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Proc-Type: 2001,MIC-CLEAR
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<SEC-DOCUMENT>0001193125-08-194728.txt : 20081113
<SEC-HEADER>0001193125-08-194728.hdr.sgml : 20081113
<ACCEPTANCE-DATETIME>20080911172356
<PRIVATE-TO-PUBLIC>
ACCESSION NUMBER:		0001193125-08-194728
CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE:	CORRESP
PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT:		1
FILED AS OF DATE:		20080911

FILER:

	COMPANY DATA:	
		COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:			KOPIN CORP
		CENTRAL INDEX KEY:			0000771266
		STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION:	SEMICONDUCTORS & RELATED DEVICES [3674]
		IRS NUMBER:				042833935
		STATE OF INCORPORATION:			DE
		FISCAL YEAR END:			1231

	FILING VALUES:
		FORM TYPE:		CORRESP

	BUSINESS ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		695 MYLES STANDISH BLVD
		CITY:			TAUNTON
		STATE:			MA
		ZIP:			02780
		BUSINESS PHONE:		5088246696
</SEC-HEADER>
<DOCUMENT>
<TYPE>CORRESP
<SEQUENCE>1
<FILENAME>filename1.htm
<TEXT>
<HTML><HEAD>
<TITLE>Response Letter</TITLE>
</HEAD>
 <BODY BGCOLOR="WHITE">

 <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">John J. Concannon III </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"
SIZE="2">Direct Phone: 617.951.8874 </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Direct Fax: 617.951.8736 </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"
SIZE="2">jack.concannon@bingham.com </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2"><B>Via Federal Express </B></FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"
SIZE="2">September&nbsp;11, 2008 </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Securities and Exchange Commission </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"
SIZE="2">Division of Corporation Finance </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Office of Mergers and Acquisitions </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT
FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">100 F. Street, NE </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Washington, DC 20549 </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"
SIZE="2">Attn: Ms.&nbsp;Mellissa Campbell Duru </FONT></P> <P STYLE="font-size:12px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">&nbsp;</P>
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<TR>
<TD WIDTH="4%"><FONT SIZE="1">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Re:</FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Kopin Corporation </FONT></TD></TR></TABLE> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:8%"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Schedule TO-I filed August&nbsp;28,
2008 </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:8%"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">SEC File No.&nbsp;005-48471 </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Dear
Ms.&nbsp;Duru: </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px; text-indent:4%"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">On behalf of our client, Kopin Corporation, a Delaware corporation (the &#147;<U>Company</U>&#148;), set forth below is the
Company&#146;s response to your request for additional information regarding the Company&#146;s filing of a tender offer on Form TO. For ease of reference, the requests included in your letter dated September&nbsp;10, 2008, are printed below in bold
print, followed by the Company&#146;s responses. </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2"><B>1. Please file as correspondence the letter submitted to the staff on August&nbsp;19,
2008. </B></FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Please note that the letter filed on August&nbsp;19, 2008, was filed as correspondence with the Securities and Exchange
Commission on September&nbsp;11, 2008. </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2"><B>2. As currently structured, the offer will result in optionholders tendering their shares in
exchange solely for cash. Unlike other 409A-structured offers, the optionholders do not receive replacement options as part of the consideration for the offer. Please provide us with your legal analysis of whether the current structure of your offer
is consistent with the Section&nbsp;409A of the Internal Revenue Code and the related interpretative guidance. </B></FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">In response to this
Comment 2, the purpose of the subject Schedule TO is to enable Kopin employees holding one or more stock options granted with a discounted exercise price to elect to participate in the TO and thereby avoid incurring the income tax consequences of
Internal Revenue Code Section&nbsp;409A with respect to those options. We respectfully note that Kopin is aware that typical 409A-structured tender offers substitute an option with an increased exercise price for an option originally granted at an
exercise price below the fair market value of the option on the date of grant as determined for tax purposes, in consideration of a payment of the aggregate amount of the increase in the exercise price in the following calendar year. As a result,
persons accepting such offers will have options which are not subject to Section&nbsp;409A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the &#147;<U>Code</U>&#148;) and a </FONT>
</P>

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<FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">cash payment which, because it is payable before the fifteenth day of the third month of the calendar year following the year of the offer, is likewise not
subject to Section&nbsp;409A of the Code. This approach implements transitional guidance issued by the Internal Revenue Service (the &#147;IRS&#148;) set out in Section&nbsp;3.04 of Notice&nbsp;2006-79, 2006-43 IRB 307 (October 4, 2006), as such
Section was revised and replaced in Section&nbsp;3(B)(1) of Notice 2006-79, 2997-46 IRB 990 (October 22, 2007) (&#147;<U>Section 3.04 Relief&#148;</U>). </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%"><FONT
FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Almost without exception, however, the Eligible Options under the Offer described in the subject Schedule&nbsp;TO-I have an exercise price which is in excess of the current fair market value of the Kopin common stock
subject to the Options, in many cases substantially in excess. Accordingly, Kopin does not believe it appropriate to propose to pay optionees to increase the exercise prices of the Eligible Options when the resulting substitute options would merely
be more &#147;out-of-the-money&#148; than before. In other 409A-structured offers, <I>i.e.</I>, where the options are in-the-money at least before the substitution, the payment compensates the optionees for amounts they could have immediately
realized by exercising the options; in our offer, it would compensate the optionees for amounts they could not otherwise immediately realize and might not ever realize. </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%"><FONT
FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Accordingly, Kopin has elected to structure the Offer so as to comply with other transitional guidance issued by the IRS, specifically Section&nbsp;3.02 of Notice&nbsp;2006-79, 2006-43 IRB 307 (October 4, 2006), as
such Section was revised and replaced in Section&nbsp;3(B)(1) of Notice&nbsp;2006-79, 2997-46 IRB 990 (October 22, 2007)(&#147;<U>Section 3.02 Relief&#148;</U>). </FONT></P> <P
STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%;padding-bottom:3px;line-height:95%; vertical-align:top"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">In brief, Section&nbsp;3.02 Relief allows Kopin to revise or offer to revise discounted stock
rights that provide for a deferral of compensation subject to Section&nbsp;409A of the Code to provide for fixed payment terms that comply with Section&nbsp;409A of the Code. Section&nbsp;3.02 Relief, final paragraph. The Offer provides a payment of
any deferred compensation inherent in the Eligible Options on a fixed date of the first payroll date in 2009, unless the option would otherwise expire in 2008 (in which case payment will be made then). These payment terms were selected in light of
limitations set by the IRS in the terms of the Section&nbsp;3.02 Relief.</FONT><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="1"><SUP>1</SUP></FONT><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2"> And, like Section&nbsp;3.04 Relief, Section&nbsp;3.02 Relief is not
available in respect of certain discounted stock rights granted to Section&nbsp;16 Officer or Director. Section&nbsp;3.02 Relief, final paragraph. </FONT></P> <P
STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px;padding-bottom:3px;line-height:95%; vertical-align:top"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2"></FONT><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="1"><SUP>1</SUP></FONT><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2"> The initial
paragraph of the Section&nbsp;3.02 Relief states that any new payment dates may not result in payment in 2008 of amounts that would otherwise be paid in subsequent years nor of payment in 2009 or later years of amounts that would otherwise be paid
in 2008. For this purpose, a stock right is not treated as payable in a year solely because it is exercisable in a year, if is also reasonably expected to be exercisable in a subsequent year. Section&nbsp;3.02 Relief, final paragraph, final
sentence. </FONT></P>

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 <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2"><B><U>Forward-looking Statements; Miscellaneous, page 30</U> </B></FONT></P> <P
STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2"><B>3. Please eliminate the reference to Section&nbsp;27A and Section&nbsp;21E of the Exchange Act of 1934 or revise the disclosure in this section to
explicitly note that the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act&#146;s safe harbor protections do not apply to statements made in connection with the tender offer. <U>See</U> Section&nbsp;27A(b)(2)(C) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Regulation
M-A telephone interpretation M.2 in the July 2001 Supplement to the Division of Corporation Finance&#146;s Manual of Publicly Available Telephone Interpretations available at www.sec.gov. </B></FONT></P> <P
STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">In response to this Comment 3, we note that the Offering Memorandum attached as an exhibit to Schedule TO has been amended to reflect the comments made
herein. </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2"><B>4. Please revise to eliminate the statement in the last sentence under this heading that you &#147;undertake no obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, or any facts, events, or circumstances after the date hereof that may bear upon forward-looking statements.&#148; This statement is inconsistent with your obligation to amend and promptly
disseminate revised information in the event that your existing disclosure materially changes. </B></FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">In response to this Comment 4, we note
that the Offering Memorandum attached as an exhibit to Schedule TO has been amended to reflect the comments made herein. </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2"><B><U>Election
Form</U> </B></FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2"><B>5. We refer to the first sentence of the first paragraph. Please revise the Election Form to remove the representations
that the shareholder has &#147;read&#148; and &#147;understand[s]&#148; the terms of the offer. </B></FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">In response to this Comment 5, we note
that the Election Form attached as an exhibit to Schedule TO has been amended to reflect the comments made herein. </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px; text-indent:4%"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">If you have any
questions regarding this matter or require any additional information, please contact me at (617)&nbsp;951-8874. If the Staff disagrees with any of the conclusions set forth above, please contact the undersigned prior to the issuance of a written
response. </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:54%; text-indent:-2%"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Very truly yours, </FONT></P> <P
STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:54%; text-indent:-2%"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">/S/ John J. Concannon III </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:54%; text-indent:-2%"><FONT
FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">John J. Concannon III, Esq. </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:54%; text-indent:-2%"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Bingham McCutchen, LLP </FONT></P> <P
STYLE="font-size:12px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">&nbsp;</P>
<TABLE STYLE="BORDER-COLLAPSE:COLLAPSE" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%">
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<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">cc:</FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"><FONT FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Mr.&nbsp;Richard Sneider </FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>
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