Legal Proceedings

3 Months Ended

Oct. 03, 2025

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Legal Proceedings

Legal Proceedings

Intellectual Property Litigation

On September 28, 2016, SPEX Technologies, Inc. (“SPEX”) filed a lawsuit in the Central District Court against the Company and two of the Company’s current or former wholly-owned subsidiaries, Western Digital Technologies, Inc. and HGST Inc., alleging infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,088,802 and 6,003,135, both of which allegedly relate to moving a security mechanism (e.g., the encrypting/decrypting mechanism) from a host computer or a separate device to a peripheral device that provides data storage. As the case progressed, SPEX dismissed its allegations relating to U.S. Patent No. 6,003,135 and narrowed its case to one claim related to U.S. Patent No. 6,088,802 and asserted this against certain HDD products that may include certain encryption capabilities. The trial commenced on October 8, 2024, and concluded on October 18, 2024, and the jury awarded SPEX damages of $316 million for the use of one claim related to U.S. Patent No. 6,088,802 in the past, prior to its expiration in 2017. On January 8, 2025, the Court entered judgment for SPEX in accordance with the verdict and also awarded SPEX prejudgment interest of $237 million and legal costs. On June 16, 2025, the Court ruled on the Company’s post-trial motions, finding that SPEX did not present sufficient evidence on which a damages award could be determined and therefore awarded nominal damages of $1. On June 27, 2025, the Court entered an amended judgment awarding SPEX nominal damages of $1 with no prejudgment interest and no legal costs. The Company has appealed the infringement finding, and SPEX has appealed damages-related issues. Based on available appellate arguments, the Company believes a loss is not probable and has not accrued a liability as a result of the jury verdict or the entry of amended judgment in its financial statements as of October 3, 2025.

Other Matters

In the normal course of business, the Company is subject to legal proceedings, lawsuits and other claims. Although the ultimate aggregate amount of reasonably possible monetary liability or financial impact with respect to these other matters is subject to many uncertainties, management believes that any monetary liability or financial impact to the Company from these matters, individually and in the aggregate, would not be material to the Company’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. However, any monetary liability and financial impact to the Company from these matters could differ materially from management’s expectations.

The ability to predict the ultimate outcome of any legal proceeding involves judgments, estimates and inherent uncertainties. The actual outcome of these matters could differ materially from management’s estimates.