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Commitments and Contingencies
6 Months Ended
Jul. 31, 2014
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies
Commitments and Contingencies

Indemnifications

Our license and services agreements generally include a limited indemnification provision for claims from third parties relating to our intellectual property (IP). The indemnification is generally limited to the amount paid by the customer, a multiple of the amount paid by the customer, or a set cap. As of July 31, 2014, we were not aware of any material liabilities arising from these indemnification obligations.

Legal Proceedings

From time to time, we are involved in various disputes and litigation matters that arise in the ordinary course of business. These include disputes and lawsuits relating to IP rights, contracts, distributorships, and employee relations matters. Periodically, we review the status of various disputes and litigation matters and assess our potential exposure. When we consider the potential loss from any dispute or legal matter probable and the amount or the range of loss can be estimated, we will accrue a liability for the estimated loss. Legal proceedings are subject to uncertainties, and the outcomes are difficult to predict. Because of such uncertainties, we base accruals on the best information available at the time. As additional information becomes available, we reassess the potential liability related to pending claims and litigation matters and may revise estimates. We believe that the outcome of current litigation, individually and in the aggregate, will not have a material effect on our results of operations.

In some instances, we are unable to reasonably estimate any potential loss or range of loss. The nature and progression of litigation can make it difficult to predict the impact a particular lawsuit will have. There are many reasons that we cannot make these assessments, including, among others, one or more of the following: the early stages of a proceeding; damages sought that are unspecific, unsupportable, unexplained or uncertain; discovery not having been started or incomplete; the complexity of the facts that are in dispute; the difficulty of assessing novel claims; the parties not having engaged in any meaningful settlement discussions; the possibility that other parties may share in any ultimate liability; and/or the often slow pace of litigation.

In December 2012, Synopsys, Inc. (Synopsys) filed a lawsuit claiming patent infringement against us in federal district court in the Northern District of California, alleging that our Veloce® family of products infringes on four Synopsys United States patents. On May 2, 2013, Synopsys also filed a claim against us in federal district court in Oregon, similarly alleging that our Veloce family of products infringes on two additional Synopsys United States patents. The California case seeks compensatory damages relating to our emulation and field programmable gate arrays synthesis products; Synopsys' Oregon claims have been dismissed.

We believe these actions were filed in response to patent lawsuits we filed in 2010 and 2012 against Emulation and Verification Engineering S.A. and EVE-USA, Inc. (together EVE), which Synopsys acquired in October 2012. Our litigation, which now alleges that EVE's Zebu emulation products infringe on one of our United States patents, was filed against EVE in federal district court in Oregon. We also filed a patent lawsuit against EVE in Tokyo district court. Our lawsuits in Oregon and Japan seek compensatory damages and an injunction against the sale of EVE emulation products. The Oregon litigation currently is scheduled for trial in September 2014, with the Japanese litigation scheduled for trial in October 2014. The California litigation is scheduled for trial in January 2015. We do not have sufficient information upon which to determine that a loss in connection with this matter is probable, reasonably possible, or estimable, and thus no liability has been established nor has a range of loss been disclosed.