S- I/A software providers and traditional advertising solutions, as well as with delivery service providers. For instance, Square Capital competes with other providers of financing to small and medium-sized businesses, including traditional banks, MCA providers, and newer lending models. We believe that the principal methods of competition in the market for financing are ease of process to apply for a loan, brand recognition and trust, loan features, transparent terms, effectiveness of customer acquisition, and customer experience. We believe Square Capital competes favorably with other offerings on the basis of these factors. However, many of our competitors have more financial resources and access to capital, offer a wider variety of credit products, and have larger borrower bases. We expect the markets for payments and POS services, financial services, and marketing services to evolve and overlap. which we expect will increase competition in our industry. Intellectual Property We seek to protect our intellectual property rights by relying on a combination of federal, state, and common law rights in the United States and other countries, as well as on contractual measures. It is our practice to enter into confidentiality, non-disclosure, and invention assignment agreements with our employees and contractors, and into confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements with other third parties, in order to limit access to, and disclosure and use of, our confidential information and proprietary technology. In addition to these contractual measures, we also rely on a combination of trademarks, trade dress, copyrights, registered domain names, trade secrets, and patent rights to help protect our brand and our other intellectual property. 142 Table of Contents. We have developed a patent program and strategy to identify, apply for, and secure patents for innovative aspects of our products, services, and technologies where appropriate. As of September 30,