AMD 2015 Annual Report Download - page 20

4,965 patents in the United States and approximately 895 patent applications pending in the United States. In
certain cases, we have filed corresponding applications in foreign jurisdictions. Including United States and
foreign matters, we have approximately 10,330 patent matters worldwide consisting of approximately 7,370
issued patents and 2,935 patent applications pending. We expect to file future patent applications in both the
United States and abroad on significant inventions, as we deem appropriate. We do not believe that any
individual patent, or the expiration of any patent, is or would be material to our business.
As is typical in the semiconductor industry, we have numerous cross-licensing and technology exchange
agreements with other companies under which we both transfer and receive technology and intellectual property
rights. One such agreement is the cross license agreement that we entered into with Intel on November 11, 2009.
Under the cross license agreement, we granted to Intel and Intel granted to us, non-exclusive, royalty-free
licenses to all of each other’s patents that were first filed no later than November 11, 2014 and each party can
exploit these patents anywhere in the world for making and selling certain semiconductor- and electronic-related
products. Under the cross license agreement, Intel has rights to make semiconductor products for third parties,
but the third-party product designs are not licensed as a result of such manufacture. We have rights to perform
assembly and testing for third parties but not rights to make semiconductor products for third parties. The term of
the cross license agreement continues until the expiration of the last to expire of the licensed patents, unless
earlier terminated. A party can terminate the cross license agreement or the rights and licenses of the other party
if the other party materially breaches the cross license agreement and does not correct the noticed material breach
within 60 days. Upon such termination, the terminated party’s license rights terminate but the terminating party’s
license rights continue, subject to that party’s continued compliance with the terms of the cross license
agreement. The cross license agreement will automatically terminate if a party undergoes a change of control (as
defined in the cross license agreement), and both parties’ licenses will terminate. Upon the bankruptcy of a party,
that party may assume, but may not assign, the cross license agreement, and in the event that the cross license
agreement cannot be assumed, the cross license agreement and the licenses granted will terminate.
Backlog
Sales are made primarily pursuant to purchase orders for current delivery or agreements covering purchases
over a period of time. Some of these orders or agreements may be revised or canceled without penalty. Generally,
in light of current industry practice, we do not believe that such orders or agreements provide meaningful
backlog figures or are necessarily indicative of actual sales for any succeeding period.
Seasonality
Our operating results tend to vary seasonally. For example, historically, first quarter PC product sales are
generally lower than fourth quarter sales. In addition, with respect to our semi-custom SoC products for game
consoles, we expect sales patterns to follow the seasonal trends of a consumer business with sales in the first half
of the year being lower than sales in the second half of the year.
Employees
As of December 26, 2015, we had approximately 9,100 employees.
Environmental Regulations
Our operations and properties have in the past been and continue to be 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
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