Commitments and Contingencies	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2023
Commitments and Contingencies.
Commitments and Contingencies	(10)Commitments and Contingencies Legal and Regulatory Matters In the ordinary course of business, we are involved in various pending and threatened litigation and regulatory matters related to our operations, some of which include claims for punitive or exemplary damages. Our ordinary course litigation may include class action lawsuits, which make allegations related to various aspects of our business. From time to time, we also receive requests for information from various state and federal regulatory authorities, some of which take the form of civil investigative demands or subpoenas. Some of these regulatory inquiries may result in the assessment of fines for violations of regulations or settlements with such authorities requiring a variety of remedies. We believe that none of these actions depart from customary litigation or regulatory inquiries incidental to our business. We review lawsuits and other legal and regulatory matters (collectively "legal proceedings") on an ongoing basis when making accrual and disclosure decisions. When assessing reasonably possible and probable outcomes, management bases its decision on its assessment of the ultimate outcome assuming all appeals have been exhausted. For legal proceedings where it has been determined that a loss is both probable and reasonably estimable, a liability based on known facts and which represents our best estimate has been recorded. Actual losses may materially differ from the amounts recorded, and the ultimate outcome of our pending cases is generally not yet determinable. While some of these matters could be material to our operating results or cash flows for any particular period if an unfavorable outcome results, at present, we do not believe the ultimate resolution of currently pending legal proceedings, either individually or in the aggregate, will have a material adverse effect on our financial condition. PennyMac Litigation On November 5, 2019, Black Knight Servicing Technologies, LLC (“BKST”), an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Black Knight, filed a Complaint and Demand for Jury Trial (the “Black Knight Complaint”) against PennyMac Loan Services, LLC (“PennyMac”) in the Circuit Court for the Fourth Judicial Circuit in and for Duval County, Florida. The Black Knight Complaint includes causes of action for breach of contract and misappropriation of MSP^® System trade secrets in order to develop an imitation mortgage processing system intended to replace the MSP^® System. The Black Knight Complaint seeks damages for breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets, injunctive relief under the Florida Uniform Trade Secrets Act and declaratory judgment that BKST owns all intellectual property and software developed by or on behalf of PennyMac as a result of its wrongful use of and access to the MSP^® System and related trade secret and confidential information. PennyMac filed a motion to compel arbitration of the action, and the trial court granted the motion on April 6, 2020. The trial court’s order compelling arbitration was confirmed by the Florida First District Court of Appeal on January 6, 2021. Shortly after the filing of the Black Knight Complaint, on November 6, 2019, PennyMac filed an Antitrust Complaint (the “PennyMac Complaint”) against Black Knight in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The PennyMac Complaint included causes of action for alleged monopolization and attempted monopolization under Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, violation of California’s Cartwright Act, violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law and common law unfair competition under California law. The PennyMac Complaint sought equitable remedies, damages and other monetary relief, including treble and punitive damages. Generally, PennyMac alleged that Black Knight relies on various anticompetitive, unfair and discriminatory practices to maintain and to enhance its dominance in the mortgage servicing platform market and in an attempt to monopolize the platform software applications market. Black Knight moved to dismiss the PennyMac Complaint or have the action transferred to Florida based upon a forum selection clause in the agreement with BKST. On February 13, 2020, the judge granted Black Knight's motion to transfer the case to Florida and denied as moot the motion to dismiss. On April 17, 2020, PennyMac filed a notice of dismissal of this action without prejudice and indicated that they intended to bring the claims raised in the dismissed PennyMac Complaint as defenses, third party claims and/or counterclaims in arbitration. On April 23, 2020, the court entered an order dismissing the action without prejudice and directing that the clerk close the case. On April 28, 2020, PennyMac submitted this matter to the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") for arbitration. The arbitrator was confirmed by the AAA on July 21, 2020. On February 17, 2022, PennyMac filed an amended arbitration demand and Black Knight filed an answering statement on March 2, 2022. The final arbitration hearing on both Black Knight’s trade secret case and PennyMac’s antitrust case has concluded, and we currently expect the arbitrator’s final decision to be issued by November 30, 2023. As these cases continue to evolve, it is not possible to reasonably estimate the probability that we will ultimately prevail on our lawsuit or be held liable for the violations alleged in the PennyMac Complaint, nor is it possible to reasonably estimate the ultimate gain or loss, if any, or range of gain or loss that could result from these cases. FTC Litigation regarding ICE Transaction On March 9, 2023, the FTC filed a complaint under its administrative court, styled In the Matter of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. and Black Knight, Inc., seeking to block the ICE Transaction and alleging that ICE’s proposed acquisition of BKI violates Section 5 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45, and if consummated would violate Section 7 of the Clayton Act, as amended, 15 U.S.C. § 18, and Section 5 of the FTC Act by harming competition and leading to higher costs for lenders and buyers. Because both ICE and BKI each own software tools known as loan origination systems (“LOS”) used by mortgage lenders to manage the mortgage loan origination process, and each own product pricing and eligibility engines (“PPE”), which is software that integrates with an LOS and is used by lenders to obtain and lock in the best interest rates for a borrower, the FTC alleges that the merger would harm competition for these products and result in increased costs, which would eventually be passed on to buyers. Furthermore, the FTC alleges that, because ICE and BKI offer other ancillary services in addition to PPEs, which rely on LOS integration, the proposed merger would disadvantage additional competing ancillary service providers by diverting business to those provided by ICE. To remedy any hypothetical competitive harm resulting from the proposed merger, on March 7, 2023, ICE and BKI agreed to sell BKI’s Empower^® LOS and certain related services to a technology company Constellation Web Solutions, Inc., a subsidiary of Constellation Software, Inc. (“Constellation”), and on July 14, 2023, ICE and BKI agreed to sell BKI’s Optimal Blue business, including its PPE product, to a subsidiary of Constellation. On April 10, 2023, the FTC filed a parallel complaint in federal court seeking injunctive relief, styled Federal Trade Commission v. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. and Black Knight, Inc., pending in the United States District Court, Northern District of California, San Francisco Division. The FTC sought a preliminary injunction to block ICE and BKI from completing the ICE Transaction during the pendency of the administrative proceeding on the merits. On April 21, 2023, the District Court entered a temporary restraining order that prevented ICE and BKI from consummating the ICE Transaction until 11:59 p.m. on the second business day after the Court rules on the FTC’s motion for a preliminary injunction, or a date set by the Court, whichever is later. On April 25, 2023, BKI filed its response to the FTC’s complaint generally denying the allegations and asserting several defenses. BKI also asserted a counterclaim against the FTC seeking declaratory and injunctive relief alleging violations of BKI’s constitutional rights. On July 17, 2023 the U.S. District Court granted the parties’ joint motion to continue the hearing on the preliminary injunction, which had been scheduled to commence on July 24, 2023, until August 14, 2023 to allow the FTC time to evaluate BKI’s and ICE’s proposed remedy involving the divestiture of the Empower^®LOS business and the Optimal Blue business. On July 25, 2023, the FTC withdrew the matter from adjudication within its administrative forum. On August 7, 2023, the parties announced a joint stipulation to dismiss the federal court complaint and dissolve the temporary restraining order. ICE and Black Knight entered into an Agreement Containing Consent Orders with the FTC's Bureau of Competition on August 25, 2023, which fully and finally resolved the matter upon completion of the transaction effective as of September 5, 2023. Refer to Note 1 – Basis and Presentation and Overview for additional information. Indemnifications and Warranties We often agree to indemnify our clients against damages and costs resulting from claims of patent, copyright, trademark infringement or breaches of confidentiality associated with use of our software through software licensing agreements. Historically, we have not made any payments under such indemnifications, but continue to monitor the conditions that are subject to the indemnifications to identify whether a loss has occurred that is both probable and estimable that would require recognition. In addition, we warrant to clients that our software operates substantially in accordance with the software specifications. Historically, no costs have been incurred related to software warranties and none are expected in the future, and as such, no accruals for warranty costs have been made. Indemnification Agreement We are party to a cross-indemnity agreement dated December 22, 2014, with ServiceLink Holdings, LLC ("ServiceLink"). Pursuant to this agreement, ServiceLink indemnifies us from liabilities relating to, arising out of or resulting from the conduct of ServiceLink’s business or any action, suit or proceeding in which we or any of our subsidiaries are named by reason of being a successor to the business of Lender Processing Services, Inc. and the cause of such action, suit or proceeding relates to the business of ServiceLink. In return, we indemnify ServiceLink for liabilities relating to, arising out of, or resulting from the conduct of our business.

Commitments and Contingencies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2023

(10)Commitments and Contingencies

Legal and Regulatory Matters

In the ordinary course of business, we are involved in various pending and threatened litigation and regulatory matters related to our operations, some of which include claims for punitive or exemplary damages. Our ordinary course litigation may include class action lawsuits, which make allegations related to various aspects of our business. From time to time, we also receive requests for information from various state and federal regulatory authorities, some of which take the form of civil investigative demands or subpoenas. Some of these regulatory inquiries may result in the assessment of fines for violations of regulations or settlements with such authorities requiring a variety of remedies. We believe that none of these actions depart from customary litigation or regulatory inquiries incidental to our business.

We review lawsuits and other legal and regulatory matters (collectively "legal proceedings") on an ongoing basis when making accrual and disclosure decisions. When assessing reasonably possible and probable outcomes, management bases its decision on its assessment of the ultimate outcome assuming all appeals have been exhausted. For legal proceedings where it has been determined that a loss is both probable and reasonably estimable, a liability based on known facts and which represents our best estimate has been recorded. Actual losses may materially differ from the amounts recorded, and the ultimate outcome of our pending cases is generally not yet determinable. While some of these matters could be material to our operating results or cash flows for any particular period if an unfavorable outcome results, at present, we do not believe the ultimate resolution of currently pending legal proceedings, either individually or in the aggregate, will have a material adverse effect on our financial condition.

PennyMac Litigation

On November 5, 2019, Black Knight Servicing Technologies, LLC (“BKST”), an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Black Knight, filed a Complaint and Demand for Jury Trial (the “Black Knight Complaint”) against PennyMac Loan Services, LLC (“PennyMac”) in the Circuit Court for the Fourth Judicial Circuit in and for Duval County, Florida. The Black Knight Complaint includes causes of action for breach of contract and misappropriation of MSP^® System trade secrets in order to develop an imitation mortgage processing system intended to replace the MSP^® System. The Black Knight Complaint seeks damages for breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets, injunctive relief under the Florida Uniform Trade Secrets Act and declaratory judgment that BKST owns all intellectual property and software developed by or on behalf of PennyMac as a result of its wrongful use of and access to the MSP^® System and related trade secret and confidential information. PennyMac filed a motion to compel arbitration of the action, and the trial court granted the motion on April 6, 2020. The trial court’s order compelling arbitration was confirmed by the Florida First District Court of Appeal on January 6, 2021.

Shortly after the filing of the Black Knight Complaint, on November 6, 2019, PennyMac filed an Antitrust Complaint (the “PennyMac Complaint”) against Black Knight in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The PennyMac Complaint included causes of action for alleged monopolization and attempted monopolization under Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, violation of California’s Cartwright Act, violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law and common law unfair competition under California law. The PennyMac Complaint sought equitable remedies, damages and other monetary relief, including treble and punitive damages. Generally, PennyMac alleged that Black Knight relies on various anticompetitive, unfair and discriminatory practices to maintain and to enhance its dominance in the mortgage servicing platform market and in an attempt to monopolize the platform software applications market. Black Knight moved to dismiss the PennyMac Complaint or have the action transferred to Florida based upon a forum selection clause in the agreement with BKST. On February 13, 2020, the judge granted Black Knight's motion to transfer the case to Florida and denied as moot the motion to dismiss. On April 17, 2020, PennyMac filed a notice of dismissal of this action without prejudice and indicated that they intended to bring the claims raised in the dismissed PennyMac Complaint as defenses, third party claims and/or counterclaims in arbitration. On April 23, 2020, the court entered an order dismissing the action without prejudice and directing that the clerk close the case. On April 28, 2020, PennyMac submitted this matter to the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") for arbitration. The arbitrator was confirmed

by the AAA on July 21, 2020. On February 17, 2022, PennyMac filed an amended arbitration demand and Black Knight filed an answering statement on March 2, 2022.

The final arbitration hearing on both Black Knight’s trade secret case and PennyMac’s antitrust case has concluded, and we currently expect the arbitrator’s final decision to be issued by November 30, 2023. As these cases continue to evolve, it is not possible to reasonably estimate the probability that we will ultimately prevail on our lawsuit or be held liable for the violations alleged in the PennyMac Complaint, nor is it possible to reasonably estimate the ultimate gain or loss, if any, or range of gain or loss that could result from these cases.

FTC Litigation regarding ICE Transaction

On March 9, 2023, the FTC filed a complaint under its administrative court, styled In the Matter of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. and Black Knight, Inc., seeking to block the ICE Transaction and alleging that ICE’s proposed acquisition of BKI violates Section 5 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45, and if consummated would violate Section 7 of the Clayton Act, as amended, 15 U.S.C. § 18, and Section 5 of the FTC Act by harming competition and leading to higher costs for lenders and buyers. Because both ICE and BKI each own software tools known as loan origination systems (“LOS”) used by mortgage lenders to manage the mortgage loan origination process, and each own product pricing and eligibility engines (“PPE”), which is software that integrates with an LOS and is used by lenders to obtain and lock in the best interest rates for a borrower, the FTC alleges that the merger would harm competition for these products and result in increased costs, which would eventually be passed on to buyers. Furthermore, the FTC alleges that, because ICE and BKI offer other ancillary services in addition to PPEs, which rely on LOS integration, the proposed merger would disadvantage additional competing ancillary service providers by diverting business to those provided by ICE.

To remedy any hypothetical competitive harm resulting from the proposed merger, on March 7, 2023, ICE and BKI agreed to sell BKI’s Empower^® LOS and certain related services to a technology company Constellation Web Solutions, Inc., a subsidiary of Constellation Software, Inc. (“Constellation”), and on July 14, 2023, ICE and BKI agreed to sell BKI’s Optimal Blue business, including its PPE product, to a subsidiary of Constellation.

On April 10, 2023, the FTC filed a parallel complaint in federal court seeking injunctive relief, styled Federal Trade Commission v. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. and Black Knight, Inc., pending in the United States District Court, Northern District of California, San Francisco Division. The FTC sought a preliminary injunction to block ICE and BKI from completing the ICE Transaction during the pendency of the administrative proceeding on the merits. On April 21, 2023, the District Court entered a temporary restraining order that prevented ICE and BKI from consummating the ICE Transaction until 11:59 p.m. on the second business day after the Court rules on the FTC’s motion for a preliminary injunction, or a date set by the Court, whichever is later. On April 25, 2023, BKI filed its response to the FTC’s complaint generally denying the allegations and asserting several defenses. BKI also asserted a counterclaim against the FTC seeking declaratory and injunctive relief alleging violations of BKI’s constitutional rights. On July 17, 2023 the U.S. District Court granted the parties’ joint motion to continue the hearing on the preliminary injunction, which had been scheduled to commence on July 24, 2023, until August 14, 2023 to allow the FTC time to evaluate BKI’s and ICE’s proposed remedy involving the divestiture of the Empower^®LOS business and the Optimal Blue business. On July 25, 2023, the FTC withdrew the matter from adjudication within its administrative forum.

On August 7, 2023, the parties announced a joint stipulation to dismiss the federal court complaint and dissolve the temporary restraining order. ICE and Black Knight entered into an Agreement Containing Consent Orders with the FTC's Bureau of Competition on August 25, 2023, which fully and finally resolved the matter upon completion of the transaction effective as of September 5, 2023. Refer to Note 1 – Basis and Presentation and Overview for additional information.

Indemnifications and Warranties

We often agree to indemnify our clients against damages and costs resulting from claims of patent, copyright, trademark infringement or breaches of confidentiality associated with use of our software through software licensing agreements. Historically, we have not made any payments under such indemnifications, but continue to monitor the conditions that are subject to the indemnifications to identify whether a loss has occurred that is both probable and estimable that would require recognition. In addition, we warrant to clients that our software operates substantially in accordance with the software specifications. Historically, no costs have been incurred related to software warranties and none are expected in the future, and as such, no accruals for warranty costs have been made.

Indemnification Agreement

We are party to a cross-indemnity agreement dated December 22, 2014, with ServiceLink Holdings, LLC ("ServiceLink"). Pursuant to this agreement, ServiceLink indemnifies us from liabilities relating to, arising out of or resulting from the conduct of ServiceLink’s business or any action, suit or proceeding in which we or any of our subsidiaries are named by reason of being a successor to the business of Lender Processing Services, Inc. and the cause of such action, suit or proceeding relates to the business of ServiceLink. In return, we indemnify ServiceLink for liabilities relating to, arising out of, or resulting from the conduct of our business.

Black Knight, Inc. 10-Q