disputes between us and our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or employees.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for the following types of actions or proceedings under Delaware statutory or common law:
● any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf;
● any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee to us or our stockholders;
● any action asserting a claim against us arising under the Delaware General Corporation Law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws; and
● any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal-affairs doctrine.
This provision would not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act. Furthermore, Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all such Securities Act actions. Accordingly, both state and federal courts have jurisdiction to entertain such claims. To prevent having to litigate claims in multiple jurisdictions and the threat of inconsistent or contrary rulings by different courts, among other considerations, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. While the Delaware courts have determined that such choice of forum provisions are facially valid, a stockholder may nevertheless seek to bring a claim in a venue other than those designated in the exclusive forum provisions. In such instance, we would expect to vigorously assert the validity and enforceability of the exclusive forum provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. This may require significant additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions and there can be no assurance that the provisions will be enforced by a court in those other jurisdictions.
These exclusive forum provisions may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits against us and our directors, officers, and other employees. If a court were to find either exclusive-forum provision in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur further significant additional costs associated with resolving the dispute in other jurisdictions, all of which could seriously harm our business.
General Risk Factors
Unfavorable economic and market conditions and the COVID-19 pandemic, domestically and internationally, may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
We have significant customer sales both in the United States and internationally. We also rely on domestic and international suppliers, manufacturing partners and distributors. We are therefore susceptible to adverse U.S. and international economic and market conditions. If any of our manufacturing partners, customers, distributors or suppliers experience slowdowns in their business, serious financial difficulties or cease operations, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, our business will be adversely affected. In addition, the adverse impact of general economic factors that are beyond our control, including, but not limited to, housing markets, recession, inflation, deflation, consumer credit activity, consumer debt levels, fuel and energy costs, interest rates, bank failures, tax rates and policy, unemployment trends, potential industry downturn, the impact of natural disasters such as pandemics, civil disturbances, terrorist activities and acts of war, including the military conflict in Ukraine, may adversely impact consumer spending, which may adversely impact our customers’ spending and demand for our products. As an example, in the United States, capital markets have experienced and continue to experience volatility and disruption. Furthermore, inflation rates in the United States have recently increased to levels not seen in decades resulting in federal action to increase interest rates, affecting capital markets. In addition to the foregoing, adverse developments that affect financial institutions, transactional counterparties or other third parties, such as bank failures, or concerns or speculation about any similar events or risks, could lead to market-wide liquidity problems, which in turn may cause third parties, including customers, to become unable to meet their obligations under various types of financial arrangements as well as general disruptions or instability in the financial markets. Additionally, the military conflict in Ukraine and escalating geopolitical tensions resulting from such conflict have resulted and may continue to result in sanctions, tariffs, and import-export restrictions which, when combined with retaliatory actions taken by Russia, could cause further inflationary pressures and economic