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Contingencies (Notes) | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2022
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Contingencies | Contingencies Sprint filed a patent suit against Charter and Bright House Networks, LLC ("Bright House") on December 2, 2017 in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. The Company brought a patent suit against Sprint (TC Tech, LLC v. Sprint) in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware implicating Sprint's LTE technology and a similar suit against T-Mobile in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. Sprint filed a subsequent patent suit against Charter on May 17, 2018. On February 18, 2020, Sprint filed a lawsuit against Charter, Bright House and Time Warner Cable Inc. in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas alleging that Charter misappropriated trade secrets from Sprint years ago through employees hired by Bright House. Charter, T-Mobile and Sprint have reached a settlement of all of the foregoing suits that resulted in a payment of $220 million in 2022 by Charter to T-Mobile, and all of the cases have been dismissed with prejudice. The Company is a defendant or co-defendant in several lawsuits involving alleged infringement of various intellectual property relating to various aspects of its businesses. Other industry participants are also defendants in certain of these cases or related cases. In the event that a court ultimately determines that the Company infringes on any intellectual property, the Company may be subject to substantial damages and/or an injunction that could require the Company or its vendors to modify certain products and services the Company offers to its subscribers, as well as negotiate royalty or license agreements with respect to the intellectual property at issue. While the Company believes the lawsuits are without merit and intends to defend the actions vigorously, no assurance can be given that any adverse outcome would not be material to the Company’s consolidated financial condition, results of operations, or liquidity. The Company cannot predict the outcome of any such claims nor can it reasonably estimate a range of possible loss. The Company is party to other lawsuits, claims and regulatory inquiries that arise in the ordinary course of conducting its business. The ultimate outcome of these other legal matters pending against the Company cannot be predicted, and although such lawsuits and claims are not expected individually to have a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated financial condition, results of operations or liquidity, such lawsuits could have, in the aggregate, a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated financial condition, results of operations or liquidity. Whether or not the Company ultimately prevails in any particular lawsuit or claim, litigation can be time consuming and costly and injure the Company’s reputation.

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