Note 16 - Legal Proceedings

6 Months Ended

Sep. 27, 2015

Disclosure Text Block Supplement [Abstract]

Legal Matters and Contingencies [Text Block]

NOTE 16. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

From time to time, we are involved in various claims, legal actions and complaints arising in the normal course of business. We are not a named party to any ongoing lawsuit or formal proceeding that, in the opinion of our management, is likely to have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

In fiscal year 2014, two former employees of Exar’s French subsidiary asserted claims against that subsidiary for alleged unfair dismissal in the French Labor Courts. Both claims have been settled and the settlements did not have a material impact on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

In April 2015, Phenix, LLC (“Phenix”) filed a complaint against us and iML for patent infringement in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, and in October 2015 Phenix filed an amended complaint and added a subsidiary of iML as an additional defendant. Phenix alleges that at least the iML 7990 and 7991 integrated circuit products and power management integrated circuit products that are combined with the functionality of the iML 7990 and 7991 integrated circuits infringe one of its patents. The court has set a trial date of September 6, 2016 for this matter. We cannot currently make a reasonable estimate of a possible range of loss, if any, for this action because the matter has not advanced to a stage where we could make such an estimate. Discovery is ongoing in this matter and while there can be no assurance of favorable outcomes, we do not believe that the ultimate outcome of these actions, individually or in the aggregate, will have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.