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Commitments and Contingencies
6 Months Ended
Jun. 03, 2011
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
 
Lease Commitments
We occupy three office buildings in San Jose, California where our corporate headquarters are located. We reference these office buildings as the Almaden Tower and the East and West Towers.
In August 2004, we extended the lease agreement for our East and West Towers for an additional five years with an option to extend for an additional five years solely at our election. In June 2009, we submitted notice to the lessor that we intended to exercise our option to renew this agreement for an additional five years effective August 2009. As stated in the original lease agreement, in conjunction with the lease renewal, we were required to obtain a standby letter of credit for approximately $16.5 million which enabled us to secure a lower interest rate and reduce the number of covenants. As defined in the lease agreement, the standby letter of credit primarily represents the lease investment equity balance which is callable in the event of default. In March 2007, the Almaden Tower lease was extended for five years, with a renewal option for an additional five years solely at our election. As part of the lease extensions, we purchased the lease receivable from the lessor of the East and West Towers for $126.8 million and a portion of the lease receivable from the lessor of the Almaden Tower for $80.4 million, both of which are recorded as investments in lease receivables on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. As of June 3, 2011, the carrying value of the lease receivables related to all three towers approximated fair value. This purchase may be credited against the residual value guarantee if we purchase the properties or will be repaid from the sale proceeds if the properties are sold to third-parties. Under the agreement for the East and West Towers and the agreement for the Almaden Tower, we have the option to purchase the buildings at anytime during the lease term for approximately $143.2 million and $103.6 million, respectively. The residual value guarantees under the East and West Towers and the Almaden Tower obligations are $126.8 million and $89.4 million, respectively.
These two leases are both subject to standard covenants including certain financial ratios that are reported to the lessors quarterly. As of June 3, 2011, we were in compliance with all of the covenants. In the case of a default, the lessor may demand we purchase the buildings for an amount equal to the lease balance, or require that we remarket or relinquish the buildings. Both leases qualify for operating lease accounting treatment and, as such, the buildings and the related obligations are not included on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. We utilized this type of financing in order to access bank-provided funding at the most favorable rates and to provide the lowest total cost of occupancy for the headquarter buildings. At the end of the lease term, we can extend the lease for an additional five year term, purchase the buildings for the lease balance, remarket or relinquish the buildings. If we choose to remarket or are required to do so upon relinquishing the buildings, we are bound to arrange the sale of the buildings to an unrelated party and will be required to pay the lessor any shortfall between the net remarketing proceeds and the lease balance, up to the residual value guarantee amount.
In June 2010, we entered into a sale-leaseback agreement to sell equipment totaling $32.2 million and leaseback the same equipment over a period of 43 months. This transaction was classified as a capital lease obligation and recorded at fair value. See Note 15 for further discussion of our capital lease obligation.
Guarantees
The lease agreements for our corporate headquarters provide for residual value guarantees as noted above. The fair value of a residual value guarantee in lease agreements entered into after December 31, 2002, must be recognized as a liability on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. As such, we recognized $5.2 million and $3.0 million in liabilities, related to the extended East and West Towers and Almaden Tower leases, respectively. These liabilities are recorded in other long-term liabilities with the offsetting entry recorded as prepaid rent in other assets. The balance will be amortized to the income statement over the life of the leases. As of June 3, 2011 and December 3, 2010, the unamortized portion of the fair value of the residual value guarantees, for both leases, remaining in other long-term liabilities and prepaid rent was $0.4 million and $0.7 million, respectively.
Royalties
We have royalty commitments associated with the shipment and licensing of certain products. Royalty expense is generally based on a dollar amount per unit shipped or a percentage of the underlying revenue.
Indemnifications
In the ordinary course of business, we provide indemnifications of varying scope to customers against claims of intellectual property infringement made by third parties arising from the use of our products. Historically, costs related to these indemnification provisions have not been significant and we are unable to estimate the maximum potential impact of these indemnification provisions on our future results of operations.
To the extent permitted under Delaware law, we have agreements whereby we indemnify our officers and directors for certain events or occurrences while the officer or director is or was serving at our request in such capacity. The indemnification period covers all pertinent events and occurrences during the officer's or director's lifetime. The maximum potential amount of future payments we could be required to make under these indemnification agreements is unlimited; however, we have director and officer insurance coverage that reduces our exposure and enables us to recover a portion of any future amounts paid. We believe the estimated fair value of these indemnification agreements in excess of applicable insurance coverage is minimal.
Legal Proceedings
In October 2009, Eolas Technologies Incorporated filed a complaint against us and 22 other companies for patent infringement in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The complaint alleges, among other things, that a number of our Web pages and products infringe two patents owned by the plaintiff purporting to cover “Distributed Hypermedia Method for Automatically Invoking External Application Providing Interaction and Display of Embedded Objects within a Hypermedia Document” (U.S. Patent No. 5,838,906) and “Distributed Hypermedia Method and System for Automatically Invoking External Application Providing Interaction and Display of Embedded Objects within a Hypermedia Document” (U.S. Patent No. 7,599,985) and seeks injunctive relief, monetary damages, costs and attorneys' fees. We dispute these claims and intend to vigorously defend ourselves in this matter. As of June 3, 2011, we have not made any provisions on our financial statements related to this lawsuit, as we do not believe a loss to be probable or estimable at this time. The trial is currently scheduled to be held in October 2011.
In connection with our anti-piracy efforts, conducted both internally and through organizations such as the Business Software Alliance, from time to time we undertake litigation against alleged copyright infringers. Such lawsuits may lead to counter-claims alleging improper use of litigation or violation of other laws. We believe we have valid defenses with respect to such counter-claims; however, it is possible that our consolidated financial position, cash flows or results of operations could be affected in any particular period by the resolution of one or more of these counter-claims.
We are subject to legal proceedings, claims and investigations in the ordinary course of business, including claims of alleged infringement of third-party patents and other intellectual property rights, indemnification claims, and claims relating to commercial, employment and other matters. We make a provision for a liability when it is both probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. These provisions are reviewed at least quarterly and adjusted to reflect the impacts of negotiations, settlements, rulings, advice of legal counsel and other information and events pertaining to a particular case. All legal costs associated with litigation are expensed as incurred. Litigation is inherently unpredictable. However, we believe that we have valid defenses with respect to the legal matters pending against us. It is possible, nevertheless, that our consolidated financial position, cash flows or results of operations could be negatively affected by an unfavorable resolution of one or more of such proceedings, claims or investigations.