CONTINGENCIES

Commitments

The Company entered into a long-term agreement to purchase a variety of information technology solutions from a third party in the second quarter of 2017, which included an unconditional commitment to purchase a minimum of $12.8 million of products and services over the initial three-year term of the agreement.

The Company has letters of credit that are used as security deposits in connection with the Company’s leased Burlington, Massachusetts office space. In the event of default on the underlying leases, the landlords would, at September 30, 2017, be eligible to draw against the letters of credit to a maximum of $1.3 million in the aggregate. The letters of credit are subject to aggregate reductions provided the Company is not in default under the underlying leases and meets certain financial performance conditions. In no case will the letters of credit amounts be reduced to below $1.2 million in the aggregate throughout the lease periods, all of which extend to May 2020.

The Company also has letters of credit in connection with security deposits for other facility leases totaling $1.1 million in the aggregate, as well as letters of credit totaling $1.2 million that otherwise support its ongoing operations. These letters of credit have various terms and expire during 2017 and beyond, while some of the letters of credit may automatically renew based on the terms of the underlying agreements.

Contingencies

The Company’s industry is characterized by the existence of a large number of patents and frequent claims and litigation regarding patent and other intellectual property rights. In addition to the legal proceedings described below, the Company is involved in legal proceedings from time to time arising from the normal course of business activities, including claims of alleged infringement of intellectual property rights and contractual, commercial, employee relations, product or service performance, or other matters. The Company does not believe these matters will have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial position or results of operations. However, the outcome of legal proceedings and claims brought against the Company is subject to significant uncertainty. Therefore, the Company’s financial position or results of operations may be negatively affected by the unfavorable resolution of one or more of these proceedings for the period in which a matter is resolved. The Company’s results could be materially adversely affected if the Company is accused of, or found to be, infringing third parties’ intellectual property rights.

On October 30, 2017 the Company entered into settlement and patent cross-licensing agreements with Harmonic Inc. (“Harmonic”), ending its patent infringement litigation against Harmonic which commenced in 2011. Under the terms of the agreements, Harmonic will pay the Company $6.0 million. The first payment of $2.5 million was made on October 24, 2017; the remaining $3.5 million will be paid in two installments of $1.5 million and $2.0 million in 2019 and 2020, respectively. The Company will record a gain associated with the settlement of past patent infringements in the fourth quarter of 2017.

In November 2016, a purported securities class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts (Mohanty v. Avid Technology, Inc. et al., No. 16-cv-12336) against the Company and certain of its executive officers seeking unspecified damages and other relief on behalf of a purported class of purchasers of the Company’s common stock between August 4, 2016 and November 9, 2016, inclusive. The complaint purported to state a claim for violation of federal securities laws as a result of alleged violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“the Exchange Act”) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder. The complaint’s allegations relate generally to the Company’s disclosure surrounding the level of implementation of the Company’s Avid NEXIS solution product offerings. On February 7, 2017, the Court appointed a lead plaintiff and counsel in the matter. On June 14, 2017, the Company moved to dismiss the action. On July 31, 2017, the lead plaintiff filed an opposition to the Company’s motion to dismiss, and on August 21, 2017, the Company filed its reply brief. On October 13, 2017, after a mediation, the parties reached an agreement in principle to settle this litigation. The Company expects the majority of the settlement to be funded by its insurers. Finalization of the settlement is subject to a number of conditions, including execution of definitive documentation and approval by the court.

The Company considers all claims on a quarterly basis and based on known facts assesses whether potential losses are considered reasonably possible, probable and estimable. Based upon this assessment, the Company then evaluates disclosure requirements and whether to accrue for such claims in its consolidated financial statements. The Company records a provision for a liability when it is both probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. These provisions are reviewed at least quarterly and adjusted to reflect the impacts of negotiations, settlements, rulings, advice of legal counsel and other information and events pertaining to a particular case.

At September 30, 2017 and as of the date of filing of these consolidated financial statements, the Company believes that, other than as set forth in this note, no provision for liability nor disclosure is required related to any claims because: (a) there is no reasonable possibility that a loss exceeding amounts already recognized (if any) may be incurred with respect to such claim, (b) a reasonably possible loss or range of loss cannot be estimated; or (c) such estimate is immaterial.

Additionally, the Company provides indemnification to certain customers for losses incurred in connection with intellectual property infringement claims brought by third parties with respect to the Company’s products. These indemnification provisions generally offer perpetual coverage for infringement claims based upon the products covered by the agreement and the maximum potential amount of future payments the Company could be required to make under these indemnification provisions is theoretically unlimited. To date, the Company has not incurred material costs related to these indemnification provisions; accordingly, the Company believes the estimated fair value of these indemnification provisions is immaterial. Further, certain of the Company’s arrangements with customers include clauses whereby the Company may be subject to penalties for failure to meet certain performance obligations; however, the Company has not recorded any related material penalties to date.

The Company provides warranties on externally sourced and internally developed hardware. For internally developed hardware, and in cases where the warranty granted to customers for externally sourced hardware is greater than that provided by the manufacturer, the Company records an accrual for the related liability based on historical trends and actual material and labor costs. The following table sets forth the activity in the product warranty accrual account for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 (in thousands):



	Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2017			2016
Accrual balance at beginning of year	$	2,518		$	2,234
Accruals for product warranties	1,872			1,992
Costs of warranty claims	(1,897		)	(1,872		)
Accrual balance at end of period	$	2,493		$	2,354

The warranty accrual is included in the caption “accrued expenses and other current liabilities” in the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheet.