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Commitments and Contingencies | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2019
Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies | NOTE 6. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES Leases As of January 1, 2019, we lease approximately 180,000 square feet in 1305 O’Brien Drive, Menlo Park, California, where we house our headquarters, research and development, service and support functions, and our in-house manufacturing operations for which the right of use assets totaled $35.3 million. We also lease a sales office facility in Singapore and engineering support facilities in Allen, Texas for which the right of use assets totaled $0.2 million as of January 1, 2019. All our leases are operating leases. Operating lease assets and liabilities are reflected within “Operating lease right-of-use assets, net”, “Operating lease liabilities, current” and “Operating lease liabilities, non-current” on the condensed consolidated balance sheets. These assets and liabilities are recognized at the commencement date based on the present value of remaining minimum lease payments over the lease term using our estimated secured incremental borrowing rates at the effective date of January 1, 2019. Lease payments included in the measurement of the lease liability comprise the base rent per the term of the Lease. Lease expense for these leases is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term, with variable lease payments, such as common area maintenance fees, recognized in the period those payments are incurred. We often have options to renew lease terms for buildings. For our 1305 O’Brien lease, the renewal option is 5 years and the rent will be based on fair market value at the time of renewal and was not included in the lease term. In addition, certain lease arrangements may be terminated prior to their original expiration date at our discretion. We evaluate renewal and termination options at the lease commencement date to determine if we are reasonably certain to exercise the option on the basis of economic factors. The weighted average remaining lease term for our operating leases as of March 31, 2019 was 8.6 years. The discount rate implicit within our leases is generally not determinable and therefore we determine the discount rate based on our incremental borrowing rate. The incremental borrowing rate for our leases is determined based on lease term and currency in which lease payments are made, adjusted for impacts of collateral. The weighted average discount rate used to measure our operating lease liabilities as of March 31, 2019 was 7.9%. The following table presents information at the amount, timing and uncertainty of cash flows arising from our operating leases as of March 31, 2019: ﻿ ﻿ ﻿ ﻿
﻿ |  |
﻿Maturity of Lease Liabilities | Amount
﻿Years ending December 31, | (in thousands)
﻿Remaining of 2019 | $ | 5,262
﻿2020 |  | 7,136
﻿2021 |  | 7,305
﻿2022 |  | 7,488
﻿2023 |  | 7,704
﻿Thereafter |  | 31,518
﻿Total undiscounted operating lease payments |  | 66,413
﻿Less: imputed interest |  | (18,031)
﻿Present value of operating lease liabilities |  | 48,382
﻿ |  |
﻿Balance Sheet Classification |  |
﻿Operating lease liabilities, current |  | 3,521
﻿Operating lease liabilities, non-current |  | 44,861
﻿Total operating lease liabilities |  | 48,382
﻿ ﻿ ﻿ Cash Flows An initial right-of-use asset of $35.5 million was recognized as a non-cash asset addition on the condensed consolidated balance sheet as of January 1, 2019 with the adoption of the new lease accounting standard. Cash paid for amounts included in the present value of operating lease liabilities was $1.8 million during the first quarter of 2019 and included in operating cash flow. ﻿ Operating Lease Costs Operating lease costs were $1.6 million during the first quarter of 2019, primarily related to our operating leases, but also include immaterial amounts for variable leases. For our 1305 O’Brien lease, we were required to establish a letter of credit for the benefits of the landlord and to submit $4.5 million as a deposit for the letter of credit in October 2015; and, as such, $4.5 million was recorded at such time and continued to be recorded in “Long-term restricted cash” in the condensed consolidated balance sheet as of both March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018. Pursuant to the terms of the 1305 O’Brien lease, the $4.5 million in restricted cash was reduced to $4.0 million as of May 1, 2019 and will reduce again over time. Contingencies We may become involved in legal proceedings, c laims and assessments from time to time in the ordinary course of business. We accrue liabilities for such matters when it is probable that future expenditures will be made and such expenditures can be reasonably estimated. Legal Legal Proceedings Regarding the Merger In connection with the proposed acquisition of us by Illumina, five lawsuits were filed, with each lawsuit naming us and our directors as defendants. Three putative class action complaints, captioned Wang v. Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc., et al., No. 3:18-cv-7450 (N.D. Cal.), Morrison v. Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc., et al., No. 3:18-cv-7654 (N.D. Cal.), and Speiser v. Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc., et al., No. 3:19-cv-0072 (N.D. Cal.), were filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on December 11, 2018, December 20, 2018, and January 4, 2019, respectively. A fourth putative class action complaint, captioned Rosenblatt v. Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc., et al., No. 1:18-cv-2005 (D. Del.), was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware on December 18, 2018. A n individual complaint, captioned Washington v. Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc., et al., No. 5:18-cv-7614 (N.D. Cal.), was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on December 19, 2018. Each of the se lawsuits asserted claims under Section 14(a) and Section 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 in connection with the disclosures contained in our preliminary proxy statement on Schedule 14A, filed with the Securities Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on December 5, 2018, our definitive proxy statement on Schedule 14A, filed with the SEC on December 18, 2018, or both. The complaints sought a variety of equitable and injunctive relief including, among other things, enjoining the consummation of the acquisition and awarding the plaintiffs costs and attorneys’ fees. Although our management believed that the claims were without merit, we agreed to make supplemental disclosures in exchange for plaintiffs’ agreement that the supplemental disclosures would moot their claims. We made these supplemental disclosures in a proxy statement amendment on Schedule 14A, filed with the SEC on January 18, 2019. On January 29, 2019, all parties to each of the lawsuits reached an agreement pursuant to which we would pay a total of $300,000 in attorneys’ fees to the plaintiffs. On January 29, 2019, each plaintiff filed a voluntary dismissal of his or her lawsuit. As of March 31, 2019, we accrued a total amount of $300,000 for the five lawsuits filed in 2018 and the first quarter of 2019. USITC Proceedings On November 2, 2016, we filed a complaint against Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd. (“ONT Ltd.”), Oxford Nanopore Technologies, Inc. (“ONT Inc.”) and Metrichor, Ltd. (“Metrichor” and, together with ONT Ltd. and ONT Inc., “ONT”) with the U.S. International Trade Commission (“USITC”) for patent infringement. On December 5, 2016, the USITC provided notice that an investigation had been instituted based on the complaint. We sought exclusionary relief with respect to several ONT products, including ONT’s MinION and PromethION devices. The complaint was based on our U.S. Patent No. 9,404,146, entitled “Compositions and methods for nucleic acid sequencing” which covers novel methods for sequencing single nucleic acid molecules using linked double-stranded nucleic acid templates, providing improved sequencing accuracy. On March 1, 2017, we filed an amended complaint to add a second patent in the same patent family, U.S. Patent No. 9,542,527, which was granted on January 10, 2017, to the investigation. We sought, among other things, an exclusion order permanently barring entry of infringing ONT products into the United States, and a cease and desist order preventing ONT from advertising and selling infringing products in the United States. On May 23, 2017, the Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) assigned to the matter issued an order construing certain claim terms of the asserted patents. On June 8, 2017, ONT filed a summary determination motion to terminate the proceedings based on the ALJ’s claim construction decision, and we did not oppose the motion. The ALJ granted the motion on July 19, 2017, and, on July 31, 2017, we filed a petition to review with the USITC to correct what we believe was an incorrect construction of the claims. On September 5, 2017, the USITC issued a notice granting our petition to review the ALJ’s claim construction decision. On February 7, 2018, the USITC issued a notice indicating that it had determined to adopt the ALJ’s claim construction and terminating the investigation. On February 13, 2018, we filed a petition to appeal the USITC’s ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. (“Federal Circuit”). An oral hearing for this appeal was held on February 8, 2019. On February 12, 2019, the Federal Circuit filed a judgement affirming the USITC claim construction under Federal Circuit Rule 36 without a written opinion. U.S. District Court Proceedings On March 15, 2017, we filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware against ONT Inc. for patent infringement (C.A. No. 17-cv-275 (“275 Action”)). The complaint is based on our U.S. Patent No. 9,546,400 (the “’400 Patent”), entitled “Nanopore sequencing using n-mers” which covers novel methods for nanopore sequencing of nucleic acid molecules using the signals from multiple monomeric units. This patent was granted on January 17, 2017. We are seeking remedies including injunctive relief, damages and costs. On May 8, 2017, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, alleging that the asserted patent claims recite patent ineligible subject matter. On November 9, 2017, the judge denied ONT Inc.’s motion to dismiss. On June 1, 2018, we filed a motion for leave to amend the complaint to add ONT Ltd. as a defendant. On August 20, 2018, the judge granted our motion, and on August 23, 2018, we filed an amended complaint, adding ONT Ltd. as a defendant in the 275 Action. On September 24, 2018, ONT Ltd. filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint, alleging failure to state a claim. On April 29, 2019, the judge denied ONT Ltd.’s motion to dismiss. On September 12, 2018, ONT Inc. filed its answer, defenses and counterclaims in the 275 Action, seeking declaratory judgements of non-infringement and invalidity of the ’400 Patent and unenforceability of the ’400 Patent based on alleged inequitable conduct before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”), as well as antitrust, false advertising, and unfair competition counterclaims. On September 25, 2018, it was stipulated that the motion to dismiss ONT Inc.’s counterclaims that we submitted in the 1353 Action would also serve as our motion to dismiss ONT Inc.’s counterclaims in the 275 Action. On February 19, 2019, the judge granted our motion to dismiss ONT Inc.’s antitrust, false advertising, and unfair competition counterclaims in each action. Related to the 275 Action, on March 15, 2018, ONT Inc. filed a petition to institute an inter partes review with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) of the USPTO, alleging invalidity of the ’400 Patent. On July 5, 2018, we filed a preliminary response outlining for the PTAB why the petition should be denied and no review should be instituted. On September 25, 2018, the PTAB denied ONT Inc.’s petition for institution of the inter partes review for all claims of the ’400 Patent. On September 25, 2017, we filed a second complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware against ONT Inc. for patent infringement (C.A. No. 17-cv-1353 (“1353 Action”)). The complaint is based on our U.S. Patent No. 9,678,056 (the “’056 Patent”) entitled “Control of Enzyme Translation in Nanopore Sequencing”, granted June 13, 2017, and U.S. Patent No. 9,738,929 (the “’929 Patent”) entitled “Nucleic Acid Sequence Analysis”, granted August 22, 2017. We are seeking remedies including injunctive relief, damages and costs. On December 14, 2017, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, alleging that the asserted patent claims in the ’929 Patent recite patent ineligible subject matter. On March 22, 2018, the judge denied ONT Inc.’s motion to dismiss. On March 28, 2018, we added a claim for infringement of our U.S. Patent No. 9,772,323 (the “’323 Patent”), entitled “Nanopore sequencing using n-mers.” On June 1, 2018, we filed a motion for leave to amend the complaint to add ONT Ltd. as a defendant. On August 20, 2018, the judge granted our motion, and on August 23, 2018 we filed an amended complaint, adding ONT Ltd. as a defendant in the 1353 Action. On September 24, 2018, ONT filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint, alleging failure to state a claim. On April 24, 2019, the judge denied ONT Ltd.’s motion to dismiss. On April 25, 2018, ONT Inc. filed its answer, defenses and counterclaims in the 1353 Action, seeking declaratory judgements of non-infringement and invalidity of the ’056 and ’323 Patents and unenforceability of the ’056 and ’323 Patents based on alleged inequitable conduct before the USPTO, as well as antitrust, false advertising, and unfair competition counterclaims. On June 15, 2018, we filed a motion to dismiss ONT Inc.’s counterclaims in the 1353 Action and, on June 18, 2018, we filed a motion to bifurcate and stay discovery on ONT Inc.’s antitrust counterclaims in the 1353 Action. On February 19, 2019, the judge granted our motion to dismiss ONT Inc.’s antitrust, false advertising, and unfair competition counterclaims. Related to the 1353 Action, on September 24, 2108, ONT Inc. filed a first petition to institute an inter partes review with the PTAB of the USPTO, alleging invalidity of the ’929 Patent. On September 25, 2018, ONT Inc. filed a second petition to institute an inter partes review of the ’929 Patent based on the same art and arguments as the first petition. ONT Inc. subsequently filed a motion to withdraw the first petition, which motion was granted. On January 11, 2019, we filed a preliminary response to the second petition outlining for the PTAB why the petition should be denied, and no review should be instituted. On March 26, 2019, the PTAB denied ONT Inc.’s petition for institution of the inter partes review for all claims of the ’929 Patent. Also related to the 1353 Action, on September 25, 2018, ONT Inc. filed a petition to institute an inter partes review with the PTAB of the USPTO, alleging invalidity of the ’056 Patent. On February 13, 2019, we filed a preliminary response to the second petition outlining for the PTAB why the petition should be denied and no review should be instituted. On March 25, 2019, ONT Inc. moved to withdraw its petition for institution of the inter partes review of the ’056 Patent, which motion was granted by the PTAB on March 26, 2019, thus terminating the proceedings. A claim construction (or “Markman”) hearing for the U.S. District Court matters was held on December 17, 2018. On March 6, 2019, a claim construction order construing various claim terms in the patents in suit was issued. A trial for the U.S. District Court matters is scheduled to occur in March 2020. UK and German Court Proceedings On February 2, 2017, we filed a claim in the High Court of England and Wales against ONT Ltd. and Metrichor for infringement of Patent EP(UK) 3 045 542 (the “’542 Patent”), which is in the same patent family as the patents asserted in the USITC action referred to above. We sought remedies including injunctive relief, damages, and costs. On March 27, 2017, the defendants in the case filed their defense and counterclaim, denying infringement and seeking a declaration that the asserted patent is invalid. We filed our reply and defense to counterclaim on April 12, 2017. A case management conference was held on June 13, 2017. On August 31, 2017 we added a claim for infringement of a newly granted divisional, EP(UK) 3 170 904 (the “’904 Patent”). On December 22, 2017, ONT Ltd. added to the action a request for declaration of non-infringement of its 1D2 product. On January 12, 2018 we served reply to ONT Ltd.’s request for a declaration of non-infringement, asserting infringement of both patents by ONT’s 1D2 product. A trial for these matters was scheduled to occur in May 2018. On April 21, 2017, ONT Ltd. and Harvard University filed a claim against us in the High Court of England and Wales for infringement of Patent EP(UK) 1 192 453 (the “’453 Patent”), a patent owned by Harvard University and entitled “Molecular and atomic scale evaluation of biopolymers,” and for which ONT Ltd. alleges it holds an exclusive license. ONT Ltd. and Harvard University sought remedies including injunctive relief, damages, and costs. On April 25, 2017, ONT Ltd. announced that it also had filed a claim against us in the District Court of Mannheim, Germany, for infringement of the German version of the patent. On November 2, 2017, we filed our statement of defense in the German infringement matter and we also filed a separate nullity action in Germany to establish that the ’453 Patent is invalid. On December 6, 2017, we filed a cross-complaint in the German infringement matter alleging ONT Ltd.’s infringement in Germany of our ’542 Patent. The trial date for the German infringement matter and cross-complaint was set for July 27, 2018. A trial for the UK matter was scheduled to occur in March 2019. On May 8, 2018, the parties entered a settlement of all UK and German court proceedings pending as of such date. Under the terms of the settlement, ONT agreed not to make, dispose of, use or import any “2D” nanopore sequencing products, or to induce or assist others to carry out a “2D” sequencing process, in the UK or Germany, through the end of 2023. During this time, we agreed not to assert the ’542 Patent and ’904 Patent against either ONT or its customers in the UK or Germany. Accordingly, the High Court of England and Wales entered an order staying our UK action against ONT through the end of 2023. As part of the settlement, ONT and Harvard University dismissed their UK and German actions under the ’453 Patent and agreed not to assert the ’453 Patent against us or our customers through the end of 2023. We correspondingly agreed to dismiss our separate German nullity action seeking to invalidate the ’453 Patent, which expires on June 22, 2020. Related to these proceedings, on August 15, 2017, ONT Ltd. filed a notice of opposition to our ’542 Patent with the European Patent Office, and on August 16, 2017, an anonymous party filed a second notice of opposition to the same patent, each alleging invalidity of the patent. On April 5, 2018, we filed our response to the combined opposition. On January 22, 2019, an oral hearing in the matter occurred and the European Patent Office rendered a decision in favor of the opponents. We believe the European Patent Office erred in its decision and we intend to appeal the decision. The ’542 Patent will remain in effect while the appeal is pending. Our settlement agreement with ONT Ltd. and Harvard University will also remain in effect regardless of the outcome of the appeal. Also related to these proceedings, on May 16, 2018, ONT Ltd. filed a notice of opposition to our ’904 Patent with the European Patent Office alleging invalidity of the ’904 Patent. On October 11, 2018, we filed our response to the opposition. An oral hearing in the matter is scheduled for July 16, 2019. Litigation is inherently unpredictable, and it is too early in the proceedings to predict the outcome of these lawsuits or any impact they may have on us. As such, the estimated financial effect associated with these complaints cannot be made as of the date of filing of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Litigation is a significant ongoing expense with an uncertain outcome, and has been in the past and may in the future be a material expense for us. Management believes this investment is important to protect our intellectual property position, even recognizing the uncertainty of the outcome. Other Proceedings From time to time, we may also be involved in a variety of other claims, lawsuits, investigations and proceedings relating to securities laws, product liability, patent infringement, contract disputes, employment and other matters that arise in the normal course of our business. In addition, third parties may, from time to time, assert claims against us in the form of letters and other communications. We record a provision for contingent losses when it is both probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. We currently do not believe that the ultimate outcome of any of the matters described above is probable or reasonably estimable, or that these matters will have a material adverse effect on our business; however, the results of litigation and claims are inherently unpredictable. Regardless of the outcome, litigation can have an adverse impact on us because of litigation and settlement costs, diversion of management resources and other factors. Indemnification Pursuant to Delaware law and agreements entered into with each of our directors and officers, we may have obligations, under certain circumstances, to hold harmless and indemnify each of our directors and officers against losses suffered or incurred by the indemnified party in connection with their service to us, and judgements, fines, settlements and expenses related to claims arising against such directors and officers to the fullest extent permitted under Delaware law, our bylaws and certificate of incorporation. We also enter and have entered into indemnification agreements with our directors and officers that may require us to indemnify them against liabilities that arise by reason of their status or service as directors or officers, except as prohibited by applicable law. In addition, we may have obligations to hold harmless and indemnify third parties involved with our fundraising efforts and their respective affiliates, directors, officers, employees, agents or other representatives against any and all losses, claims, damages and liabilities related to claims arising against such parties pursuant to the terms of agreements entered into between such third parties and us in connection with such fundraising efforts. To the extent that any such indemnification obligations apply to the lawsuits described above, any associated expenses incurred are included within the related accrued litigation expense amounts. No additional liability associated with such indemnification obligations has been recorded at March 31, 2019.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for loss and gain contingencies. Describes any existing condition, situation, or set of circumstances involving uncertainty as of the balance sheet date (or prior to issuance of the financial statements) as to a probable or reasonably possible loss incurred by an entity that will ultimately be resolved when one or more future events occur or fail to occur, and typically discloses the amount of loss recorded or a range of possible loss, or an assertion that no reasonable estimate can be made. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -SubTopic 30 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/subtopic&trid=2127197 Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -SubTopic 20 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/subtopic&trid=2127163 + Details
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