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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

(2) Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

(a) Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers securities purchased with original maturities of three months or less, to be cash equivalents. Cash equivalents consist of short-term investments in money market accounts at December 31, 2020 and 2019.

Cash and cash equivalents are maintained at financial institutions and, at times, balances may exceed federally insured limits. We have never experienced any losses related to these balances. FDIC insurance coverage is $250,000 per depositor at each financial institution, and our non-interest bearing cash balances may again exceed federally insured limits. Amounts on deposit in excess of federally insured limits at December 31, 2020 and 2019 are approximately $4.5 million and $6.3 million, respectively.

(b) Royalties Receivable

Royalties receivable from licensees are recorded at the amounts specified within the license agreements when the collectability of the receivable is reasonably assured. The allowance for doubtful accounts is the Company’s best estimate of the amount of probable credit losses in the Company’s existing royalties receivable. The Company determines the allowance based on historical write off experience as well as the current status of the Company’s customers. The Company reviews its allowance for doubtful accounts periodically. Past due accounts are reviewed individually for collectability. Account balances are charged off against the allowance after all means of collection have been exhausted and the potential for recovery is considered remote. As of December 31, 2020, three companies accounted for 16%, 11% and 10%, respectively, of the Company’s outstanding receivables. As of December 31, 2019, two companies accounted for 14% and 13%, respectively, of the Company’s outstanding receivables.

Fixed assets are carried at cost less accumulated depreciation and amortization. Depreciation and amortization are computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets.

(d) Revenue Recognition/Fee Income

The Company recognizes revenue in accordance with ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. The standard provides a single comprehensive revenue recognition model for all contracts with customers and supersedes existing revenue recognition guidance. The revenue standard contains principles that an entity will apply to determine the measurement of revenue and timing of when it is recognized. The underlying principle is that an entity will recognize revenue to depict the transfer of goods or services to customers at an amount that the entity expects to be entitled to in exchange for those goods or services.

ASC 606 follows a five-step approach to determining revenue recognition including: 1) Identification of the contract; 2) Identification of the performance obligations; 3) Determination of the transaction price; 4) Allocation of the transaction price and 5) Recognition of revenue.

The Company determined that its license agreements provide for three performance obligations which include: (i) the Grant of Use to its Patent Portfolio “Grant of Use”, (ii) Stand-Ready Technical Support (“Technical Support”) including the transfer of trade secrets and other know-how, production of materials, scale-up support, analytical testing, etc., and (iii) access to new Intellectual Property (“IP”) that may be developed some time during the course of the contract period (“New Improvements”). Given the nature of IP development, such New Improvements are on an unspecified basis and can occur and be made available to licensees at any time during the contract period.

When a contract includes more than one performance obligation, the Company needs to allocate the total consideration to each performance obligation based on its relative standalone selling price or estimate the standalone selling price if it is not observable. A standalone selling price is not available for our performance obligations since we do not sell any of the services separately and there is no competitor pricing that is available. As a consequence, the best method for determining standalone selling price of our Grant of Use performance obligation is through a comparison of the average royalty rate for comparable license agreements as compared to our license agreements. Comparable license agreements must consider several factors including: (i) the materials that are being licensed, (ii) the market application for the licensed materials, and (iii) the financial terms in the license agreements that can increase or decrease the risk/reward nature of the agreement.

Based on the royalty rate comparison referred to above, any pricing above and beyond the average royalty rate would relate to the Technical Support and New Improvements performance obligations. The Company focuses a significant portion of its time and resources to provide the Technical Support and New Improvements services to its licensees, which further supports the conclusions reached using the royalty rate analysis.

The Technical Support and New Improvements performance obligations are co-terminus over the term of the license agreement. For purposes of determining the transaction price, and recognizing revenue, the Company combined the Technical Support and New Improvements performance obligations because they have the same pattern of transfer and the same term. We maintain a staff of scientists and other professionals whose primary job responsibilities throughout the year are: (i) being available to respond to Technical Support needs of our licensees, and (ii) developing improvements to our technology which are offered to our licensees as New Improvements. Since the costs incurred to satisfy the Technical Support and New Improvements performance obligations are incurred evenly throughout the year, the value of the Technical Support and New Improvements services are recognized throughout the initial contract period as these performance obligations are satisfied. If the agreement is not terminated at the end of the initial contract period, it will renew on the same terms as the initial contract for a one-year period. Consequently, any fees or minimum annual royalty obligations relating to this renewal contract will be allocated similarly to the initial contract over the additional one-year period.

We recognize revenue when or as the performance obligations in the contract are satisfied. For performance obligations that are fulfilled at a point in time, revenue is recognized at the fulfillment of the performance obligation. Since the IP is determined to be a functional license, the value of the Grant of Use is recognized in the first period of the contract term in which the license agreement is in force. The value of the Technical Support and New Improvements obligations is allocated throughout the contract period based on the satisfaction of its performance obligations. If the agreement is not terminated at the end of the contract period, it will renew on the same terms as the original agreement for a one-year period. Consequently, any fees or minimum annual royalties (“MAR”) relating to this renewal contract will be allocated similarly over that additional year.

The Company’s license agreements have a variable royalty fee structure (meaning that royalties are a fixed percentage of sales that vary from period to period) and frequently include a minimum annual royalty commitment. In instances when sales of licensed products by its licensees exceed the MAR, the Company recognizes fee income as the amounts have been earned. Typically, the royalty rate for such sales is 10-15% of the selling price. While this is variable consideration, it is subject to the sales/usage royalty exception to recognition of variable consideration in ASC 606 10-55-65 and therefore is not recognized until the subsequent sales or usage occurs or the MAR period commences.

Because of the immediate recognition of the Grant of Use performance obligation: (i) the first period of the contract term will generally have a higher percent allocation of the transaction price under ASC 606 and (ii) the remaining periods will have less of the transaction price recognized under ASC 606. After the initial period in the contract term, the revenue for the remaining periods will be based on the satisfaction of the technical support and New Improvements obligations. Since most of our license agreements start as of January 1st, the revenue recognized for the contract under ASC 606 in our first quarter will tend to be higher subsequent quarters in the fiscal year.

Certain of the contract fees are accrued by, or paid to, the Company in advance of the period in which they are earned resulting in deferred revenue (contract liabilities). Such excess amounts are recorded as deferred revenue and are recognized as revenue in future periods as earned. Contract assets represent unbilled receivables and are presented within accounts receivable, net on the consolidated balance sheets.

The Company operates in a single business segment which is engaged in the development and marketing of technology and devices to control the flow of light. Our revenue source comes from the licensing of this technology and all of these license agreements have similar terms and provisions. The majority of the Company’s licensing fee income comes from the activities of several licensees participating in the automotive market. The Company currently believes that the automotive market will be the largest source of its royalty income over the next several years. The Company’s royalty income from this market may be influenced by numerous factors including various trends affecting demand in the automotive industry and the rate of introduction of new technology in OEM product lines. In addition to these macro factors, the Company’s royalty income from the automotive market could also be influenced by specific factors such as whether the Company’s SPD-SmartGlass technology appears as standard equipment or as an option on a particular vehicle, the number of additional vehicle models that SPD-SmartGlass appears on, the size of each window on a vehicle and the number of windows on a vehicle that use SPD SmartGlass, fluctuations in the total number of vehicles produced by a manufacturer, and in the percentage of cars within each model produced with SPD-SmartGlass, and changes in pricing or exchange rates.

As of December 31, 2020, the Company has three license agreements that are in their initial multiyear term (“Initial Term”) with continuing performance obligations going forward. The Initial Term of one of these agreements will end as of December 31, 2021, one will end as of December 31, 2022, and one will end as of December 31, 2024. The Company currently expects all three of these agreements will renew annually at the end of the Initial Term. As of December 31, 2020, the aggregate amount of the revenue to be recognized upon the satisfaction of the remaining performance obligations for the three license agreements is $490,000. The revenue for these remaining performance obligations for each of the three license agreements is expected to be recognized evenly throughout their remaining period of the Initial Term.

For the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, the Company entered into a number of license agreements covering its light control technology. The Company received minimum annual royalties under certain license agreements and recorded fee income based on ASC 606 revenue recognition each quarter. In instances when sales of licensed products by its licensees exceed minimum annual royalties, the Company recognized additional fee income as the amounts have been earned. Certain of the fees are accrued by, or paid to, the Company in advance of the period in which they are earned resulting in deferred revenue. Such excess amounts are recorded as deferred revenue and are typically recognized as fee income when earned. As of December 31, 2020, there was no balance in deferred revenue. As of December 31, 2019, the deferred revenue balance was $7,734.

Fee income represents amounts earned by the Company under various license and other agreements relating to technology developed by the Company. During 2020, five licensees accounted for 18%, 16%, 12%, 12% and 12% of fee income recognized during the year. During 2019, three licensees accounted for 38%, 12% and 10% of fee income recognized for the year.

(e) Basic and Diluted Loss Per Common Share

Basic loss per share excludes any dilution. It is based upon the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Dilutive loss per share reflects the potential dilution that would occur if securities or other contracts to issue common stock were exercised or converted into common stock. The Company’s dilutive loss per share equals basic loss per share for each of the years in the two-year period ended December 31, 2020 because all potentially dilutive securities (i.e., options and warrants) were antidilutive in those periods. The number of options and warrants that were not included because their effect is antidilutive was 2,697,251 and 3,031,494 for 2020 and 2019, respectively.

(f) Research and Development Costs

Research and development costs are charged to expense as incurred.

(g) Patent Costs

The Company expenses costs relating to the development or acquisition of patents due to the uncertainty of the recoverability of these items.

(h) Use of Estimates

The preparation of the Company’s consolidated financial statements requires management of the Company to make a number of estimates and assumptions relating to the reported amount of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during this period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

(i) Income Taxes

Income taxes are accounted for under the asset and liability method. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases and operating loss and tax credit carry-forwards. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to be recovered or settled.

In accordance with ASC Topic 740, we recognize tax benefits only for tax positions that are more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by tax authorities. The amount recognized is measured as the largest amount of benefit that is greater than 50 percent likely to be realized upon ultimate settlement. Unrecognized tax benefits are tax benefits claimed in tax returns that do not meet these recognition and measurement standards. We classify accrued interest and penalties related to any unrecognized tax benefits in our income tax provision. At December 31, 2020 and 2019, we do not have accrued interest and penalties related to any unrecognized tax benefits. We do not believe we have any uncertain tax positions as of December 31, 2020 and 2019.

The tax years subject to examination by major tax jurisdictions include the years 2015 and forward by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and certain states. The Company is not currently being audited by any tax jurisdiction.

(j) Equity-Based Compensation

We recognize all stock-based compensation as an expense in the consolidated financial statements and such costs are measured at the fair value of the award at the date of grant. In addition to reflecting compensation expense for new share-based payment awards, expense is also recognized to reflect the remaining vesting period of awards that had been granted in prior periods. Tax benefits related to stock option exercises are reflected as financing cash inflows.

The exercise prices for stock options granted are generally set at the average for the high and low trading prices of the Company’s common stock on the trading date immediately prior to the date of grant, and the related numbers of shares granted are fixed at the date of grant.

In order to determine the fair value of stock options on the date of grant, the Company uses the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. Inherent in this model are assumptions related to expected stock-price volatility, option term, risk-free interest rate and dividend yield. While the risk-free interest rate and dividend yield are less subjective assumptions that are based on factual data derived from public sources, the expected stock-price volatility and option term assumptions require a greater level of judgment.

In connection with employee and director stock options, the Company charged to compensation expense $327,554 and $790,339 during the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. As of December 31, 2020, these awards were fully vested. In lieu of higher cash compensation, the Company has granted warrants and non-employee options to consultants. These warrants and non-employee options vested fully on the date of grant. During the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company charged $51,273 to expense in connection with options granted to a consultant. There were no such charges for the year ended December 31, 2020.

(k) Restricted Stock

Compensation cost for restricted stock is measured using the quoted market price of the Company’s common stock at the date the common stock is granted. The compensation cost is recognized over the period between the issue date and the vesting period for such shares. Restricted stock is included in total common shares outstanding upon the lapse of any vesting conditions.

(l) Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

The Company reviews long-lived assets to determine whether an event or change in circumstances indicates the carrying value of the asset may not be recoverable. The Company bases its evaluation on such impairment indicators as the nature of the assets, the future economic benefit of the assets and any historical or future profitability measurements, as well as other external market conditions or factors that may be present. In 2019, the Company incurred a loss from the impairment of a fixed asset of $50,666 in value of an automobile which was subsequently sold to an employee at fair market value. There was no impairment of long-lived assets recorded during 2020.

(m) Fair Value Measurements

As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, the fair value of the Company’s financial assets and non-warrant liabilities including cash and cash equivalents, royalties receivable, accounts payable and accrued expenses approximated carrying value due to the short-term maturity of these instruments.

(n) Recent Accounting Pronouncements

New Accounting Standards

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-13, “Fair Value Measurement: Disclosure Framework – Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement,” which eliminates, amends and adds disclosure requirements for fair value measurement. The standard is effective for the interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted. The Company adopted this standard as of January 1, 2020 and it did not have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

In June 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-07 “Compensation—Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting” (“ASU 2018-07”), which simplifies the accounting for share-based payments to nonemployees by aligning it with the accounting for share-based payments to employees, with certain exceptions. ASU 2018-07 was effective for the Company in the first quarter of fiscal 2020 and it did not have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

Effective January 1, 2019, the Company adopted the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Standard, “Leases” (Topic 842), as amended. The standard requires all leases to be recorded on the balance sheet as a right of use asset and a lease liability. The standard provides practical expedients in order to simplify adoption, including the following:

	●	An entity need not reassess whether any expired or existing contracts are or contain leases.
	●	An entity need not reassess the lease classification for any expired or existing leases. Instead, any leases previously classified as operating leases will continue to be classified as operating leases, while any leases previously classified as capital leases will be classified as finance leases.
	●	An entity need not reassess initial direct costs for any leases.

The Company used the above practical expedients as the transition method in the application of the new lease standard at January 1, 2019. The Company applied a policy election to exclude short-term leases from balance sheet recognition and elected certain practical expedients at adoption. As permitted, the Company did not reassess whether existing contracts are or contain leases, the lease classification for any existing leases or the initial direct costs for any existing leases which were not previously accounted for as leases, are or contain a lease. At adoption on January 1, 2019, an operating lease liability of $1,134,000 and an operating lease right of use asset of $941,000 were recorded (most of this liability relating to the Company’s lease for its facilities in Woodbury, New York). The operating lease liability was $193,000 more than the operating lease right of use asset due to unamortized lease incentive from periods prior to the adoption of the new lease standard. There was no cumulative earnings effect adjustment.

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, “Financial Instruments” – Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments” (“ASU 2016-13”), which requires entities to use a new impairment model based on expected losses. Under this new model an entity would recognize an impairment allowance equal to its current estimate of credit losses on financial assets measured at amortized cost. ASU 2016-13 was effective for us beginning January 1, 2020. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.