9. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Product Warranty

The following table reflects the changes in the Company’s accrued product warranty:


	Six Months Ended
(In millions)	March 29, 2013			March 30, 2012
Accrued product warranty, at beginning of period	$	52.8		$	50.1
Charged to cost of revenues		25.8			23.3
Actual product warranty expenditures		(27.2	)		(24.8	)

Accrued product warranty, at end of period	$	51.4		$	48.6

Other Commitments

In September 2011, the Company, through its Swiss subsidiary, participated in a $165 million loan facility for CPTC, under which the subsidiary committed to loan up to $115 million to finance the construction and start-up operations of a proton therapy center. See Note 15, “Variable Interest Entity” for a detailed discussion.

In April 2012, VMS entered into a strategic global partnership with Siemens AG (“Siemens”) through which the Company committed to make certain payments, including up to $10 million in fixed fees and $20 million in license fees, in the event certain product development milestones are achieved. See Note 16, “Strategic Arrangement” for additional discussion.

Environmental Remediation Liabilities

The Company’s operations and facilities, past and present, are subject to environmental laws, including laws that regulate the handling, storage, transport and disposal of hazardous substances. Certain of those laws impose cleanup liabilities under certain circumstances. In connection with those laws and certain of the Company’s past and present operations and facilities, the Company oversees various environmental cleanup projects and also reimburses certain third parties for cleanup activities. Those include facilities sold as part of the Company’s electron devices business in 1995 and thin film systems business in 1997. In addition, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) or third parties have named the Company as a potentially responsible party under the amended Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (“CERCLA”), at sites to which the Company or the facilities of the sold businesses were alleged to have shipped waste for recycling or disposal (the “CERCLA sites”). In connection with the CERCLA sites, the Company to date has been required to pay only modest amounts as its contributions to cleanup efforts. Under the agreement that governs the spin-offs of Varian, Inc., which was acquired by Agilent Technologies Inc. (the successor entity hereinafter referred to as “VI”), and Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc., which was acquired by Applied Materials, Inc. (the successor entity hereinafter referred to as “VSEA”), VI and VSEA are each obligated to indemnify the Company for one-third of the environmental cleanup costs associated with corporate, discontinued or sold operations prior to the spin-offs (after adjusting for any insurance proceeds or tax benefits received by the Company), as well as fully indemnify the Company for other liabilities arising from the operations of the business transferred to it as part of the spin-offs.

The Company spent $0.2 million (net of amounts borne by VI and VSEA) during both the three months ended March 29, 2013 and March 30, 2012, on environmental cleanup costs, third-party claim costs, project management costs and legal costs. The Company spent $0.4 million (net of amounts borne by VI and VSEA) during both the six months ended March 29, 2013 and March 30, 2012 on such costs.

Inherent uncertainties make it difficult to estimate the likelihood of the cost of future cleanup, third-party claims, project management and legal services for the CERCLA sites and one of the Company’s past facilities. Nonetheless, as of March 29, 2013, the Company estimated that, net of VI’s and VSEA’s indemnification obligations, future costs associated with the CERCLA sites and this facility would range in total from $1.9 million to $9.3 million. The time frames over which these cleanup project costs are estimated vary, ranging from one year up to thirty years as of March 29, 2013. Management believes that no amount in that range is more probable of being incurred than any other amount and therefore accrued $1.9 million for these cleanup projects as of March 29, 2013. The accrued amount has not been discounted to present value due to the uncertainties that make it difficult to develop a single best estimate.

The Company believes it has gained sufficient knowledge to better estimate the scope and cost of monitoring, cleanup and management activities for its other past and present facilities. This, in part, is based on agreements with other parties and also cleanup plans approved by or completed in accordance with the requirements of the governmental agencies having jurisdiction. As of March 29, 2013, the Company estimated that the Company’s future exposure, net of VI’s and VSEA’s indemnification obligations, for the costs at these facilities, and reimbursements of third party’s claims for these facilities, ranged in total from $6.0 million to $35.3 million. The time frames over which these costs are estimated to be incurred vary, ranging from one year to thirty years as of March 29, 2013. As to each of these facilities, management determined that a particular amount within the range of estimated costs was a better estimate than any other amount within the range, and that the amount and timing of these future costs were reliably determinable. The best estimate within that range was $12.7 million at March 29, 2013. Accordingly, the Company has accrued $9.7 million for these costs, which represents the best estimate discounted at 4%, net of inflation. This accrual is in addition to the $1.9 million described in the preceding paragraph.

These amounts are only estimates of anticipated future costs. The amounts the Company will actually spend may be greater or less than these estimates, even as the Company believes the degree of uncertainty will narrow as cleanup activities progress. While the Company believes its reserve is adequate, as the scope of the Company’s obligations becomes more clearly defined, the Company may modify the reserve, and charge or credit future earnings accordingly. Nevertheless, based on information currently known to management, and assuming VI and VSEA satisfy their indemnification obligations, management believes the costs of these environmental-related matters are not reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on the consolidated financial statements of the Company in any one fiscal year.

The Company evaluates its liability for investigation and cleanup costs in light of the obligations and apparent financial strength of potentially responsible parties and insurance companies with respect to which the Company believes it has rights to indemnity or reimbursement. The Company has asserted claims for recovery of environmental investigation and cleanup costs already incurred, and to be incurred in the future against various insurance companies and other third parties. The Company receives certain cash payments in the form of settlements and judgments from defendants, insurers and other third parties from time to time. The Company has also reached an agreement with an insurance company under which that insurer has agreed to pay a portion of the Company’s past and future environmental-related expenditures. Receivables, net of VI’s and VSEA’s portion, from that insurer amounted to $2.3 million at March 29, 2013 and $2.6 million at September 28, 2012, with the respective current portion included in “Prepaid expenses and other current assets” and the respective noncurrent portion included in “Other assets” in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company believes that this receivable is recoverable because it is based on a binding, written settlement agreement with what appears to be a financially viable insurance company, and the insurance company has paid the Company’s claims in the past.

The availability of the indemnities of VI and VSEA will depend upon the future financial strength of VI and VSEA. Given the long-term nature of some of the liabilities, VI and VSEA may be unable to fund the indemnities in the future. It is also possible that a court would disregard this contractual allocation among the parties and require the Company to assume responsibility for obligations allocated to another party, particularly if the other party were to refuse or was unable to pay any of its allocated share. The agreement governing the spin-offs generally provides that if a court prohibits a company from satisfying its shared indemnification obligations, the indemnification obligations will be shared equally by the two other companies.

Other Matters

From time to time, the Company is a party to or otherwise involved in legal proceedings, claims and government inspections or investigations and other legal matters, both inside and outside the United States, arising in the ordinary course of its business or otherwise. These matters include, as of March 29, 2013, a patent infringement lawsuit initiated in 2007 by the University of Pittsburgh regarding the Company’s Real-time Position Management™ (“RPM”) technology. On or about December 21, 2011, the trial court presiding over the litigation entered a summary judgment order in the case finding that the Company’s RPM technology was covered by some of the claims of the subject patent. Subsequently, in early 2012, in the proceedings at the trial court on the remaining issues in litigation, it was found (i) that the Company willfully infringed the subject patent, (ii) that the Company is liable for approximately $40 million in actual damages and (iii) that the subject patent was valid. The trial court has ordered the Company to pay a total of approximately $102 million, comprised of approximately $80 million in enhanced damages (a doubling of the damages amount), pre-judgment interest to the damage award of approximately $13 million and approximately $9 million in attorneys’ fees. The court also ordered the Company to pay ongoing royalties at the rates found by the jury for sales after the date of judgment. If our appeal is not successful, on-going royalties, assuming future U.S. sales and manufacturing of the infringing product remains approximately at the 2012 levels, could be up to $5 million per year through September 2016, the expiration of University of Pittsburgh’s patent. The Company has appealed the findings against it and believes that it has valid reasons for the judgment to be reversed.

The Company accrues amounts, to the extent they can be reasonably estimated, that it believes are adequate to address any liabilities related to legal proceedings and other loss contingencies that the Company believes will result in a probable loss (including, among other things, probable settlement value). As of March 29, 2013, the Company had accrued an aggregate of approximately $5.4 million of such losses with respect to ongoing proceedings, including the low end of the range of the probable settlement value for the University of Pittsburgh proceeding. However, such matters are subject to many uncertainties and outcomes are not predictable with assurance. The range of reasonably possible loss for the University of Pittsburgh matter, up to the date of the trial court judgment, is from zero to approximately $102 million (this range does not include ongoing royalties subsequent to the date of the trial court judgment). The Company is unable to estimate a range of reasonably possible losses in excess of the amounts accrued with respect to all other matters. There can be no assurances as to whether the Company will become subject to significant additional claims and liabilities with respect to ongoing or future proceedings. If actual liabilities significantly exceed the estimates made, the Company’s consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows could be materially adversely affected.

Restructuring Charges

As part of the Company’s plan to enhance operational performance through productivity initiatives, the Company offered an enhanced retirement program to its qualified employees during the first quarter of fiscal year 2013. Approximately 85 employees accepted the voluntary retirement program. The Company incurred restructuring charges of approximately $2.6 million and $6.7 million for the three and six months ended March 29, 2013, respectively. The Company made cash payments of approximately $3.8 million and $4.0 million during the three and six months ended March 29, 2013, respectively. Insignificant amounts of restructuring charges are expected to be incurred beyond the second quarter of fiscal year 2013 in relation to this program.