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Contingencies
9 Months Ended
Jul. 31, 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” or “we”) for patent infringement. In the action, JJVC alleged that certain CooperVision products infringe JJVC’s European Patent No. EP 1 754 728 B1, and was seeking damages and to enjoin these products from selling in Germany. We were challenging the validity of the patent before the European Patent Office.

In July 2015, CooperVision made a one-time lump sum payment to JJVC of $17.0 million to settle our existing patent disputes. As a result of the settlement, we withdrew our opposition to the JJVC patent filed before the European Patent Office, and JJVC withdrew its complaint of infringement pending before the district court of Dusseldorf, Germany. The settlement included worldwide, non-exclusive, perpetual and royalty-free cross-licenses between the parties to certain patents including the JJVC patent referenced above. The settlement also included reciprocal covenants not to sue on those patents which were not licensed with respect to each party’s current, core commercialized product offerings, including all silicone hydrogel lenses. Neither party admitted any liability as part of the settlement.

Since March 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. In June 2015, all of the class action cases were consolidated and transferred to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. 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.