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Commitments and Contingencies | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2020
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES |
17. | COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
On April 8, 2019, Daniel Prescod filed suit against Celsius Holdings, Inc., Case No. 19STCV09321, pending in Superior Court for the State of California, County of Los Angeles (the “Prescod Litigation”). Daniel Prescod asserts that the Company’s use of citric acid in its products while simultaneously claiming “no preservatives” violates California Consumer Legal Remedies Act, California Business and Professions Code Section 17200, et seq., and California Business and Professions Code Section 17500, et seq., because citric acid acts as a preservative. The Company does not use citric acid as a preservative in its products, but rather as a flavoring, and therefore it believes that its “no preservatives” claim is fair and not deceptive. This matter is still in its early stages and discovery has only just begun. The Company intends to contest the claims vigorously. Since this matter is still in its initial stages, the Company is unable to predict the outcome at this time. On January 24, 2020, Evlution Nutrition, LLC filed suit against Celsius Holdings, Inc., Case No. 0:20-cv-60159-BB, pending in federal court for the Southern District of Florida, for trademark infringement (the “Evlution Litigation”). Evlution asserts that Celsius’ BCAA dietary supplement product’s use of BCAA + ENERGY infringes upon Evlution’s registered trademarks. The Company believes that Evlution’s trademarks are invalid, merely descriptive, and unenforceable and Celsius has filed a cancellation proceeding regarding those trademarks with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, which has been stayed, but Celsius reasserted these claims in counterclaims filed in the Evlution Litigation. The Company intends to defend against Evlution’s claims vigorously. This matter is still in its early stages and discovery has only just begun. Since this matter is still in its initial stages, the Company is unable to predict the outcome at this time. In June of 2020, McGovern Capital, Inc. (“McGovern”) indicated that it intended to pursue a claim in arbitration related to its Representative Agreement with Celsius Holdings, Inc. as amended by the first amendment dated August 6, 2016. Pursuant to the Representative Agreement, McGovern is entitled to receive a fee of three percent (3%) of “Net Revenues” received by the Company’s from sales of the Company’s Products in the People’s Republic of China for a period of four years from Initial Commercial Sale (which was September 1, 2017). “Net Revenues” are defined in the Representative Agreement as “the Company’s revenues net of actual discounts applied, credits and returns.” Effective January 1, 2019, the Company restructured its China operations from a distribution arrangement with Qifeng Food Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd. (“Qifeng”), to a license and royalty arrangement and a loan, pursuant to which Qifeng will market and distribute the Company’s products in China, and Celsius will receive an annual royalty payment. The Company intends to pay McGovern its percentage of the annual royalty payment, but McGovern has objected claiming that McGovern is entitled to be paid commissions on the entire royalty payment and the amount of the loan to Qifeng. The Company has obtained two opinions pursuant to GAAP and related accounting rules indicating that its agreements with Qifeng are not “Net Revenue” as it relates to the repayment of the investments which are accounted for as a note receivable to the Company, and therefore that it has not breached any obligations to McGovern under its agreements. The Company intends to defend against McGovern’s claims vigorously. This matter is still in its early stages and there has been no discovery. Since this matter is still in its initial stages, the Company is unable to predict the outcome at this time. In addition to the foregoing, from time to time, we may become party to litigation or other legal proceedings that we consider to be a part of the ordinary course of our business. The Company has entered into distribution agreements with liquidated damages in case the Company cancels the distribution agreements without Cause. Cause has been defined in various ways. It is management’s belief that no such agreement has created any liability as of September 30, 2020. Additionally, our business and results of operations may be adversely affected by the pandemic and public health crises related to the COVID-19 outbreak which is affecting the macro-economic environment. Please refer to Item 1.A. Risk Factors for further details.

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