11. Commitments and Contingencies

Litigation

IPO Allocation Case

Beginning on July 2, 2001, several purported class action complaints were filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the Company and several of its officers and directors (the “Individual Defendants”) and the underwriters for the Company’s initial public offering on October 21, 1999. Some of the complaints also include the underwriters for the Company’s follow-on offering on March 14, 2000. An amended complaint, which is the operative complaint, was filed on April 19, 2002 on behalf of persons who purchased the Company’s common stock between October 21, 1999 and December 6, 2000. The amended complaint alleges claims against the Company, several of the Individual Defendants and the underwriters for violations under Sections 11 and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), primarily based on the assertion that the Company’s lead underwriters, the Company and several of the Individual Defendants made material false and misleading statements in the Company’s Registration Statements and Prospectuses filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, in October 1999 and March 2000 because of the failure to disclose (a) the alleged solicitation and receipt of excessive and undisclosed commissions by the underwriters in connection with the allocation of shares of common stock to certain investors in the Company’s public offerings and (b) that certain of the underwriters allegedly had entered into agreements with investors whereby underwriters agreed to allocate the public offering shares in exchange for which the investors agreed to make additional purchases of stock in the aftermarket at pre-determined prices. It also alleges claims against the Company, the Individual Defendants and the underwriters under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), primarily based on the assertion that the Company’s lead underwriters, the Company and the Individual Defendants defrauded investors by participating in a fraudulent scheme and by making materially false and misleading statements and omissions of material fact during the period in question. The amended complaint seeks damages in an unspecified amount.

The action against the Company is being coordinated with approximately three hundred other nearly identical actions filed against other companies. Due to the large number of nearly identical actions, the court has ordered the parties to select up to twenty “test” cases. The Company’s case has been selected as one such test case. As a result, among other things, the Company will be subject to broader discovery obligations and expenses in the litigation than non-test case issuer defendants.

On October 9, 2002, the court dismissed the Individual Defendants from the case without prejudice. This dismissal disposed of the Section 15 and Section 20(a) claims without prejudice, because these claims were asserted only against the Individual Defendants. On October 13, 2004, the court denied the certification of a class in the action against the Company with respect to the Section 11 claims alleging that the defendants made material false and misleading statements in the Company’s Registration Statement and Prospectuses. The certification was denied because no class representative purchased shares between the date of the IPO and January 19, 2000 (the date unregistered shares entered the market), and thereafter suffered a loss on the sale of those shares. The court certified a class in the action against the Company with respect to the Section 10(b) claims alleging that the Company and the Individual Defendants defrauded investors by participating in a fraudulent scheme and by making materially false and misleading statements and omissions of material fact during the period in question. On December 5, 2006, the Second Circuit vacated the district court’s class certification decision. On April 6, 2007, the Second Circuit panel denied a petition for rehearing filed by the plaintiffs, but noted that the plaintiffs could ask the district court to certify a more narrow class than the one that was rejected.

On August 14, 2007, the plaintiffs filed a Second Amended Class Action complaint against the Company. The Company and the underwriters filed separate motions to dismiss the amended complaint on November 14, 2007. On March 26, 2008, the Court denied the motion to dismiss the Section 10(b) claims but dismissed certain Section 11 claims against the Company. On June 5, 2008, the Court dismissed the remaining Section 11 claims against the Company in response to a motion for partial reconsideration.

The parties in the approximately 300 coordinated cases, including the Company’s case, reached a settlement. The insurers for the issuer defendants in the coordinated cases will make the settlement payment on behalf of the issuers, including the Company. On October 5, 2009, the Court granted final approval of the settlement. The settlement approval was appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. One appeal was dismissed and the second appeal was remanded to the district court to determine if the appellant was a class member with standing to appeal. The district court ruled that the appellant has no standing to object to the settlement. The appellant has appealed the district court’s decision. On October 25, 2011, plaintiff/appellees filed a motion to dismiss the appellant objector’s appeal and have requested that the Second Circuit consider the motion on an expedited basis.

Due to the inherent uncertainties of litigation, the Company cannot accurately predict the ultimate outcome of the matter. If the settlement does not survive appeal, the litigation continues, and the Company is found liable, the Company is unable to estimate or predict the potential damages that might be awarded, whether such damages would be greater than the Company’s insurance coverage, and whether such damages would have a material impact on our results of operations or financial condition in any future period.

Derivative Lawsuits

In October 2007, a purported Sycamore Networks, Inc. stockholder filed a complaint for violation of Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which prohibits short-swing trading, against the Company’s Initial Public Offering underwriters. The complaint, Vanessa Simmonds v. Morgan Stanley, et al., in the District Court for the Western District of Washington (“District Court”) seeks recovery of short-swing profits. On April 28, 2008, the district court established a briefing schedule for motions to dismiss and ruled that all discovery be stayed pending resolution of the motions to dismiss. The District Court found the motions appropriate for oral argument which was held on January 6, 2009. On March 16, 2009, the District Court issued an order dismissing the case. On March 31, 2009, the plaintiff appealed. On December 2, 2010, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court’s decision to dismiss the moving issuers’ cases (including the Company’s) on the grounds that plaintiff’s demand letters were insufficient to put the issuers on notice of the claims asserted against them and further ordered that the dismissals be made with prejudice. The Ninth Circuit, however, reversed and remanded the District Court’s decision on the underwriters’ motion to dismiss as to the claims arising from the non-moving issuers’ IPOs, finding plaintiff’s claims were not time-barred under the applicable statute of limitations. In remanding, the Ninth Circuit advised the non-moving issuers and underwriters to file in the District Court the same challenges to plaintiff’s demand letters that moving issuers had filed.

On December 16, 2010, the underwriters filed a petition for panel rehearing and petition for rehearing en banc. Appellant Vanessa Simmonds also filed a petition for rehearing en banc. On January 18, 2011, the Ninth Circuit denied the petition for rehearing and petitions for rehearing en banc. It further ordered that no further petitions for rehearing may be filed.

On January 24, 2011, the underwriters filed a motion to stay the issuance of the Ninth Circuit’s mandate in the cases involving the non-moving issuers. On January 25, 2011, the Ninth Circuit granted the underwriters’ motion and ordered that the mandate in the cases involving the non-moving issuers is stayed for ninety days pending the filing of a petition for writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court. Appellant Vanessa Simmonds moved to join the underwriters’ motion and requested the Ninth Circuit stay the mandate in all cases. On January 26, 2011, the Ninth Circuit granted Appellant’s motion and ruled that the mandate in all cases (including the Company’s and other moving issuers) is stayed for ninety days. On April 5, 2011, Appellant filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court seeking reversal of the Ninth Circuit’s December 2, 2010 decision. On April 15, 2011, the underwriters filed a petition for writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking reversal of the Ninth Circuit’s December 2, 2010 decision relating to the statute of limitations issue. On June 27, 2011, the Supreme Court denied Simmonds’ petition regarding the demand issue and granted the underwriters’ petition relating to the statute of limitations issue. The statute of limitations issue has been fully briefed and the Supreme Court has set oral argument for November 29, 2011.

The Company is named as a nominal defendant. No recovery is sought from the Company in this matter.

Other Matters

From time to time the Company is a party to litigation and other disputes which it considers routine and incidental to its business. Our management does not expect the results of any of these actions to have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, results of operations or financial condition.

Guarantees

As of October 29, 2011, the Company’s guarantees requiring disclosure consist of its accrued warranty obligations, indemnifications for intellectual property infringement claims and indemnifications for officers and directors.

In the normal course of business, the Company may also agree to indemnify other parties, including customers, lessors and parties to other transactions with the Company with respect to certain matters. The Company has agreed to hold these other parties harmless against losses arising from a breach of representations or covenants, 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. It is not possible to determine the maximum potential amount under these indemnification agreements due to the limited history of prior indemnification claims and the unique facts and circumstances involved in each particular agreement. Historically, payments made by the Company under these agreements have not had a material impact on the Company’s operating results or financial position. Accordingly, the Company has not recorded a liability for these agreements at October 29, 2011 or July 31, 2011 as the Company believes the fair value is not material.

The Company has agreed to indemnify its officers and directors for certain events or occurrences arising as a result of the officer or director serving in such capacity. The maximum potential amount of future payments the Company could be required to make under these indemnification agreements is not limited; however, the Company maintains liability insurance coverage that may enable the Company to recover all or a portion of any future amounts paid. The Company did not incur any expense under these arrangements in the first quarter of fiscal year 2012 or fiscal year 2011. Due to the Company’s inability to estimate liabilities in connection with these agreements, if and when they might be incurred, the Company has not recorded any liability for these agreements at October 29, 2011 or July 31, 2011.

Warranty Liability

The following table summarizes the activity related to product warranty liability (in thousands):


	Three Months Ended
	October 29, 2011			October 30, 2010

Beginning balance	$	1,140		$	1,720
Accruals /adjustments		69			57
Settlements		(73	)		(97	)

Ending balance	$	1,136		$	1,680