Patents

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Patents [Abstract]

Patents

3. Patents

The Company performs intangible asset impairment analysis at least annually in accordance with the relevant accounting guidance. The Company periodically reassesses the lives of its patents and tests for impairment in order to determine whether the book value of each patent exceeds the fair value of each patent. Fair value is determined by estimating future cash flows from the products that are and will be protected by the patents and taking into account the factors listed in Critical Accounting Policies in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Management completed an analysis of the Company's patents as of December 31, 2011. Based on that analysis, the Company concluded that no impairment of the carrying value of the patents existed. The Company believes that no events or circumstances occurred or changed during the three months ended March 31, 2012, and therefore concluded that no impairment in the carrying values of the patents existed at March 31, 2012.

Amortization of patent costs was $91 and $94 for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively.

Intangible Assets

The following table summarizes intangible assets (in millions):

Amortizable intangible assets:	March 31, 2012		December 31, 2011
	Carrying Amount	Accumulated Amortization	Carrying Amount	Accumulated Amortization
Patents	$ 6,746	$ (4,817)	$ 6,746	$ (4,726)
Other	4,112	(4,099)	4,112	(4,034)
Total	$ 10,858	$ (8,916)	$ 10,858	$ (8,760)

Amortization for intangible assets recorded as of March 31, 2012 is estimated to be (in thousands):

Remainder of 2012	$ 287
2013	365
2014	357
2015	342
2016	322
Thereafter	269
Total	$ 1,942