NOTE 8. Commitments and Contingencies

Intellectual Property Indemnification Obligations

The Company has entered into agreements with customers that include limited intellectual property indemnification obligations that are customary in the industry. These guarantees generally require the Company to compensate the other party for certain damages and costs incurred as a result of third party intellectual property claims arising from these transactions. The nature of the intellectual property indemnification obligations prevents the Company from making a reasonable estimate of the maximum potential amount it could be required to pay to its customers. Historically, the Company has not made any indemnification payments under such agreements and no amount has been accrued in the accompanying consolidated financial statements with respect to these indemnification guarantees.

Warranty Reserves

The Company generally provides a warranty on its products for a period of 12 to 15 months against defects in material and workmanship. The Company estimates the costs that may be incurred during the warranty period and records a liability in the amount of such costs at the time revenue is recognized. The Company’s estimate is based primarily on historical experience. The Company periodically assesses the adequacy of its recorded warranty liabilities and adjusts the amounts as necessary. Settlements of warranty reserves are generally associated with sales that occurred during the 12 to 15 months prior to the quarter-end and warranty accruals are related to sales during the same year.

Changes in the Company’s warranty reserves are as follows:

	Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2017			2016
Balance, beginning of the period	$	1,788		$	1,894
Accruals		2,511			2,076
Usage		(2,025	)		(1,958	)
Balance, end of the period	$	2,274		$	2,012

Warranty reserves are reported in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets within the caption “Accounts payable and accrued liabilities.”

Legal Matters

From time to time, the Company is subject to legal proceedings and claims in the ordinary course of business. The following reflects an overview of the material activities with regard to these matters through September 30, 2017.

On July 28, 2017, Rudolph and Camtek entered into a Settlement Agreement (the “Agreement”) resolving each of the three litigations referenced below (the “Litigations”).

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August Technology Corporation and Rudolph Technologies, Inc. v. Camtek, Ltd., No. 11-CV-03707 (MJD/TNL): A lawsuit against Camtek, Ltd. (“Camtek”), of Migdal Hamek, Israel, was filed by the Company on June 1, 2011 alleging infringement of its U.S. Patent No. 7,729,528 related to its proprietary continuous scan wafer inspection technology. The relief sought in the lawsuit includes the payment of damages and a permanent injunction against any products found to be infringing.

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Rudolph Technologies, Inc. v. Camtek, Ltd., No. 15-CV-1246 (ADM/BRT): On March 12, 2015, the Company filed and served on Camtek a complaint asserting infringement of Rudolph’s U.S. Patent No. 6,826,298 by Camtek’s Eagle product with the U.S. District Court in Minnesota. The ‘6,298 patent is also related to our proprietary continuous scan wafer inspection technology and was the subject of Rudolph’s prior litigation against the Camtek Falcon system (the “Falcon Litigation”) in which Rudolph prevailed with a final judgment of infringement and damages of $14.6 million assessed against Camtek. The relief sought in the lawsuit includes the payment of damages and a permanent injunction against any products found to be infringing.

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Camtek, Ltd. v. Rudolph Technologies, Inc., No.: 1:17-CV-11127-PBS: On June 19, 2017, Camtek filed with the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts and served on Rudolph a complaint alleging infringement by Rudolph’s NSX product of Camtek’s U.S. Patent No. 6,192,289 related to kerf inspection. The relief sought in the lawsuit includes the payment of damages and a permanent injunction against any products found to be infringing.

Pursuant to the Agreement, in exchange for a $13.0 million cash payment from Camtek to be paid to Rudolph, the parties each agreed to dismiss with prejudice and release the other party from all claims, damages and expenses incurred or raised in the Litigations. The parties also mutually agreed not to pursue further legal actions on any of the claims reflected in the patents which were the subject of the Litigations. Further, subject to limited exceptions, Rudolph and Camtek have agreed not to bring suit against each other for a three year period from the date of the Agreement. Each party expressly denies any liability to the other party with respect to any of the Litigations. The $13.0 million cash payment was received by the Company in October 2017 and the Company subsequently remitted $2.3 million of withholding tax to the Israel Tax Authority associated with the settlement and the prior year patent litigation judgment.

Line of Credit

The Company has a credit agreement with a bank that provides for a line of credit which is secured by the marketable securities the Company has with the bank. The Company is permitted to borrow up to 70% of the value of eligible securities held at the time the line of credit is accessed. The available line of credit as of September 30, 2017 was approximately $84 million with an available interest rate of 2.8%. The credit agreement is available to the Company until such time that either party terminates the arrangement at their discretion. The Company has not utilized the line of credit to date.