Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Contingencies (Details)

v3.5.0.2
Contingencies (Details)
$ in Millions
 1 Months Ended 3 Months Ended 12 Months Ended
Jul. 31, 2016
USD ($)
May 31, 2016
USD ($)
Jan. 31, 2016
USD ($)
Oct. 31, 2015
USD ($)
Nov. 30, 2012
Jun. 30, 2004
Jan. 31, 2016
USD ($)
Apr. 30, 2014
USD ($)
Jul. 31, 2016
USD ($)
Jul. 31, 2015
USD ($)
Jun. 20, 2014
USD ($)
Contingencies (Details) [Line Items]                      
Gain Contingency, Patents Allegedly Infringed upon, Number           6          
Number of Licensee Patents 4               4    
Gain Contingency, Patents Found Not Infringed upon, Number         1            
Gain Contingencies Prejudgement Interest                 $ 12.5    
Number of Pending Cases                 6    
Perkin Elmer [Member]                      
Contingencies (Details) [Line Items]                      
Escrow Deposit                     $ 7.0
Luminex [Member]                      
Contingencies (Details) [Line Items]                      
Litigation Settlement, Amount                   $ 7.1  
Siemens [Member]                      
Contingencies (Details) [Line Items]                      
Litigation Settlement, Amount                   6.7  
Royalty Revenue                   $ 1.0  
Affymetrix Inc [Member]                      
Contingencies (Details) [Line Items]                      
Payments for Legal Settlements       $ 6.8              
Agilent Technologies, Inc. [Member]                      
Contingencies (Details) [Line Items]                      
Payments for Legal Settlements     $ 6.1                
Life Technologies Corporation [Member]                      
Contingencies (Details) [Line Items]                      
Payments for Legal Settlements   $ 24.3                  
Illumina Inc [Member]                      
Contingencies (Details) [Line Items]                      
Payments for Legal Settlements $ 14.5                    
Subpoena [Member]                      
Contingencies (Details) [Line Items]                      
Investigation Period                 The time periodinitially covered by the investigation was from 2004 through 2011.    
Estimated Litigation Settlement Amount               $ 2.0      
Period Over Which Settlement Amount Has to Be Paid               5 years      
Additional Payment of Litigation Settlement Amount             $ 1.5        
Total Liability For Settlement Agreement 1.2               $ 1.2    
Current Liability For Settlement Agreement 0.4               0.4    
Other Liability For Settlement Agreement 0.8               $ 0.8    
Minimum [Member] | Siemens [Member]                      
Contingencies (Details) [Line Items]                      
Litigation Settlement Period                 2015    
Minimum [Member] | Subpoena [Member]                      
Contingencies (Details) [Line Items]                      
Litigation Settlement Period                 2004    
Maximum [Member] | Siemens [Member]                      
Contingencies (Details) [Line Items]                      
Litigation Settlement Period                 2019    
Maximum [Member] | Subpoena [Member]                      
Contingencies (Details) [Line Items]                      
Litigation Settlement Period                 2014    
Indemnification Agreement [Member]                      
Contingencies (Details) [Line Items]                      
Gain Contingency, Unrecorded Amount $ 48.5               $ 48.5