Commitments and Contingencies |
9 Months Ended |
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Sep. 30, 2011 | |
| Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract] | |
| COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES |
NOTE 9—COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Legal Proceedings
The Company discloses material loss contingencies deemed to be reasonably possible and accrues
for loss contingencies when, in consultation with the Company’s legal advisors, the Company
concludes that a loss is probable and reasonably estimable. Except as otherwise indicated, the
possible losses relating to the matters described below are not reasonably estimable. The ability
to predict the ultimate outcome of such matters involves judgments, estimates and inherent
uncertainties. The actual outcome of such matters could differ materially from management’s
estimates.
Intellectual Property Litigation
During April 2010, Discus Dental LLC (“Discus”) and Zap Lasers LLC (“Zap”) filed a lawsuit
against the Company in the United States District Court for the Central District of California (the
“U.S. District Court”), related to the Company’s iLase diode laser. The lawsuit alleged claims for
patent infringement, federal unfair competition, common law trademark infringement and unfair
competition, fraud and violation of the California Unfair Trade Practices Act. In May 2010, Discus
and Zap filed a First Amended Complaint (the “Complaint”) which removed the allegations for fraud
as well as certain claims for trademark infringement and unfair competition. In July 2010, Discus
informed the U.S District Court that it had acquired Zap and requested that Zap be dropped as a
party to the lawsuit and Discus became the sole plaintiff in the suit. Discus was subsequently
acquired by Royal Philips Electronics N.V. (“Philips”) on October 11, 2010. Discus and Philips
settled all of their claims against the Company in June 2011 for a nominal amount. As a result,
the Complaint, as amended, filed with the U.S. District Court was dismissed in its entirety with
prejudice in July 2011.
Other Matters
In the normal course of business, the Company is subject to other legal proceedings, lawsuits
and other claims. Although the ultimate aggregate amount of probable monetary liability or
financial impact with respect to these matters is subject to many uncertainties and is therefore
not predictable with assurance, management believes that any monetary liability or financial impact
to the Company from these other matters, individually and in the aggregate, would not be material
to the Company’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. However, there can be
no assurance with respect to such result, and monetary liability or financial impact to the Company
from these other matters could differ materially from those projected.
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