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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2016
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES [Abstract] |
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | 16. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES Leases The Company leases various facilities under operating leases expiring through December 2023. Some of these leases require the Company to pay certain executory costs (such as insurance and maintenance). Future minimum lease payments for operating leases are approximately as follows:
Year Ending |  |  |
December 31, |  |  |
2017 |  | $ | 6,491 |
2018 |  |  | 3,590 |
2019 |  |  | 2,813 |
2020 |  |  | 2,597 |
2021 |  |  | 2,108 |
Thereafter |  |  | 1,171 |
|  | $ | 18,770 |
Rental expense for all leases was approximately $7.9 million, $8.8 million and $7.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively. Other Commitments The Company submits purchase orders for raw materials to various vendors throughout the year for current production requirements, as well as forecasted requirements. Certain of these purchase orders relate to special purpose material and, as such, the Company may incur penalties if an order is cancelled. The Company had outstanding purchase orders related to raw materials in the amount of $31.0 million and $42.6 million at December 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, respectively. The Company also had outstanding purchase orders related to capital expenditures in the amount of $2.8 million and $1.5 million at December 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, respectively. Legal Proceedings The Company was a defendant in a lawsuit captioned SynQor, Inc. v. Artesyn Technologies, Inc., et al. brought in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in September 2011. This was a patent infringement action for damages in the form of lost profits and reasonable royalties for the period beginning January 24, 2011 (the post-verdict period of a related case). SynQor, Inc. also sought enhanced damages. The Company had an indemnification agreement in place with one of its customers specifically covering post-verdict damages related to this case. This case went to trial on July 30, 2013. In April 2014, a final judgment was rendered in this case, whereby the Company was assessed an additional $0.7 million in post-verdict damages. This amount was paid by the Company in July 2014 and was subsequently reimbursed by one of its customers under the terms of the indemnification agreement referenced above. SynQor filed an appeal of the final judgment in May 2014. The appeals court heard oral arguments from the parties on this matter on March 2, 2015. The matter was settled as to all further damages and claims relating to the appeal in early 2016 with no further payment required from the Company. The Company is a plaintiff in a lawsuit captioned Bel Fuse Inc. et al. v. Molex Inc. brought in the United District Court of New Jersey in April 2013. The Company claims that Molex infringed three of the Company's patents related to integrated magnetic connector products. Molex filed a motion to dismiss the complaint on August 6, 2013. The Company filed an amended complaint and response on August 20, 2013. Molex withdrew its original Motion to Dismiss and filed a second, revised Motion to Dismiss on September 6, 2013. The Company filed its response on October 7, 2013. The Court denied Molex's revised Motion to Dismiss on June 16, 2014. In June 2014, Molex initiated an Inter Partes Review (IPR) at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for one of the three patents associated with this case. The Company and Molex executed an agreement in September 2014 to terminate the IPR and to withdraw one of the patents from the district court litigation. The Parties settled the case involving the two remaining patents for $0.5 million in September 2015 and the case was subsequently dismissed by the Court in October 2015. The Company recognized the settlement amount in net sales on the consolidated statements of operations. In connection with the acquisition of Power Solutions, there is an ongoing claim by the Arezzo Revenue Agency in Italy concerning certain tax matters related to what was then Power-One Asia Pacific Electronics Shenzhen Co. Ltd. (now Bel Power Solutions Asia Pacific Electronics Shenzhen Co. Ltd, or "BPS China") for the years 2004 to 2006. In September 2012, the Tax Court of Arezzo ruled in favor of BPS China and cancelled the claim. In February 2013, the Arezzo Revenue Agency filed an appeal of the Tax Court's ruling. The hearing of the appeal was held on October 2, 2014. On October 13, 2014, BPS China was informed of the Regional Tax Commission of Florence ruling which was in favor of the Arezzo Revenue Agency and against BPS China. An appeal was filed on July 18, 2015 before the Regional Tax Commission of Florence and rejected. On December 5, 2016, the Arezzo Revenue Agency filed an appeal with the Supreme Court and BPS China filed a counter-appeal on January 4, 2017. The Supreme Court has yet to render its judgment. The estimated liability related to this matter is approximately $12.0 million and has been included as a liability for uncertain tax positions on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. As Bel is fully indemnified in this matter per the terms of the stock purchase agreement with ABB, a corresponding other asset for indemnification is also included in other assets on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets at December 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015. In 2015, the Company was provided notice of a potential patent infringement claim by Setec Netzwerke AG ("Setec"), a German company, for the alleged infringement of their patent EP 306 934 B1. Setec subsequently filed a lawsuit against the Company and three of its subsidiaries in Dusseldorf, Germany on January 29, 2016 for patent infringement. The Company filed its defense to Setec's complaint and a nullity lawsuit against Setec's patent on August 31, 2016. The Court hearing on infringement is currently scheduled for March 23, 2017. The Company does not have enough information at this time in order to make any further conclusions or assessments as to infringement or potential damages. The Company is not a party to any other legal proceeding, the adverse outcome of which is likely to have a material adverse effect on the Company's consolidated financial condition or results of operations.

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