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Legal Proceedings
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2012
Legal Proceedings [Abstract]  
Legal Proceedings
 
7.
Legal Proceedings

The Company and its subsidiaries are involved in various lawsuits, claims, investigations and  proceedings including commercial, employment, consumer, personal injury and health and safety law matters, which are being handled and defended in the ordinary course of business.  In addition, the Company is subject to various lawsuits, claims, proceedings and requests for indemnification concerning intellectual property, including patent infringement suits involving technologies that are incorporated in a broad spectrum of products the Company sells or which are utilized in our ecommerce business. The Company is also audited by (or has initiated voluntary disclosure agreements with) numerous governmental agencies in various countries, including U.S. Federal and state authorities, concerning potential income tax, sales tax and unclaimed property liabilities. These matters are in various stages of investigation, negotiation and/or litigation, and are being vigorously defended. Results for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 were positively impacted by approximately $2.6 million related to the favorable resolution of contingent liabilities which were recorded in the second quarter of 2012 and negatively impacted by $1.7 million of patent claim settlements with non practicing entities which were recorded in the third quarter of 2012.
 
Although the Company does not expect, based on currently available information, that the outcome in any of these matters, individually or collectively, will have a material adverse effect on its financial condition or results of operations, the ultimate outcome is inherently unpredictable.  Therefore, judgments could be rendered or settlements entered, that could adversely affect the Company's operating results or cash flows in a particular period.  The Company routinely assesses all of its litigation and threatened litigation as to the probability of ultimately incurring a liability, and records its best estimate of the ultimate loss in situations where it assesses the likelihood of loss as probable and estimable.