Commitments and Contingencies

Capital Leases

The Company has vehicles and equipment under capital leases that were assumed through its acquisitions of Ctrack and FW. The future minimum payments under capital leases were as follows at December 31, 2015 (in thousands):



2016	$	447
2017	442
2018	398
2019	382
Total minimum capital lease payments	1,669
Less: amounts representing interest	(356		)
Present value of net minimum capital lease payments	1,313
Less: current portion	(500		)
Long-term portion	$	813

Operating Leases

The Company leases its office space and certain equipment under non-cancellable operating leases with various terms through 2020. The minimum annual rent on the Company’s office space is subject to increases based on stated rental adjustment terms, property taxes and operating costs and contains rent concessions. For financial reporting purposes, rent expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease. Accordingly, rent expense recognized in excess of rent paid is reflected as deferred rent. Rental expense under operating leases in 2015, 2014 and 2013 was $3.3 million, $3.0 million and $4.1 million, respectively. The Company’s office space lease contains incentives in the form of reimbursement from the landlord for a portion of the costs of leasehold improvements incurred by the Company which are recorded to rent expense on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease.

The future minimum payments under non-cancellable operating leases were as follows at December 31, 2015 (in thousands):



2016	$	3,806
2017	1,402
2018	720
2019	436
2020	221
Total	$	6,585

The future minimum payments above have not been reduced by minimum sublease rental income of $0.1 million due in the future under noncancellable subleases.

Employee Retention Matters

In connection with the Company’s turnaround efforts, and to retain and encourage employees to assist the Company with its efforts, the Company’s Compensation Committee approved an all-employee retention bonus plan in 2014 (“2014 Retention Bonus Plan”) based on achieving certain financial and cash targets. The financial metrics had to be met for two consecutive quarter periods during the three quarter periods ending March 31, 2015. At December 31, 2014, the Company accrued approximately $5.5 million of the maximum total target bonus expense based on the Company’s financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2014 and the assessment of the probability of the achievement of the remaining metrics in March 31, 2015. The total bonus expense of approximately $10.7 million was recognized over the requisite service period, $5.2 million of which was recognized during the year ended December 31, 2015. In the third quarter of 2015, the Company paid U.S. employees their bonuses with 2,158,436 net shares of the Company’s common stock. Non-U.S. employees receive cash bonus payments.

Legal

The Company is, from time to time, party to various legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business. The Company records a loss when information indicates that a loss is both probable and estimable. Where a liability is probable and there is a range of estimated loss with no best estimate in the range, the Company records the minimum estimated liability related to the claim. As additional information becomes available, the Company assesses the potential liability related to the Company’s pending litigation and revises its estimates, if necessary. The Company expenses litigation costs as incurred.

The Company is currently named as a defendant or co-defendant in some patent infringement lawsuits in the U.S. and is indirectly participating in other U.S. patent infringement actions pursuant to its contractual indemnification obligations to certain customers. Based on an evaluation of these matters and discussions with the Company’s intellectual property litigation counsel, the Company believes that liabilities arising from or sums paid in settlement of these existing matters would not have a material adverse effect on its consolidated results of operations or financial condition.

On September 15, 2008 and September 18, 2008, two putative securities class action lawsuits were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California (the “Court”) on behalf of alleged stockholders of the Company. On December 11, 2008, these lawsuits were consolidated into a single action and in May 2010, the consolidated lawsuits were captioned the case In re Novatel Wireless Securities Litigation (the “Litigation”). The Litigation was filed on behalf of persons who purchased the Company’s common stock between February 27, 2007 and September 15, 2008.

On June 23, 2014, the Court entered its judgment approving a final settlement agreement with respect to the Litigation. The settlement agreement does not admit any liability, and the Company and the individual defendants continue to deny any and all liability. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the plaintiff class agreed to settle all claims asserted in the Litigation and granted the defendants and released parties a full and complete release in exchange for (i) a cash payment of $6.0 million to the plaintiff’s class, approximately $1.7 million of which was to be funded by the Company’s insurers, (ii) the issuance of unrestricted and freely tradable shares of the Company’s stock with an aggregate value of $5.0 million and (iii) the issuance of a $5.0 million secured promissory note, which such note shall having a 30-month maturity, carrying interest at 5% per annum, payable quarterly, and being secured by the accounts receivable of the Company.

On July 1, 2014, the Company and the individual defendants filed a motion to amend the judgment entered on June 23, 2014, specifically requesting the Court to amend the effective date of such judgment to June 20, 2014, the date the court held the final approval hearing. The Court granted this motion on July 8, 2014, and the judgment date was deemed entered on June 20, 2014.

On July 8, 2014, the Company funded the cash portion of the settlement with $4.3 million of Company cash and $1.7 million previously funded into escrow by the Company’s insurers. On July 17, 2014, the Company issued 2,407,318 unrestricted shares of the Company’s common stock to the class members in satisfaction of the $5.0 million stock payment. The Company also issued a $5.0 million secured promissory note on July 8, 2014, which was paid off by the Company during the fourth quarter of 2014.

On November 17, 2014, the Court granted Plaintiff’s motion to enforce the Settlement and the Court agreed with the Plaintiffs to use an intra-day trading price of the Company’s stock for valuation purposes and not the closing price, and accordingly, the Company owed $0.8 million which was paid by the Company on December 16, 2014.

As of December 31, 2015, there were no further liabilities accrued in connection with the Litigation.