Lawsuits, claims and proceedings of a nature considered normal to its businesses may be pending from time to time against the Company. Third parties might allege that the Company or its collaborators are infringing their patent rights or that the Company is otherwise violating their intellectual property rights. The Company believes the outcome of pending proceedings, individually and in the aggregate, will not have a material impact on the Company’s business or its consolidated financial statements.

In September 2019, Luxendo GmbH (“Luxendo”), a subsidiary of Bruker Corporation, was sued in Germany by Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH, a subsidiary of Carl Zeiss AG (“Zeiss”), for infringement of a registered German utility model. After the utility model was canceled by the German Patent and Trademark Office in 2021, Zeiss withdrew its infringement action at the end of 2022 and the proceedings were terminated. However, a parallel European patent application, a family member of the utility model, is still pending in the European Patent Office (“EPO”). The Company is closely monitoring progress in the granting procedure and does not believe that a grant is imminent. The Company is presently unable to predict the EPO’s final decision on the patent application.

At December 31, 2023 and 2022, no material accruals have been recorded for potential contingencies.

The Company is subject to regulation by national, state and local government agencies in the United States and other countries in which it operates. From time to time, the Company is the subject of governmental investigations often involving regulatory, marketing and other business practices. These governmental investigations may result in the commencement of civil and criminal proceedings, fines, penalties and administrative remedies which could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial position, results of operations and/or liquidity.

At December 31, 2023, and 2022, no material accruals have been recorded for potential contingencies related to these matters. The Company does not expect additional losses to be incurred in excess of the amounts accrued.

The Company has entered into unconditional purchase commitments, in the ordinary course of business, that include agreements to purchase goods, services or fixed assets and to pay royalties that are enforceable and legally binding and that specify all significant terms including: fixed or minimum quantities to be purchased; fixed, minimum or variable price provisions; and the approximate timing of the transaction. Purchase commitments exclude agreements that are cancelable at any time without penalty. The majority of these commitments are expected to be settled during 2024.

Unconditional purchase commitments that are fixed and determinable are as follows (in millions):


2024	$	375.1
2025		25.7
2026		0.7
2027		—
2028		—
Thereafter		9.4
Total	$	410.9

The Company has entered into license agreements allowing it to utilize certain patents. If these patents are used in connection with a commercial product sale, the Company pays royalties on the related product revenues. Licensing fees for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, were $7.5 million, $6.4 million and $5.8 million, respectively, and are recorded in cost of product revenue in the consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income.

At December 31, 2023, and 2022, the Company had bank guarantees of $153.6 million and $130.7 million, respectively, related primarily to customer advances. These arrangements guarantee the refund of advance payments received from customers in the event that the merchandise is not delivered, or warranty obligations are not fulfilled in compliance with the terms of the contract. These guarantees affect the availability of the Company’s lines of credit.

The Company enters into standard indemnification arrangements in the Company’s ordinary course of business. Pursuant to these arrangements, the Company indemnifies, holds harmless, and agrees to reimburse the indemnified parties for losses suffered or incurred by the indemnified party. These parties are generally the Company’s directors, officers, business partners or customers, in connection with any patent, or any copyright or other intellectual property infringement claim by any third party with respect to its products. The term of these indemnification agreements is generally perpetual any time after the execution of the agreement. The maximum potential amount of future payments the Company could be required to make under these agreements is unlimited. The Company believes the estimated fair value of these agreements is minimal based on historical experiences.