COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

6 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2020

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

NOTE 10 — COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Legal Matters

The Company is involved in various claims, suits, assessments, investigations, and legal proceedings that arise from time to time in the ordinary course of its business, including those identified below, consisting of matters involving consumer, antitrust, tax, intellectual property, and other issues on a global basis.

The Company accrues a liability when it believes that it is both probable that a liability has been incurred and that it can reasonably estimate the amount of the loss. The Company reviews these accruals at least quarterly and adjusts them to reflect ongoing negotiations, settlements, rulings, advice of legal counsel, and other relevant information. To the extent new information is obtained and the Company’s views on the probable outcomes of claims, suits, assessments, investigations, or legal proceedings change, changes in the Company’s accrued liabilities would be recorded in the period in which such a determination is made. For some matters, the amount of liability is not probable or the amount cannot be reasonably estimated and therefore accruals have not been made.

The following is a discussion of the Company’s significant legal matters and other proceedings:

Class Actions Related to the Class V Transaction — Four purported stockholders brought putative class action complaints arising out of the Class V transaction described in Note 1of the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements. The actions were captioned Hallandale Beach Police and Fire Retirement Plan v. Michael Dell et al. (Civil Action No. 2018-0816-JTL), Howard Karp v. Michael Dell et al. (Civil Action No. 2019-0032-JTL), Miramar Police Officers’ Retirement Plan v. Michael Dell et al. (Civil Action No. 2019-0049-JTL), and Steamfitters Local 449 Pension Plan v. Michael Dell et al. (Civil Action No. 2019-0115-JTL). The four actions were consolidated in the Delaware Chancery Court into In Re Dell Class V Litigation (Consol. C.A. No. 2018-0816-JTL), which names as defendants the Company’s board of directors and certain stockholders of the Company, including Michael S. Dell. The plaintiffs generally allege that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties to the former holders of Class V Common Stock in connection with the Class V transaction by allegedly causing the Company to enter into a transaction that favored the interests of the controlling stockholders at the expense of such former stockholders. The plaintiffs seek, among other remedies, a judicial declaration that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties and an award of damages, fees, and costs. The plaintiffs filed an amended complaint in August 2019 making substantially similar allegations to those described above. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss the action in September 2019. The court denied the motion in June 2020 and the case has now moved to discovery.

Patent Litigation — On April 25, 2019, Cirba Inc. (“Cirba”) filed a lawsuit against VMware, Inc. in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, alleging two patent infringement claims and three trademark infringement-related claims.  On May 6, 2019, Cirba filed a motion seeking a preliminary injunction tied to one of the two patents it alleges VMware, Inc. infringes.  Following a hearing on August 6, 2019, the Court denied Cirba’s preliminary injunction motion and set the case for trial in mid-January 2020. On August 20, 2019, VMware, Inc. filed counterclaims against Cirba, asserting among other claims that Cirba is infringing four VMware, Inc. patents.  The Delaware Court severed those claims from the January 2020 trial on Cirba’s claims, and the trial on VMware, Inc.’s patent claims is currently set for September 2021. The trial on Cirba’s claims in the Delaware court was completed on January 23, 2020, and on January 24, 2020, the jury returned a verdict finding that VMware, Inc. willfully infringed the two asserted patents and awarding approximately $237 million in damages. The jury further found that VMware, Inc. was not liable on Cirba’s trademark infringement-related claims. A total of $237 million was accrued for the Delaware action, which reflects the estimated losses that are considered both probable and reasonably estimable at this time. The parties filed the post-trial motions in which VMware, Inc. moved to set aside the verdict and reduce the damages award, and Cirba moved for a permanent injunction, enhanced damages, setting of an ongoing royalty rate, and an award of pre-judgment and post-judgment interest and supplemental damages. A hearing was held in the Delaware court on those motions on May 15, 2020, and the Delaware court has taken those motions under advisement. VMware, Inc. intends to vigorously defend itself in this matter, including, if necessary, via an appeal. Final resolution of this matter could be materially different from the amount accrued. The amount accrued for this matter is included in Accrued and other in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Position as of July 31, 2020 and January 31, 2020, and the charge was classified in Selling, general and administrative in the Consolidated Statements of Income (Loss) during the fiscal year ended January 31, 2020.

On October 22, 2019, VMware, Inc. filed a separate patent infringement lawsuit against Cirba in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, asserting that Cirba infringes four additional VMware, Inc. patents. The Virginia court transferred these patent claims to Delaware. On March 23, 2020, Cirba filed a counterclaim asserting one additional patent against VMware, Inc. VMware, Inc. intends to vigorously defend itself in this matter.

Class Actions Related to VMware, Inc.’s Acquisition of Pivotal Software — Two purported stockholders brought putative class action complaints arising out of VMware, Inc.’s acquisition of Pivotal Software, Inc. on December 30, 2019 as described in Note 1 of the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements. The two actions were consolidated in the Delaware Chancery Court into In re: Pivotal Software, Inc. Stockholders Litigation (Civil Action No. 2020-0440-KSJM). The complaint names as defendants the Company, VMware, Inc., Michael S. Dell, and certain officers of Pivotal. The plaintiffs generally allege that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties to the former holders of Pivotal Class A Common Stock in connection with VMware, Inc.’s acquisition of Pivotal by allegedly causing Pivotal to enter into a transaction that favored the interests of Pivotal’s controlling stockholders at the expense of such former stockholders. The plaintiffs seek, among other remedies, a judicial declaration that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties and an award of damages, fees, and costs.

Other Litigation — The various legal proceedings in which Dell is involved include commercial and intellectual property litigation. Dell does not currently anticipate that any of these matters will have a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.

As of July 31, 2020, the Company does not believe there is a reasonable possibility that a material loss exceeding the amounts already accrued for these or other proceedings or matters has been incurred. However, since the ultimate resolution of any such proceedings and matters is inherently unpredictable, the Company’s business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows could be materially affected in any particular period by unfavorable outcomes in one or more of these proceedings or matters. Whether the outcome of any claim, suit, assessment, investigation, or legal proceeding, individually or collectively, could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows will depend on a number of variables, including the nature, timing, and amount of any associated expenses, amounts paid in settlement, damages, or other remedies or consequences.

Indemnifications

In the ordinary course of business, the Company enters into contractual arrangements under which it may agree to indemnify the third party to such arrangements from any losses incurred relating to the services it performs on behalf of the Company or for losses arising from certain events as defined in the particular contract, such as litigation or claims relating to past performance. Such indemnification obligations may not be subject to maximum loss clauses. Historically, payments related to these indemnifications have not been material to the Company.