XML 25 R8.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v2.4.0.8
Investments
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2014
Investments [Abstract]  
Investments
3. Investments

 

Since March 2013, DSS Technology Management has made a series of investments in VirtualAgility, Inc. (“VirtualAgility”), a developer of programming platforms that facilitate the creation of business applications without programming or coding. The initial investment consisted of a $200,000 non-recourse note plus an equity stake of 1/8 of 7% of the outstanding common stock of VirtualAgility, for a total cash investment of $250,000. Each non-recourse note, when purchased, is eligible for a preferred return of $1,250,000, plus a variable return of 1.875% based on gross proceeds, if any, derived from VirtualAgility's patent portfolio. In addition, VirtualAgility granted DSS Technology Management a total of seven additional options to make additional quarterly investments of $250,000 apiece, under the same terms as the first investment. If all of such options are exercised, DSS Technology Management will have invested an aggregate of $2,000,000, consisting of $1,600,000 in non-recourse notes that would be eligible for an aggregate preferred return of $10,000,000 plus up to 15% of variable returns and, based on the current capitalization of VirtualAgility, DSS Technology Management would also own approximately 7% of the outstanding common stock of VirtualAgility. In May 2013, DSS Technology Management created a subsidiary called VirtualAgility Technology Investment, LLC (“VATI”) and transferred its ownership of the VirtualAgility investment and future investment options to VATI. Also in May 2013, a third-party investor became a 40% member of VATI. In exchange, the investor contributed $250,000 into VATI which was used to exercise one of the investment options in VirtualAgility per the terms described above. As of July 1, 2013, DSS Technology Management owned 60% of VATI. In conjunction with its acquisition accounting, the Company assessed the fair value of the VirtualAgility investment, including the expected exercise of future investment options as of the acquisition date, at approximately $10,750,000, which became the cost basis of the investment as of July 1, 2013. A relief from royalty methodology was used to value the potential proceeds to be derived from the patent portfolio and the analysis included a discounted cash flow which estimated future net cash flows resulting from the licensing and enforcement of the VirtualAgility patent portfolio based on information as of the date of acquisition, considering assumptions and estimates related to potential infringers of the patents, applicable industries, usage of the underlying patented technologies, estimated license fee revenues, contingent legal fee arrangements, other estimated costs, tax implications and other factors. A discount rate consistent with the risks associated with achieving the estimated net cash flows was used to estimate the present value of estimated net cash flows. The measurement of the VirtualAgility investment constitutes a Level 3 input. In August 2013, the Company contributed $250,000 into VATI which used the funds to make an additional investment in VirtualAgility per the terms described above. In November 2013, the other member of VATI contributed $250,000 into VATI which used the funds to make an additional investment in VirtualAgility per the terms described above. As of December 31, 2013, the investment in VATI was $11,250,000 and DSS Technology Management owned 60% of VATI. As of December 31, 2013, VATI owned 438,401 shares of common stock of VirtualAgility. On February 14, 2014, DSS Technology Management contributed $250,000 into VATI which used the funds to make an additional investment in VirtualAgility per the terms described above. In May 2014, the other member of VATI contributed $250,000 into VATI which used the funds to make an additional investment in VirtualAgility per the terms described above. As of June 30, 2014, VATI owned 657,119 shares of common stock of VirtualAgility. As of June 30, 2014, investment in VATI was approximately $11,750,000 and DSS Technology Management owned 60% of VATI. VATI did not record any income or loss during the Nine months ended June 30, 2014.

 

VirtualAgility is currently the plaintiff in a patent infringement lawsuit against Salesforce.com, Inc. et al. In May of 2014, Salesforce.Com, Inc., as Petitioner, filed a petition with the United States Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) requesting covered business method patent review of claims 1-21 of U.S. Patent No. 8,095,413 B1, which is the patent being asserted by VirtualAgility in the lawsuit (the “413 Patent”), alleging that claims 1-21 of the 413 Patent are unpatentable. On September 16, 2014, the PTAB issued a written decision holding that challenged claims 1-21 of the 413 Patent are unpatentable, and also denied VirtualAgility's contingent motion to amend the challenged claims. As a result of the PTAB's decision, the Company estimated that its investment in VATI was impaired and as a result, the Company recorded an impairment of its investment in the gross amount of  approximately $11,750,000 of which 40%, or $4,700,000 of such investment was attributable to a noncontrolling interest, which equated to a net impairment charge during the third quarter of 2014 of approximately $7,050,000.
 

In January and February 2014, DSS Technology Management made investments of $100,000 and $400,000, respectively, to purchase an aggregate of 594,530 shares of common stock of Express Mobile, Inc. (“Express Mobile”), which represented approximately 6% of the outstanding common stock of Express Mobile at the time of investment. Express Mobile is a developer of custom mobile applications and websites. The investments were recorded using the cost method.