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Risks and Contingencies | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2017
Risks and Contingencies [Abstract] |
Risks and Contingencies | Note 17 - Risks and Contingencies The Company is involved in various warranty and repair claims and, in certain cases, related pending and threatened legal proceedings with its customers in the normal course of business. In the opinion of management, the Company’s potential losses in excess of the accrued warranty and legal provisions, if any, are not expected to be material to the Company’s consolidated financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. ﻿ On April 17, 2015 and September 30, 2015, National Steel Car Limited (“NSC”) filed Complaints for Patent Infringement against the Company in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Eastern Division) in Chicago, Illinois. The complaints asserted five United States patents against certain aggregate gondola freight cars sold to certain customers. The complaints sought injunctive relief and an unspecified amount of damages. The Court consolidated both cases on November 12, 2015. On January 29, 2016, NSC filed an amended complaint, alleging that 18 offers to sell made by the Company also infringed NSC’s patents. The Company filed its answer to NSC’s amended complaint, responding to NSC’s newly raised allegations and adding new affirmative defenses as well as counterclaims for non-infringement and invalidity. The Company also filed inter partes review (“IPR”) petitions in March 2016 with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) for two of the five asserted patents. In September 2016, the PTAB granted the IPR petitions and instituted trials on all asserted claims for both patents. On October 5, 2016, the Company filed a motion to stay the district court litigation in order to allow the IPR trials to run their course, which the district court denied. A claim construction hearing before the district court took place on January 31, 2017 and the court’s ruling was issued on June 8, 2017. The PTAB rendered its final written decisions in both IPR trials on September 22 and 25, 2017, finding that the Company had not shown by a preponderance of the evidence that the subject claims of the two patents were unpatentable. On October 4, 2017, the court entered a new case schedule for the litigation, although a trial date had not yet been set, and the parties engaged in settlement discussions. Settlement was reached on November 15, 2017 the terms of which are confidential. As part of the settlement, the Company received a release for past claims. The Company made no admissions of liability. The parties filed a Stipulation of Dismissal on November 20, 2017 and the court dismissed all claims and counterclaims with prejudice. ﻿ In addition to the foregoing, the Company is involved in certain other pending and threatened legal proceedings, including commercial disputes and workers’ compensation and employee matters arising out of the conduct of its business. While the ultimate outcome of these other legal proceedings cannot be determined at this time, it is the opinion of management that the resolution of these other actions will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. ﻿ On a quarterly basis, the Company evaluates the potential outcome of all significant contingencies and estimates the likelihood that a future event or events will confirm the loss of an asset or the incurrence of a liability. When information available prior to the issuance of the Company’s financial statements indicates that, in management’s judgment, it is probable that an asset had been impaired or a liability had been incurred at the date of the financial statements and the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated, the contingency is accrued by a charge to income. During the third and fourth quarters of 2017, the Company recorded pre-tax contingent liability charges of $2,850 and $1,450, respectively, related to the foregoing matters.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for loss and gain contingencies. Describes any existing condition, situation, or set of circumstances involving uncertainty as of the balance sheet date (or prior to issuance of the financial statements) as to a probable or reasonably possible loss incurred by an entity that will ultimately be resolved when one or more future events occur or fail to occur, and typically discloses the amount of loss recorded or a range of possible loss, or an assertion that no reasonable estimate can be made. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 6 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14472-108349 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 460 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6851643&loc=d3e12021-110248 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14326-108349 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14394-108349 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 9 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14557-108349 Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 460 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6851643&loc=d3e12053-110248 Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14435-108349 Reference 8: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 5 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14453-108349 Reference 9: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 10 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14615-108349 + Details
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