COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES |
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| Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES |
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Lease Commitments
We lease certain facilities under non-cancelable lease agreements and also have equipment leases for various types of office equipment. Some of the leases have renewal options ranging from one to ten years and others contain escalation clauses. These leases are operating leases.
Rent expense was $7.2 million in fiscal 2017, $6.6 million in fiscal 2016 and $7.0 million in fiscal 2015. Sublease income was $1.1 million in fiscal 2017, $0.6 million in fiscal 2016 and immaterial in fiscal 2015.
Future minimum lease payments and sublease income are as follows (in thousands):
Commitments to Purchase Inventory
We use contract manufacturers for our manufacturing operations. Under these arrangements, the contract manufacturer procures inventory to manufacture products based upon our forecast of customer demand. We have similar arrangements with certain other suppliers. We are responsible for the financial impact on the supplier or contract manufacturer of any reduction or product mix shift in the forecast relative to materials that the third party had already purchased under a prior forecast. Such a variance in forecasted demand could require a cash payment for inventory in excess of current customer demand or for costs of excess or obsolete inventory. As of March 31, 2017, we had issued non-cancelable commitments for $34.3 million to purchase inventory from our contract manufacturers and suppliers.
Legal Proceedings
Crossroads
On February 18, 2014, Crossroads Systems, Inc. (“Crossroads”) filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Quantum in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, alleging infringement of U.S. patents 6,425,035 and 7,934,041. An amended complaint filed on April 15, 2014 also alleged infringement of U.S. patent 7,051,147. Crossroads asserts that we have incorporated Crossroads' patented technology into our StorNext QX and Q-Series lines of disk array products and into our Scalar libraries. Crossroads seeks unspecified monetary damages and injunctive relief. Crossroads has already dismissed all claims of infringement with respect to the StorNext QX and Q-Series products. In July and September of 2014, we filed for inter partes review of all three asserted Crossroads patents before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and a review has been initiated for all claims. On June 16, 2015, the U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas stayed the Crossroads trial proceedings pending resolution of the inter partes review proceedings. On January 29, 2016, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board issued decisions on the inter partes reviews for U.S. patents 6,425,035 and 7,051,147, ordering all claims of both patents to be unpatentable. On March 17, 2016, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board issued a decision on the inter partes review for U.S. patent 7,934,041, ordering all claims to be unpatentable. On March 31, 2016, Crossroads filed Notices of Appeal in each of the inter partes review decisions. We believe the probability that this lawsuit will have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results or financial condition is remote.
Realtime Data
On July, 22 2016, Realtime Data LLC d/b/a IXO(“Realtime Data”) filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Quantum in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, alleging infringement of U.S. Patents Nos. 7,161,506, 7,378,992, 7,415,530, 8,643,513, 9,054,728, and 9,116,908. The lawsuit has been transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California for further proceedings. Realtime Data asserts that we have incorporated Realtime Data’s patented technology into our compression products and services. Realtime Data seeks unspecified monetary damages and other relief that the Court deems appropriate. We believe the probability that this lawsuit will have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results or financial condition is remote.
Indemnifications
We have certain financial guarantees, both express and implied, related to product liability and potential infringement of intellectual property. Other than certain product liabilities recorded as of March 31, 2017 and 2016, we did not record a liability associated with these guarantees, as we have little or no history of costs associated with such indemnification requirements. Contingent liabilities associated with product liability may be mitigated by insurance coverage that we maintain.
In the normal course of business to facilitate transactions of our services and products, we indemnify certain parties with respect to certain matters. We have agreed to hold certain parties harmless against losses arising from a breach of representations or covenants, or out of intellectual property infringement or other claims made against certain parties. These agreements may limit the time within which an indemnification claim can be made and the amount of the claim. In addition, we have entered into indemnification agreements with our officers and directors, and our bylaws contain similar indemnification obligations to our agents.
It is not possible to determine the maximum potential amount under these indemnification agreements due to the limited history of our indemnification claims and the unique facts and circumstances involved in each particular agreement. Historically, payments made by us under these agreements have not had a material impact on our operating results, financial position or cash flows.
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