CONTINGENCIES (Notes)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments

We entered into a long-term agreement to purchase a variety of information technology solutions from a third party in the second quarter of 2020, which included an unconditional commitment to purchase a minimum of $32.2 million of products and services over the initial five years of the agreement. We have purchased $0.6 million of products and services pursuant to this agreement as of September 30, 2020.

We have letters of credit that are used as security deposits in connection with our leased Burlington, Massachusetts office space. In the event of default on the underlying leases, the landlords would, at September 30, 2020, be eligible to draw against the letters of credit to a maximum of $1.3 million in the aggregate. The letters of credit are subject to aggregate reductions provided that we are not in default under the underlying leases and meet certain financial performance conditions. In no case will the letters of credit amounts for the Burlington leases be reduced to below $1.2 million in the aggregate throughout the lease periods.

We also have letters of credit in connection with security deposits for other facility leases totaling $0.6 million in the aggregate, as well as letters of credit totaling $1.9 million that otherwise support our ongoing operations. These letters of credit have various terms and expire during 2020 and beyond, while some of the letters of credit may automatically renew based on the terms of the underlying agreements.

Substantially all of our letters of credit are collateralized by restricted cash included in the caption “Restricted cash” and “Other long-term assets” on our condensed consolidated balance sheets as of September 30, 2020.

Contingencies

Our industry is characterized by the existence of a large number of patents and frequent claims and litigation regarding patent and other intellectual property rights. In addition to the legal proceedings described above, we are involved in legal proceedings from time to time arising from the normal course of business activities, including claims of alleged infringement of intellectual property rights and contractual, commercial, employee relations, product or service performance, or other matters. We do not believe these matters will have a material adverse effect on our financial position or results of operations. However, the outcome of legal proceedings and claims brought against us is subject to significant

uncertainty. Therefore, our financial position or results of operations may be negatively affected by the unfavorable resolution of one or more of these proceedings for the period in which a matter is resolved. Our results could be materially adversely affected if we are accused of, or found to be, infringing third parties’ intellectual property rights.

Following the termination of our former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer on February 25, 2018, we received a notice alleging that we breached the former executive’s employment agreement. On April 16, 2019 we received an additional notice again alleging we breached the former executive’s employment agreement. We have since been in communications with our former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer’s counsel. While we intend to defend any claim vigorously, when and if a claim is actually filed, we are currently unable to estimate an amount or range of any reasonably possible losses that could occur as a result of this matter.

On July 14, 2020, we sent a notice to a customer demanding sums that we believe are due to Avid pursuant to a contract. On October 7, 2020, the customer sent a notice to us denying any legal liability and demanding payment for breach of contract resulting from various alleged delays by us. While we intend to defend any claim vigorously when and if a claim is actually filed, we are currently unable to estimate an amount or range of any reasonably possible losses that could occur related to this matter.

We consider all claims on a quarterly basis and based on known facts assess whether potential losses are considered reasonably possible, probable, and estimable. Based upon this assessment, we then evaluate disclosure requirements and whether to accrue for such claims in our condensed consolidated financial statements. We record 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.

At September 30, 2020 and as of the date of filing of these condensed consolidated financial statements, we believe that, other than as set forth in this note, no provision for liability nor disclosure is required related to any claims because: (a) there is no reasonable possibility that a loss exceeding amounts already recognized (if any) may be incurred with respect to such claim, (b) a reasonably possible loss or range of loss cannot be estimated, or (c) such estimate is immaterial.

Additionally, we provide indemnification to certain customers for losses incurred in connection with intellectual property infringement claims brought by third parties with respect to our products. These indemnification provisions generally offer perpetual coverage for infringement claims based upon the products covered by the agreement and the maximum potential amount of future payments we could be required to make under these indemnification provisions is theoretically unlimited. To date, we have not incurred material costs related to these indemnification provisions; accordingly, we believe the estimated fair value of these indemnification provisions is immaterial. Further, certain of our arrangements with customers include clauses whereby we may be subject to penalties for failure to meet certain performance obligations; however, we have not recorded any related material penalties to date.

We provide warranties on externally sourced and internally developed hardware. For internally developed hardware, and in cases where the warranty granted to customers for externally sourced hardware is greater than that provided by the manufacturer, we record an accrual for the related liability based on historical trends and actual material and labor costs. The following table sets forth the activity in the product warranty accrual account for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 (in thousands):


	Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2020		2019
Accrual balance at beginning of year	$	1,337	$	1,706
Accruals for product warranties	1,030		732
Costs of warranty claims	(1,003)		(1,016)
Accrual balance at end of period	$	1,364	$	1,422

The warranty accrual is included in the caption “accrued expenses and other current liabilities” in our condensed consolidated balance sheet.