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Legal Matters
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9 Months Ended |
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Dec. 31, 2011
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| Legal Matters [Abstract] | |
| Legal Matters | 11. Legal Matters From time to time, we are involved in legal proceedings concerning matters arising in connection with the conduct of our business activities. We regularly evaluate the status of legal proceedings in which we are involved, to assess whether a loss is probable or there is a reasonable possibility that a loss or additional loss may have been incurred and determine if accruals are appropriate. We further evaluate each legal proceeding to assess whether an estimate of possible loss or range of loss can be made, if accruals are not appropriate. For certain cases described below, management is unable to provide a meaningful estimate of the possible loss or range of possible loss because, among other reasons, (i) the proceedings are in various stages; (ii) damages have not been sought; (iii) damages are unsupported and/or exaggerated; (iv) there is uncertainty as to the outcome of pending appeals or motions; (v) there are significant factual issues to be resolved; and/or (vi) there are novel legal issues or unsettled legal theories to be presented or a large number of parties. For these cases, however, management does not believe, based on currently available information, that the outcomes of these proceedings will have a material adverse effect on our financial condition. However, the ultimate resolutions of these various proceedings and matters are inherently difficult to predict; as such, our operating results could be materially affected by the unfavorable resolution of one or more of these proceedings or matters for any particular period, depending, in part, upon the operating results for such period. On September 1, 2011, HSM Portfolio LLC and Technology Properties Limited LLC (collectively, the "Plaintiffs") filed suit against Cirrus Logic and 17 other defendants in the U.S. District Court, District of Delaware. The Plaintiffs allege that Cirrus Logic infringed U.S. Patent No. 5,030,853. In their complaint, the Plaintiffs indicated that they are seeking unspecified monetary damages, including up to treble damages for willful infringement. On November 30, 2011, Cirrus Logic filed a motion to dismiss certain claims of the Plaintiffs' suit for failure to state a claim. Until the Court rules on this motion, Cirrus Logic's answer will not be due. During the first quarter of fiscal year 2011, the Company incurred $135 thousand in settlement costs related to a dispute with a former distributor of the Company's products. This transaction is reflected as a separate line item on the consolidated condensed statement of operations in operating expenses under the caption "Provision for litigation expenses and settlements." |