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Contingencies
6 Months Ended
Apr. 30, 2015
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Contingencies
Contingencies

On or about November 11, 2014, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care (JJVC) filed an action in the district court of Dusseldorf, Germany, against CooperVision GmbH and CooperVision, Inc. (collectively “CooperVision”) for patent infringement. In the action, JJVC alleges that certain CooperVision products infringe JJVC’s European Patent No. EP 1 754 728 B1, and is seeking damages and to enjoin these products from selling in Germany. CooperVision is challenging the validity of the patent before the European Patent Office.

The European Patent Office has set its matter on the issue of validity of the JJVC patent for hearing to begin on July 14, 2015. The German district court has set its matter on CooperVision’s alleged infringement of the JJVC patent for trial on August 18, 2015.

CooperVision denies JJVC’s allegations of infringement and intends to defend the action vigorously and to continue its challenge to the patent before the European Patent Office. We are not in a position to assess whether any loss or adverse effect on our financial condition is probable or remote or to estimate the range of potential loss, if any.

During the period from March 2015 through May 2015, over 50 putative class action complaints were filed by contact lens consumers alleging that contact lens manufacturers, in conjunction with their respective Unilateral Pricing Policy (UPP), conspired to reach agreements between each other and certain distributors and retailers regarding the prices at which certain contact lenses could be sold to consumers. The plaintiffs are seeking damages against CooperVision, Inc., other contact lens manufacturers, distributors and retailers, in various courts around the United States. Motions to consolidate the cases are pending. CooperVision denies the allegations and intends to defend the actions vigorously. We are not in a position to assess whether any loss or adverse effect on our financial condition is probable or remote or to estimate the range of potential loss, if any.