XML 84 R51.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v2.4.1.9

Goodwill and Other Intangibles (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill	$ 354,838,000us-gaap_Goodwill	$ 350,350,000us-gaap_Goodwill
Goodwill foreign currency translation adjustments	(7,000,000)us-gaap_GoodwillTranslationAndPurchaseAccountingAdjustments
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets, gross	574,114,000us-gaap_IntangibleAssetsGrossExcludingGoodwill	561,485,000us-gaap_IntangibleAssetsGrossExcludingGoodwill
Intangible assets, accumulated amortization	341,743,000us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAccumulatedAmortization	322,373,000us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAccumulatedAmortization
Intangible assets, average useful life in years	8 years	8 years
Intangible assets, net	232,371,000us-gaap_IntangibleAssetsNetExcludingGoodwill	239,112,000us-gaap_IntangibleAssetsNetExcludingGoodwill
Intangible assets, gross foreign currency translation adjustments	(48,000,000)wat_IntangibleAssetsGrossForeignCurrencyTranslationAdjustments
Intangible assets, accumulated amortization foreign currency translation adjustments	(28,000,000)wat_IntangibleAssetsAccumulatedAmortizationForeignCurrencyTranslationAdjustments
Amortization of intangibles	47,838,000us-gaap_AmortizationOfIntangibleAssets	41,530,000us-gaap_AmortizationOfIntangibleAssets	31,409,000us-gaap_AmortizationOfIntangibleAssets
Future amortization expense, year 1	50,000,000us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAmortizationExpenseNextTwelveMonths
Future amortization expense, year 2	50,000,000us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAmortizationExpenseYearTwo
Future amortization expense, year 3	50,000,000us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAmortizationExpenseYearThree
Future amortization expense, year 4	50,000,000us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAmortizationExpenseYearFour
Future amortization expense, year 5	50,000,000us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAmortizationExpenseYearFive
Capitalized software [Member]
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets, gross	334,280,000us-gaap_IntangibleAssetsGrossExcludingGoodwill / wat_IntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = us-gaap_SoftwareDevelopmentMember	340,070,000us-gaap_IntangibleAssetsGrossExcludingGoodwill / wat_IntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = us-gaap_SoftwareDevelopmentMember
Intangible assets, accumulated amortization	196,477,000us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAccumulatedAmortization / wat_IntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = us-gaap_SoftwareDevelopmentMember	189,415,000us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAccumulatedAmortization / wat_IntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = us-gaap_SoftwareDevelopmentMember
Intangible assets, average useful life in years	7 years	7 years
Capitalized software [Member] | New software platform [Member]
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets, average useful life in years	10 years
Intangible assets, net	103,000,000us-gaap_IntangibleAssetsNetExcludingGoodwill / wat_IntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = us-gaap_SoftwareDevelopmentMember / wat_IntangibleAssetsByProductAxis = wat_NewSoftwarePlatformMember
Purchased intangibles [Member]
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets, gross	163,855,000us-gaap_IntangibleAssetsGrossExcludingGoodwill / wat_IntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = wat_PurchasedIntangiblesMember	158,424,000us-gaap_IntangibleAssetsGrossExcludingGoodwill / wat_IntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = wat_PurchasedIntangiblesMember
Intangible assets, accumulated amortization	112,279,000us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAccumulatedAmortization / wat_IntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = wat_PurchasedIntangiblesMember	105,347,000us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAccumulatedAmortization / wat_IntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = wat_PurchasedIntangiblesMember
Intangible assets, average useful life in years	11 years	10 years
Trademarks and IPR&D [Member]
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets, gross	14,095,000us-gaap_IntangibleAssetsGrossExcludingGoodwill / wat_IntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = wat_TrademarksAndIprdMember	9,180,000us-gaap_IntangibleAssetsGrossExcludingGoodwill / wat_IntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = wat_TrademarksAndIprdMember
Licenses [Member]
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets, gross	5,371,000us-gaap_IntangibleAssetsGrossExcludingGoodwill / wat_IntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = us-gaap_LicensingAgreementsMember	3,909,000us-gaap_IntangibleAssetsGrossExcludingGoodwill / wat_IntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = us-gaap_LicensingAgreementsMember
Intangible assets, accumulated amortization	3,634,000us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAccumulatedAmortization / wat_IntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = us-gaap_LicensingAgreementsMember	3,390,000us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAccumulatedAmortization / wat_IntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = us-gaap_LicensingAgreementsMember
Intangible assets, average useful life in years	6 years	7 years
Patents and other intangibles [Member]
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets, gross	56,513,000us-gaap_IntangibleAssetsGrossExcludingGoodwill / wat_IntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = wat_PatentsAndOtherIntangiblesMember	49,902,000us-gaap_IntangibleAssetsGrossExcludingGoodwill / wat_IntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = wat_PatentsAndOtherIntangiblesMember
Intangible assets, accumulated amortization	29,353,000us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAccumulatedAmortization / wat_IntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = wat_PatentsAndOtherIntangiblesMember	24,221,000us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAccumulatedAmortization / wat_IntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = wat_PatentsAndOtherIntangiblesMember
Intangible assets, average useful life in years	8 years	8 years
Trademarks [Member]
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Amortization of intangibles			4,000,000us-gaap_AmortizationOfIntangibleAssets / wat_IntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis = us-gaap_TrademarksMember
Acquisitions in 2014 [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill	11,631,000us-gaap_Goodwill / us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis = wat_AcquisitionsIn2014Member
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets acquired	$ 18,457,000us-gaap_BusinessCombinationRecognizedIdentifiableAssetsAcquiredAndLiabilitiesAssumedIntangibleAssetsOtherThanGoodwill / us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis = wat_AcquisitionsIn2014Member

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- Definition

The aggregate expense charged against earnings to allocate the cost of intangible assets (nonphysical assets not used in production) in a systematic and rational manner to the periods expected to benefit from such assets. As a noncash expense, this element is added back to net income when calculating cash provided by or used in operations using the indirect method.

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Useful life of finite-lived intangible assets, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

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Sum of the carrying amounts of all intangible assets, excluding goodwill, as of the balance sheet date, net of accumulated amortization and impairment charges.

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Reflects net changes to the recorded value of accumulated amortization for intangible assets for foreign currency translation adjustments needed to revise the carrying amount of accumulated amortization for intangible assets to fair value.

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