Commitments and Contingencies
Operating Leases
We have entered into various non-cancelable operating lease agreements for certain of our offices, land, and data centers throughout the world with original lease periods expiring primarily between 2014 and 2063. We are committed to pay a portion of the actual operating expenses under certain of these lease agreements. These operating expenses are not included in the table below. Certain of these arrangements have free or escalating rent payment provisions. We recognize rent expense under such arrangements on a straight-line basis.
As of December 31, 2013, future minimum payments under non-cancelable operating leases, net of sublease income amounts, were as follows over each of the next five years and thereafter (in millions):
|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Operating Leases | | Sub-lease Income | | Net Operating Leases |
2014 | 527 |
| | 28 |
| | 499 |
|
2015 | 501 |
| | 24 |
| | 477 |
|
2016 | 454 |
| | 16 |
| | 438 |
|
2017 | 427 |
| | 9 |
| | 418 |
|
2018 | 373 |
| | 3 |
| | 370 |
|
Thereafter | 1,845 |
| | 9 |
| | 1,836 |
|
Total minimum payments | $ | 4,127 |
| | $ | 89 |
|
| $ | 4,038 |
|
Certain leases have adjustments for market provisions. Amounts in the above table represent our best estimates of future payments to be made under these leases. Rent expense under operating leases, including co-location arrangements, was $380 million, $448 million, and $525 million in 2011, 2012, and 2013.
Purchase Obligations
At December 31, 2013, we had $3.3 billion of other non-cancelable contractual obligations, primarily related to certain of our distribution arrangements, video and other content licensing revenue sharing arrangements, data center operations and facility build-outs, as well as purchase of inventory.
Letters of Credit
At December 31, 2013, we had unused letters of credit for $173 million, of which $69 million related to our Motorola Mobile segment.
Indemnifications
In the normal course of business to facilitate transactions in our services and products, we indemnify certain parties, including advertisers, Google Network Members, and lessors with respect to certain matters. We have agreed to hold certain parties harmless against losses arising from a breach of representations or covenants, or out of intellectual property infringement or other claims made against certain parties. Several of these agreements limit the time within which an indemnification claim can be made and the amount of the claim. In addition, we have entered into indemnification agreements with our officers and directors, and our bylaws contain similar indemnification obligations to our agents.
It is not possible to make a reasonable estimate of the maximum potential amount under these indemnification agreements due to the unique facts and circumstances involved in each particular agreement. Additionally, we have a limited history of prior indemnification claims and the payments we have made under such agreements have not had a material adverse effect on our results of operations, cash flows, or financial position. However, to the extent that valid indemnification claims arise in the future, future payments by us could be significant and could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or cash flows in a particular period. As of December 31, 2013, we did not have any material indemnification claims that were probable or reasonably possible.
Legal Matters
Antitrust Investigations
On November 30, 2010, the European Commission's (EC) Directorate General for Competition opened an investigation into various antitrust-related complaints against us. We believe we have adequately responded to all of the allegations made against us. We continue to cooperate with the EC and are pursuing a potential resolution that would avoid a finding of infringement and a fine. The EC has also opened an investigation into Motorola's licensing practices for standards essential patents and use of standards-essential patents in litigation on the basis of complaints brought by Microsoft and Apple. The EC has issued a Statement of Objections against Motorola alleging abuse of a dominant position with respect to these standards-essential patents. We have responded to the Statement of Objections and are defending the case.
The Comision Nacional de Defensa de la Competencia in Argentina, the Competition Commission of India, the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission, Brazil's Council for Economic Defense and the Canadian Competition Bureau have also opened investigations into certain of our business practices.
State attorneys general from the states of Texas, Ohio, and Mississippi have also issued Civil Investigative Demands relating to our business practices. We are cooperating with the state attorneys general and are responding to their information requests on an ongoing basis.
EPA Investigation
In February 2009, we learned of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) investigation into an alleged release of refrigerant at one of our smaller data center facilities, which we acquired from DoubleClick, and the accuracy of related statements and records. We are cooperating with the EPA and have provided documents and other materials.
Patent and Intellectual Property Claims
We have had patent, copyright, and trademark infringement lawsuits filed against us claiming that certain of our products, services, and technologies, including Android, Google Search, Google AdWords, Google AdSense, Google Books, Google News, Google Image Search, Google Chrome, Google Talk, Google Voice, Motorola devices and YouTube, infringe the intellectual property rights of others. Adverse results in these lawsuits may include awards of substantial monetary damages, costly royalty or licensing agreements, or orders preventing us from offering certain features, functionalities, products, or services, and may also cause us to change our business practices, and require development of non-infringing products or technologies, which could result in a loss of revenues for us and otherwise harm our business. In addition, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has increasingly become an important forum to litigate intellectual property disputes because an ultimate loss for a company or its suppliers in an ITC action could result in a prohibition on importing infringing products into the U.S. Since the U.S. is an important market, a prohibition on importation could have an adverse effect on us, including preventing us from importing many important products into the U.S. or necessitating workarounds that may limit certain features of our products.
Furthermore, many of our agreements with our customers and partners require us to indemnify them for certain intellectual property infringement claims against them, which would increase our costs as a result of defending such claims, and may require that we pay significant damages if there were an adverse ruling in any such claims. Our customers and partners may discontinue the use of our products, services, and technologies, as a result of injunctions or otherwise, which could result in loss of revenues and adversely impact our business.
Other
We are also regularly subject to claims, suits, government investigations, and other proceedings involving competition and antitrust (such as the pending investigation by the EC described above), intellectual property, privacy, tax, labor and employment, commercial disputes, content generated by our users, goods and services offered by advertisers or publishers using our platforms, personal injury, consumer protection, and other matters. Such claims, suits, government investigations, and other proceedings could result in fines, civil or criminal penalties, or other adverse consequences.
Certain of our outstanding legal matters include speculative claims for substantial or indeterminate amounts of damages. We record a liability when we believe that it is probable that a loss has been incurred and the amount can be reasonably estimated. We evaluate, on a monthly basis, developments in our legal matters that could affect the amount of liability that has been previously accrued, and make adjustments as appropriate. Significant judgment is required to determine both likelihood of there being and the estimated amount of a loss related to such matters.
With respect to our outstanding legal matters, based on our current knowledge, we believe that the amount or range of reasonably possible loss will not, either individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on our business, consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. However, the outcome of such legal matters is inherently unpredictable and subject to significant uncertainties.
We expense legal fees in the period in which they are incurred.
Taxes
We are under audit by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and various other tax authorities, including European governments, with regards to income tax and indirect tax matters. We have reserved for potential adjustments to our provision for income taxes and accrual of indirect taxes that may result from examinations by, or any negotiated agreements with, these tax authorities, and we believe that the final outcome of these examinations or agreements will not have a material effect on our results of operations. If events occur which indicate payment of these amounts is unnecessary, the reversal of the liabilities would result in the recognition of benefits in the period we determine the liabilities are no longer necessary. If our estimates of the federal, state, and foreign income tax liabilities and indirect tax liabilities are less than the ultimate assessment, a further charge to expense would result.
