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Commitments And Contingencies
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9 Months Ended |
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Jun. 25, 2011
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| Commitments And Contingencies | |
| Commitments And Contingencies |
(6) Commitments and Contingencies (a) Contingent Payments As a result of the merger with Cytyc in October 2007, the Company assumed the obligation to the former Adiana, Inc. shareholders to make contingent payments tied to the achievement of milestones. The milestone payments include potential contingent payments of up to $155.0 million based on worldwide sales of the Adiana Permanent Contraception System in the first year following FDA approval and on annual incremental sales growth thereafter through December 31, 2012. FDA approval of the Adiana Permanent Contraception System occurred on July 6, 2009, and the Company began accruing contingent consideration in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 based on the defined percentage of worldwide sales of the product. The agreement includes an indemnification provision that provides for the reimbursement of qualifying legal expenses and liabilities associated with legal claims against the Adiana products and intellectual property, and the Company has the right to offset contingent consideration payments to the Adiana shareholders with these qualifying legal costs. The Company is recording legal fees related to the Conceptus litigation matter (described below) as a reduction to the accrued contingent consideration payments, which will result in a lower payment to the Adiana shareholders. The Company made a payment of $19.7 million to the Adiana shareholders in October 2010, net of amounts withheld for the legal indemnification provision. At June 25, 2011, the accrued contingent consideration obligation is $26.9 million, net of qualifying legal costs. The Company also has contingent consideration obligations related to its Sentinelle Medical, Interlace and TCT acquisitions. Pursuant to ASC 805, the amounts pertaining to the Sentinelle Medical and Interlace acquisitions are required to be recorded as a liability at fair value and aggregated $108.3 million as of June 25, 2011. The TCT contingent consideration is being recorded as compensation expense as it is earned, and the liability at June 25, 2011 is $2.1 million. Refer to Notes 2 and 3 for additional information. (b) Litigation and Related Matters
On May 22, 2009, Conceptus, Inc. filed suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California seeking a declaration by the Court that Hologic's planned importation, use, sale or offer to sell of its forthcoming Adiana Permanent Contraception System would infringe five Conceptus patents. On July 9, 2009, Conceptus filed an amended complaint alleging infringement of the same five patents by the Adiana Permanent Contraception System. The complaint seeks preliminary and permanent injunctive relief and unspecified monetary damages. In addition to the amended complaint, Conceptus also filed a motion for preliminary injunction seeking to preliminarily enjoin sales of the Adiana System based on alleged infringement of certain claims of three of the five patents. A hearing on Conceptus' preliminary injunction motion was held on November 4, 2009, and on November 6, 2009, the judge issued an order denying the motion. On January 19, 2010, upon stipulation of the parties, the Court dismissed all claims relating to three of the five asserted patents with prejudice. A Markman hearing on claim construction took place on March 10, 2010 and a ruling was issued on March 24, 2010. On April 12, 2010, in response to Hologic's counterclaims of unfair competition filed in October of 2009, the Court granted Conceptus leave to amend its counterclaims adding charges of unfair competition. On June 23, 2010, upon stipulation of the parties, the Court dismissed the asserted claims of an additional patent leaving three claims of U.S. patent 7,506,650 being asserted against the Company in the case. On August 10, 2010, the parties entered into a settlement agreement dismissing all unfair competition claims against each other. A hearing on both parties' motions for summary judgment on the patent claims occurred on December 9, 2010, and on December 16, 2010, a ruling was issued granting Hologic summary judgment of no infringement of one of the three asserted claims. A trial on the two remaining patent claims is scheduled to begin on October 3, 2011. At this time, based on available information regarding this litigation, the Company is unable to reasonably assess the ultimate outcome of this case or determine an estimate, or a range of estimates, of potential losses. On July 16, 2010 Smith & Nephew, Inc. filed suit against Interlace, which the Company acquired on January 6, 2011, in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. In the complaint, it is alleged that the Interlace MyoSure hysteroscopic tissue removal device infringes U.S. patent 7,226,459. The complaint seeks permanent injunctive relief and unspecified damages. A Markman hearing was held November 9, 2010, and a ruling was issued on April 21, 2011. A trial on the issues has been scheduled for March 12, 2012. At this time, based on available information regarding this litigation, the Company is unable to reasonably assess the ultimate outcome of this case or determine an estimate, or a range of estimates, of potential losses. On March 22, 2011, Jeffrey Schwindt filed suit against Hologic and its subsidiary, Suros Surgical Systems, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana alleging fraud, deception and misrepresentation based on Schwindt's belief that he should have been named an inventor on a Suros patent prior to the acquisition of Suros by Hologic. The complaint seeks a declaration that Scwhindt is a joint inventor of the patent in question as well as unspecified monetary damages. At this time, based on available information regarding this litigation, the Company is unable to reasonably assess the ultimate outcome of this case or determine an estimate, or a range of estimates, of potential losses. On May 10, 2011, Tissue Extraction Devices filed suit against Hologic and its subsidiary, Suros Surgical Systems, Inc., in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana alleging infringement of U.S. patent 7,749,172 by the ATEC and Eviva biopsy products. The complaint seeks a finding of infringement and unspecified monetary damages. At this time, based on available information regarding this litigation, the Company is unable to reasonably assess the ultimate outcome of this case or determine an estimate, or a range of estimates, of potential losses. The Company is a party to various other legal proceedings and claims arising out of the ordinary course of its business. The Company believes that except for those described above there are no other proceedings or claims pending against it the ultimate resolution of which would have a material adverse effect on its financial condition or results of operations. (c) Litigation-related Settlement Charge On October 5, 2007, Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. ("Ethicon"), a Johnson & Johnson operating company, filed a complaint against Hologic and its wholly-owned subsidiary Suros in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Western Division. The complaint alleged that certain of the ATEC biopsy systems manufactured and sold by Suros infringed Ethicon patents, and sought to enjoin Hologic and Suros from conducting acts of unfair competition and infringing the patents as well as the recovery of unspecified damages and costs. On August 6, 2009, Ethicon filed a second complaint against the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiary Suros in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. The complaint alleged that certain of the Eviva biopsy systems manufactured and sold by Suros infringed Ethicon patents and sought to enjoin Hologic and Suros from infringing the patents as well as recovery of damages and costs resulting from the alleged infringement. On February 17, 2010, the Company entered into a settlement agreement with Ethicon relating to the two lawsuits previously filed by Ethicon, and one previously filed by Hologic against Ethicon. As a result of the settlement agreement, all outstanding litigation between the parties has been dismissed, without acknowledgement of liability by either party. While details of the agreement are confidential, under the terms of the settlement agreement, Ethicon has agreed to pay Hologic ongoing royalties for sales of its Mammotome magnetic resonance imaging product. In addition, the Company agreed to pay Ethicon a one-time payment of $12.5 million, plus ongoing royalties for sales of its ATEC and EVIVA hand pieces. The Company recorded the $12.5 million charge in the second quarter of fiscal 2010. |