AMD 2008 Annual Report Download - page 46

We are party to litigation and may become a party to other claims or litigation that could cause us to incur
substantial costs or pay substantial damages or prohibit us from selling our products.
From time to time we are a defendant or plaintiff in various legal actions. We also sell products to
consumers, which could increase our exposure to consumer actions such as product liability claims. Litigation
can involve complex factual and legal questions and its outcome is uncertain. Any claim that is successfully
asserted against us may cause us to pay substantial damages.
With respect to intellectual property litigation, from time to time, we have been notified, or third parties may
bring or have brought actions against us, based on allegations that we are infringing the intellectual property
rights of others. If any such claims are asserted against us, we may seek to obtain a license under the third party’s
intellectual property rights. We cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain all of the necessary licenses on
satisfactory terms, if at all. In the event that we cannot obtain a license, these parties may file lawsuits against us
seeking damages (potentially up to and including treble damages) or an injunction against the sale of our
products that incorporate allegedly infringed intellectual property or against the operation of our business as
presently conducted, which could result in our having to stop the sale of some of our products or to increase the
costs of selling some of our products or could damage our reputation. The award of damages, including material
royalty payments, or the entry of an injunction against the manufacture and sale of some or all of our products,
would have a material adverse effect on us. We could decide, in the alternative, to redesign our products or to
resort to litigation to challenge such claims. Such challenges could be extremely expensive and time-consuming
and could have a material adverse effect on us. We cannot assure you that litigation related to our intellectual
property rights or the intellectual property rights of others can always be avoided or successfully concluded.
Even if we were to prevail, any litigation could be costly and time-consuming and would divert the attention
of our management and key personnel from our business operations, which could have a material adverse effect
on us.
We are subject to a variety of environmental laws that could result in liabilities.
Our operations and properties are subject to various United States and foreign environmental laws and
regulations, including those relating to materials used in our products and manufacturing processes, discharge of
pollutants into the environment, the treatment, transport, storage and disposal of solid and hazardous wastes, and
remediation of contamination. These laws and regulations require us to obtain permits for our operations,
including the discharge of air pollutants and wastewater. Although our management systems are designed to
maintain compliance, we cannot assure you that we have been or will be at all times in complete compliance with
such laws, regulations and permits. If we violate or fail to comply with any of them, a range of consequences
could result, including fines, suspension of production, alteration of manufacturing processes, import/export
restrictions, sales limitations, criminal and civil liabilities or other sanctions. We could also be held liable for any
and all consequences arising out of exposure to hazardous materials used, stored, released, disposed of by us or
located at or under our facilities or other environmental or natural resource damage.
Certain environmental laws, including the U.S. Comprehensive, Environmental Response, Compensation
and Liability Act of 1980, or the Superfund Act, impose strict, joint and several liability on current and previous
owners or operators of real property for the cost of removal or remediation of hazardous substances and impose
liability for damages to natural resources. These laws often impose liability even if the owner or operator did not
know of, or was not responsible for, the release of such hazardous substances. These environmental laws also
assess liability on persons who arrange for hazardous substances to be sent to disposal or treatment facilities
when such facilities are found to be contaminated. Such persons can be responsible for cleanup costs even if they
never owned or operated the contaminated facility. We have been named as a responsible party on Superfund
clean-up orders for three sites in Sunnyvale, California. Although we have not yet been, we could be named a
potentially responsible party at other Superfund or contaminated sites in the future. In addition, contamination
that has not yet been identified could exist at our other facilities.
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