Note 14 . LEGAL PROCEEDINGS AND CONTINGENCIES The Company and certain of its subsidiaries are involved in v arious lawsuits, claims, government investigati ons and other legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of business . The Company recognizes accruals for such contingencies when it is probable that a liability will be incurred and the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated. These matters involve patent infringement, antitrust, securities, pricing, sales and marketing practices, environmental, commercial, health and safety matters, consumer fraud, employment matters, product liability and insurance coverage. The most significant of these matters are described below. Although the Company believes it has substantial defenses in these matters, there can be no assurance that there will not be an increase in the scope of pending matters or that any future lawsuits, claims, government investigations or other legal proceedings will not be material. Unless otherwise noted, the Company is unable to assess the outcome of the respective litigation nor is it able to provide an estimated range of potential loss. Furthermore, failure to enforce our patent rights would likely result in substantial decreases in the respective product sales from generic competition. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PLAVIX* Litigation PLAVIX* is currently the Company's largest product ranked by net sales. The PLAVIX* patents are subject to a number of challenges in the U.S., including the litigation with Apotex Inc. and Apotex Corp. (Apotex) described below, and in other less significant markets for the product. The Company and its product partner, sanofi, (the Companies) intend to vigorously pursue enforcement of their patent rights in PLAVIX*. PLAVIX* Litigation   U.S. Patent Infringement Litigation against Apotex and Related Matters As previously disclosed, the Company's U.S. territory partnership under its alliance with sanofi is a plaintiff in a pending patent infringement lawsuit instituted in the United States District Court for the