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Abstract
The perfunctory section entitled Risk Factors in Avant! Corp.'s annual 10-K report to the Securities and Exchange Commission in March proved to be an eerie omen of the uncertainty the company now faces, after the company and a number of its executives pleaded no contest to criminal charges related to trade secrets theft. The No. 4 electronic design automation software developer Avant! and 7 former or current executives including CEO Gerald Hsu entered no contest pleas May 22 in Santa Clara County District Court to state criminal charges. The charges stemmed from trade-secret theft allegations first made 7 years ago by EDA market leader Cadence Design Systems Inc. Avant!, its shareholders, customers and employees - as well as the entire industry - still await the precise impact of the criminal case. As Avant!'s 10-K suggests, the pleas could be just the beginning of its woes.