintenance and annuity fees of patents are accounted for as prepaid assets at the time of payment and amortized over the respective periods, generally from one to four years.

These patent costs are capitalized based on our determination that the related patents provide value through the life of the patent. However, we may subsequently determine a patent should be abandoned or has been impaired, in which case the accumulated cost, including maintenance fees, would be written off. Through December 31, 2011, abandonment or write-offs have not been material either individually or in the aggregate.

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Stock-based compensation: We account for stock-based compensation in accordance with ASC 718 “Compensation—Stock Compensation,” which requires the measurement and recognition of compensation for all stock-based awards made to employees and directors including stock options and employee stock purchases under a stock purchase plan based on estimated fair values. We use the Black-Scholes option pricing model as our method of valuation for stock- based awards. Our determination of the fair value of stock-based awards on the date of grant using an option pricing model is affected by our stock price as well as assumptions regarding a number of highly complex and subjective variables. These variables include, but are not limited, to the expected life of the award, our expected stock price, volatility over the term of the award and actual and projected exercise behaviors. Although the fair value of stock-based awards is determined in accordance with ASC 718, the Black-Scholes option pricing model requires the input of highly subjective assumptions, and other reasonable assumptions could provide differing results. For example, if we have low volatility, we would have a corresponding lower fair value of the stock-based award than if we had a higher volatility. The fair value of restricted stock awards granted is based on the fair market value of our common stock on the date of the grant (measurement date), and is recognized over the vesting period of the related restricted stock using the straight-line method.

Income taxes, valuation allowance: We account for income taxes in accordance with ASC 740 “Income Taxes.” Deferred income taxes reflect the net tax effects of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes. A valuation allowance is required for deferred tax assets if, based on available evidence, it is more likely than not that all or some portion of the asset will not be realized due to the inability to generate sufficient taxable income in the period and/or of the character necessary to utilize the benefit of the deferred tax asset. The more-likely-than-not criterion means the likelihood of realization is greater than 50 percent. When evaluating whether it is more likely than not that all or some portion of the deferred tax asset will not be realized, we evaluate all available evidence, both positive and negative, that may affect the realizability of deferred tax assets and that should be identified and considered in determining the appropriate amount of the valuation allowance.

Results of Operations—the Years Ended December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010

The following tables present our statements of operations data for the periods indicated.

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Summary

Our revenue increased in 2011 from 2010 primarily as a result of revenue derived from our relationships with IV and Verance, a long-term licensee. Our revenue for 2010 included a one-time payment of license fees of $4.5 million from Arbitron in the first quarter of 2010. The improved mix of high margin license revenue to total revenue also contributed favorably to our higher gross profit.

Throughout 2011, we continued to invest in the development and marketing of Digimarc Discover, an application designed for digital devices to hear, see and react to their surroundings, in developing additional intellectual property and in our strategic initiatives. We also continued to incur legal expenses in connection with our litigation matter with Verance. Finally, our deferred tax asset valuation reserve was reversed in the second quarter of 2011 reflecting our determination that it was more likely than not that our deferred tax assets will be realized in current and future periods.

Revenue

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We derive our revenue primarily from:

Service. Service revenue consists primarily of software development and consulting services. The majority of service revenue arrangements are structured as time and materials consulting agreements, or fixed price consulting agreements. The majority of our service revenue is derived from contracts with the Central Banks, Nielsen, including the joint venture TVaura LLC, government agencies and IV. The agreements range from several months to several years in length, and our longer term contracts are subject to work plans that are reviewed and agreed upon at least annually. These contracts generally provide for billing hours worked at predetermined rates and, to a lesser extent, for cost reimbursement for third party costs and services. Increases or decreases in the services provided under these contracts are generally subject to both volume and price changes. The volume of work is generally negotiated at least annually and can be modified as the customer’s needs change. We also have provisions in our longer term contracts that allow for specific hourly rate price increases on an annual basis to account for cost of living variables. Contracts with other government agencies are generally shorter term in nature, less linear in billings and less predictable than our longer terms contracts because the contracts with other government agencies are subject to government budgets and funding.

The increases in service revenue were primarily due to increased program work related to the Central Banks and increased revenue from our relationship with IV, offset by decreased revenue from other government customers.

License and subscription. License revenue originates primarily from licensing our technology and patents where we receive royalties as our income stream. Subscription revenue consists primarily of royalty revenue from the sale of our web-based subscriptions related to various software products, which are more recurring in nature. Revenues from our licensed products have minimal associated direct costs, and thus are highly profitable.

The increases in license and subscription revenue were primarily attributed to revenue derived from the IV relationship and increased royalty revenue from Verance, offset by the one-time payment of license fees from Arbitron in the first quarter of 2010. See related disclosures in Part I, Item 3, “Legal Proceedings” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Revenue by geography

Domestic revenue increased primarily as a result of increased revenue derived from the IV relationship and increased royalty revenue from Verance, offset by the one-time payment of license fees from Arbitron in the first quarter of 2010.

International revenue increased primarily due to increased royalties from Civolution and increased service revenue from the Central Banks.

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We anticipate revenue growth in 2012 from our existing customers, including the payments received from Verance related to the terms of the settlement agreement (see related disclosures under “Liquidity and Capital Resources – Future Cash Expectations” in this section and Note 17 of our Notes to Financial Statements), and from new customers as we continue to expand the marketing and monetization of our intellectual property portfolio.

Cost of revenue

Service. Cost of service revenue primarily includes costs that are allocated from research, development, engineering and sales and marketing that relate directly to performing services under our customer contracts, and, to a lesser extent, direct costs of program delivery for both personnel and operating expenses. Allocated costs include:

License and subscription. Cost of license and subscription revenue primarily includes:

Gross profit

Gross profit, defined as revenues less cost of revenues, as described above, increased primarily as a result of increased license and royalty revenues from IV and Verance, offset by the one-time payment of license fees from Arbitron in the first quarter of 2010.

The increase in total gross profit as a percentage of revenue was due primarily to changes in revenue mix, where higher margin license revenue was a greater percent of total revenue. The decrease in service gross profit as a percentage of service revenue resulted primarily from a change in mix of labor resources.

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Operating expenses

Sales and marketing

Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of:

We allocate certain costs of sales and marketing to cost of service revenue when they relate directly to our service contracts. For direct billable labor hours, we allocate to cost of service revenue:

We record all remaining, or “residual,” costs as sales and marketing costs.

The increases in sales and marketing expense resulted primarily from:

We anticipate that we will continue to incur sales and marketing costs similar to existing levels to support ongoing sales initiatives.

Research, development and engineering

Research, development and engineering expenses arise primarily from three areas that support our business model:

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Research, development and engineering expenses consist primarily of: