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Commitments and Contingencies
12 Months Ended
Jan. 31, 2015
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies
Commitments and Contingencies
Leases
We lease a majority of our field sales offices and research and development facilities under non-cancelable operating leases. In addition, we lease certain equipment used in our research and development and marketing and selling activities.
Rent expense under operating leases was as follows:
 
Year ended January 31,
2015
 
2014
 
2013
Rent expense
$
28,114

 
$
27,240

 
$
26,597



Future minimum lease payments under all non-cancelable operating leases are approximately as follows:
 
Fiscal years ending January 31,
Lease
Payments
2016
$
23,485

2017
15,755

2018
9,239

2019
5,527

2020
3,603

Thereafter
6,085

Total
$
63,694


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 January 31, 2015, we were not aware of any material liabilities arising from these indemnifications.
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 why 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 U.S. patents. In this case, Synopsys seeks compensatory damages relating to our emulation and field programmable gate arrays synthesis products. One of the Synopsys patents is now the subject of a review by the U.S. Patent Office, and was removed from the case pending the results of that review. In January 2015, the court issued a summary judgment order in our favor invalidating all asserted claims of the three remaining Synopsys patents.

In May 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 U.S. patents. These claims have been dismissed. We believe these lawsuits 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.

On October 10, 2014, the jury in our patent lawsuit filed in the federal district court for the District of Oregon found that one of our patents - U.S. Patent No. 6,240,376 - was directly and indirectly infringed by EVE and Synopsys. As part of the verdict, the jury awarded us damages of approximately $36 million as well as certain royalties. As of January 31, 2015, nothing has been included in our financial results for this award. Synopsys has announced that it intends to file an appeal.
On March 12, 2015, the Oregon court granted our request for a permanent injunction against future sales of Synopsys emulators containing infringing technology.

In December 2010, we filed a patent lawsuit against EVE in Tokyo district court, which seeks compensatory damages and an injunction against the sale of EVE emulation products. The technical trial for the Japanese litigation was held in October 2014, with the court expected to deliver a verdict in 2015.