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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2012
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES  
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

8.     COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

 

In June 2010, Becton, Dickinson and Company (“BD”) filed an appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals (the “Court”) for the Federal Circuit appealing a final judgment entered on May 19, 2010 for the Company and against BD’s counterclaims in patent litigation.  Such final judgment ordered that the Company recover $5,000,000 plus prejudgment interest, and ordered a permanent injunction for BD’s 1mL and 3mL Integra syringes until the expiration of certain patents.  The permanent injunction was stayed for the longer of the exhaustion of the appeal of the district court’s case or twelve months from May 19, 2010.  In July 2011, a three-judge panel of the Court reversed the district court’s judgment that BD’s 3mL Integra infringed the Company’s ‘224 patent and ‘077 patent.  The Court affirmed the district court’s judgment that the 1mL Integra infringes the Company’s ‘244 and ‘733 patents.  The Court also affirmed the district court’s judgment that the ‘077 patent is not invalid for anticipation or obviousness.  The Company had petitioned for a rehearing by all the judges of the Federal Circuit as to whether the three-judge panel properly construed the Company’s patent claim language in finding that the 3mL Integra did not infringe.  The Company’s petition for rehearing by all of the judges of the Federal Circuit was denied with two dissents being issued.  The Company filed a petition for certiorari asking the Supreme Court to review the matter.  That petition was denied in January of 2013. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas is currently considering post-trial motions regarding the effect of the partial reversal without remand on the terms of the final judgment.

 

In May 2010, the Company and an officer’s suit against BD in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division alleging violations of antitrust acts, false advertising, product disparagement, tortious interference, and unfair competition was reopened.  The Company and an officer filed a Second Amended Complaint on July 23, 2010 setting forth additional detail regarding the allegations of BD’s illegal conduct.  BD filed a motion to dismiss and the Court denied that motion in part and granted it in part, granting the Company the right to re-plead certain allegations by May 13, 2011.  The Company and an officer filed a Third Amended Complaint in May 2011, setting forth additional detail regarding the alleged illegal conduct by BD.  Trial was initially set for February 2012.  However, in January 2012 the parties agreed to a continuance to allow the petition for certiorari to be considered.  As stated above, the petition was denied in January of 2013.  A pretrial conference and trial setting is set for May 15, 2013 and it is currently believed that trial will proceed in the summer of 2013.

 

In September 2007, BD and MDC Investment Holdings, Inc. (“MDC”) sued the Company in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Texarkana Division, initially alleging that the Company is infringing two U.S. patents of MDC (6,179,812 and 7,090,656) that are licensed to BD. BD and MDC seek injunctive relief and unspecified damages.  The Company counterclaimed for declarations of non-infringement, invalidity, and unenforceability of the asserted patents.  The plaintiffs subsequently dropped allegations with regard to patent no. 7,090,656 and the Company subsequently dropped its counterclaims for unenforceability of the asserted patents.  The Court conducted a claims construction hearing on September 25, 2008 and issued its claims construction order on November 14, 2008.  The case has been stayed pending resolution of the Company’s first filed case against BD described above.

 

Operating Leases

 

During 2010, the Company entered into a non-cancellable operating lease for additional office space.  Rent expense under this lease for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011, and 2010 was $60,401; $59,195; and $3,495, respectively.  Future annual minimum rental payments as of December 31, 2012 are presented below:

 

2013

$

61,607

 

2014

 

62,812

 

2015

 

59,966

 

2016

 

—

 

Total

$

184,385