COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | 9 Months Ended |
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Sep. 30, 2011 | |
| COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES |
10. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Litigation. On August 15, 2008,
a competitor, Exergen Corp., filed suit in the United States
District Court for the District of Massachusetts against Kidz-Med,
Inc., ASRI and Tecnimed, Srl for patent infringement with regard to
the Thermofocus thermometer. Under the Company’s
distribution agreement with Tecnimed, Tecnimed is obligated to
indemnify the Company against certain actions including this patent
infringement action. However, as part of the Settlement
Agreement discussed in Note 8 – Notes Payable, the Company
agreed to cover its own fees and expenses in connection with this
litigation and agreed to waive any claim for lost profits that may
arise within the indemnification provision. The case is
currently at the Markman Hearing stage. Tecnimed has
provided the Company with a legal opinion that the thermometer does
not violate the competitor’s patents. The Company
is unable to make an independent assessment of this patent
infringement action and is relying on Tecnimed’s defense of
this case. As the Company believes that Tecnimed is
capable and willing to defend the Company, and that the
Company’s defense costs if any will not be significant, no
provision for possible loss related to this litigation has been
included in these consolidated financial statements. In
March 2010, the competitor filed an additional complaint against
ASRI and Kidz-Med, Inc. in the United States District Court for the
District of Massachusetts, alleging that false advertising damaged
the competitor. The competitor is seeking to enjoin the
Company from future false advertising and to recover unspecified
monetary damages. Based on the advice of counsel, the
Company believes this case is without merit. The
District Court has granted the Company’s motion to dismiss
the complaint, however, Exergen has made a motion to reconsider
that order and the motion is pending.
On September 21, 2010, Tecnimed filed a complaint against the
Company and its Kids-Med subsidiary in U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York, alleging breach of a non-compete
agreement and infringement on the Thermofocus trademark and trade
dress. Further, the complaint alleges that the Company
is in default on the payment of $209,802 of principal and $88,867
of interest under the notes due Tecnimed. (Since the
initial filing of the complaint, a customer of the Company has paid
Tecnimed approximately $46,000, which the Company applied as a
reduction of principal. As of September 30, 2011, the
Company is carrying a principal balance due Tecnimed of $163,947
and accrued interest of $86,929.) The Company has
countersued Tecnimed for breach of the Settlement Agreement that
the parties had entered into in 2009. On January 18,
2011, the U.S. District Court for Southern New York granted
Tecnimed’s request for a preliminary injunction and ordered
the Company to stop selling the Vera Temp in the allegedly
infringing package and to recall the product in the contested
packaging from customers. On February 11, 2011, after
Tecnimed posted a $130,000 preliminary injunction bond with the
Court to compensate the Company in the event Tecnimed does not
prevail in this action, the Company sent recall notices out to its
customers. The Company also complied with this
injunction by changing its retail package to reflect the order of
the Court. For the nine months ended September 30, 2011,
the Company reversed previously recognized revenues from sales in
the allegedly infringing package in the amount of
$84,208. The Company now ships the thermometer to
customers in its new, Court-approved package. The
Company has incurred approximately $30,500 of direct costs
specifically related to the recall, including shipping and
repackaging costs. Of this amount, $5,500 was expensed
during the second quarter of 2011 and the remainder was expensed as
of December 31, 2010. In addition, the recall caused
lost sales which the Company would seek to recover from the
preliminary injunction bond should it prevail in the
case. The Company has appealed the District
Court’s preliminary injunction order to the United States
Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. That appeal has
been fully briefed and a decision is expected in the first quarter
of 2012. The Company has acknowledged the outstanding
note and interest owed to Tecnimed, yet seeks to offset those
amounts by the damages caused by Tecnimed’s breach of the
Settlement Agreement. Tecnimed is seeking additional
damages caused by the Company’s use of the allegedly
infringing packaging. Based on advice of counsel, the
Company does not believe it has significant exposure because
Tecnimed had no material amount of sales in the United States at
the time. Finally, Tecnimed is alleging it is entitled
to recover its attorneys’ fees under the “exceptional
case” provisions of the Lanham Act. Based on the
advice of counsel, the Company believes that it is unlikely that
this case would be deemed an exceptional case.
The Company has, and may in the future, become a party to various
claims, complaints and legal actions arising in the ordinary course
of business. In the opinion of management, after
consulting with counsel, there are currently no additional legal
matters that would have a further material adverse effect on the
financial statements of the Company taken as whole as of September
30, 2011.
Employment agreements. In conjunction with
the Disintegrator acquisition (See Note 7
– Patent, Contingent Note Payable and Contingent
Compensation), the Company entered into a ten year employment
agreement with a former executive and majority owner of Safeguard
in addition to contingent compensation per the asset purchase
agreement. The employment agreement calls for a base
salary of $10,000 per month beginning upon the receipt of $500,000
of combined new capital and revenue, and $20,000 per month
beginning upon the receipt of $2,500,000 of combined new capital
and revenue. The $20,000 per month base salary began
accruing January 1, 2011. The employment agreement may
be terminated by the executive in the event of default with prior
notice, and by the Company for cause, or death or permanent
disability of the executive. During the nine months
ended September 30, 2011, the Company expensed $180,000 of base
salary related to this agreement. At September 30, 2011,
approximately
$50,000 of base salary was unpaid.
Effective April 5, 2007, the Company entered into an employment
agreement with our chief executive officer. This
agreement continues until (i) another chief executive officer is
appointed by a majority of our Board of Directors, (ii) either
party terminates in accordance with the provisions of the
agreement, or (iii) his death or permanent
disability. The agreement calls for a minimum salary of
$10,000 per month plus additional cash and stock compensation upon
the achievement of various milestones. The Company has
not made certain cash payments due under the
agreement. During the nine months ended September 30,
2011, the Company expensed $90,000 related to this
agreement. As of September 30, 2011, $380,000 has been
accrued as compensation payable. This employment
agreement also called for the issuance of 2,500 fully-vested,
restricted shares of the Company’s common stock upon
execution. As of September 30, 2011, the shares had not
been issued, however the Company has accrued $70,000 as an
obligation to issue shares based on the closing price on the date
of grant.
On March 1, 2010, the Company entered into a five year employment
agreement with an executive. The employment agreement calls for the
monthly award of restricted shares of our common stock equivalent
to $15,000 per month based on the average closing price for the
month plus a 2% cash bonus for sales collected through June 30,
2010. Beginning on the later of July 1, 2010, or date
the Company’s registration statement with the SEC becomes
effective, the executive shall be entitled to a base salary of
$12,000 per month, plus a 2% cash bonus for sales collected and a
2% common stock bonus for sales collected. The
Company’s registration statement with the SEC became
effective on January 14, 2011. The shares issuable for
the stock bonus shall be determined based on the five day average
closing price prior to the collection of the sale. The
agreement also calls for the reimbursement of expenses including
payment to the executive of up to $650 per month for office
space. During the nine months ended September 30, 2011,
the Company has
paid $108,000 in accordance with this
agreement.
Service agreements. Beginning January 1, 2010,
the Company and a marketing consultant entered into an amended
agreement, whereby the consultant is entitled to receive warrants
valued up to $1,987,500 based upon the execution of certain
licensing agreements and upon the achievement of certain collected
revenue targets. Upon achievement of the targets,
warrants equivalent to the first $200,000 shall be issued based on
the 30 day trailing weighted average price of the Company’s
common stock. The exercise price is to be determined as
50% of the 30 day trailing weighted average price. All
warrants are exercisable over 5 years from the date of
issuance. Upon achievement of subsequent targets,
beginning at $2,000,000 of revenues collected, warrants equivalent
of up to $1,787,500 shall be issued based on the 30 day trailing
weighted average price and an exercise price equal to the 30 day
trailing weighted average price. The Company will
account for warrants issuable when the targets are
met. In addition, the consultant is entitled to a cash
fee of $5,000 per month, plus reimbursement of out-of-pocket
expenses, for services rendered through the conclusion of the
agreement in August 2019. The fee is subject to
escalation upon the achievement of certain collected revenue
targets as a result of the consultant’s
efforts. For the year ended December 31, 2010, the
Company had incurred $131,903 for fees and expenses related to this
amended agreement and paid $72,424. In January 2011, the
Company and the consultant settled all amounts due through December
31, 2010, for the issuance of 12,000,000 shares of our common
stock, $15,000 in cash and $2,480 of expenses. The
shares were valued at $35,000 based on the value of unpaid services
in accordance with the agreement between the
parties. The 12,000,000 common shares (equivalent to
60,000 shares after the 200-to-1 reverse stock split) were issued
on January 21, 2011. During the nine months ended September 30,
2011, the Company accrued cash fees of $45,000 related to this
agreement. On July 27, 2011, the Company issued 72,727
common shares as payment for the $15,000 cash piece within the 2010
year end settlement.
On September 3, 2011, the Company agreed to pay up to 7% of sales
and 10% of investment funds received from direct introduction by a
consultant. In addition, the Company agreed to issue
150,000 cashless warrants that may be converted into an equivalent
amount of common shares. These warrants are issuable to
4 individuals associated with the consultant and are contingent
upon the sale or investment of $50,000 resulting from the work of
the consultant.
Purchase and sale agreements. From time to time,
the Company enters into agreements to purchase components and
finished products for resale. The purchase agreements
have various durations and require the Company to purchase certain
minimum quantities. As of September 30, 2011, the
Company had advanced $36,900 to a vendor is committed to pay an
additional $86,100 prior to shipment of the
product.
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