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Contingencies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

NOTE 8. CONTINGENCIES

COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a fluid situation that presents a wide range of potential impacts of varying durations for different global geographies, including locations where we have offices, employees, customers, vendors and other suppliers and business partners.

Like most US-based businesses, the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to mitigate the same began to have impacts on our business in March 2020. By that time, much of our first fiscal quarter was completed. During 2020 and the quarter ended March 31, 2021, we observed recent decreases in demand from certain customers, including primarily our law-enforcement and commercial customers.

Given the fact that our products are sold through a variety of distribution channels, we expect our sales will experience more volatility as a result of the changing and less predictable operational needs of many customers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are aware that many companies, including many of our suppliers and customers, are reporting or predicting negative impacts from COVID-19 on future operating results. Although we observed significant declines in demand for our products from certain customers during the quarter ended March 31, 2021, we believe that it remains too early for us to know the exact impact COVID-19 will have on the long-term demand for our products. We also cannot be certain how demand may shift over time as the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic may go through several phases of varying severity and duration.

In light of broader macro-economic risks and already known impacts on certain industries that use our products and services, we have taken, and continue to take targeted steps to lower our operating expenses because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We continue to monitor the impacts of COVID-19 on our operations closely and this situation could change based on a significant number of factors that are not entirely within our control and are discussed in this and other sections of this quarterly report on Form 10-Q. We do not expect there to be material changes to our assets on our balance sheet or our ability to timely account for those assets. Further, in connection with the preparation of this quarterly report on Form 10-Q and the financial statements contained herein, we reviewed the potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on goodwill and intangible assets and have determined there to be no material impact at this time. We have also reviewed the potential impacts on future risks to the business as it relates to collections, returns and other business-related items.

To date, travel restrictions and border closures have not materially impacted our ability to obtain inventory or manufacture or deliver products or services to customers. However, if such restrictions become more severe, they could negatively impact those activities in a way that would harm our business over the long term. Travel restrictions impacting people can restrain our ability to assist our customers and distributors as well as impact our ability to develop new distribution channels, but at present we do not expect these restrictions on personal travel to be material to our business operations or financial results. We have taken steps to restrain and monitor our operating expenses and therefore we do not expect any such impacts to materially change the relationship between costs and revenues.

Like most companies, we have taken a range of actions with respect to how we operate to assure we comply with government restrictions and guidelines as well as best practices to protect the health and well-being of our employees and our ability to continue operating our business effectively. To date, we have been able to operate our business effectively using these measures and to maintain all internal controls as documented and posted. We also have not experienced challenges in maintaining business continuity and do not expect to incur material expenditures to do so. However, the impacts of COVID-19 and efforts to mitigate the same have remained unpredictable and it remains possible that challenges may arise in the future.

The actions we have taken so far during the COVID-19 pandemic include, but are not limited to:

	●	Requiring all employees who can work from home to work from home;

	●	Increasing our IT networking capability to best assure employees can work effectively outside the office; and

	●	For employees who must perform essential functions in one of our offices:

	●	Having employees maintain a distance of at least six feet from other employees whenever possible;

	●	Having employees work in dedicated shifts to lower the risk all employees who perform similar tasks might become infected by COVID-19;

	●	Having employees stay segregated from other employees in the office with whom they require no interaction; and

	●	Requiring employees to wear masks while they are in the office whenever possible.

We currently believe revenue for the year ending December 31, 2021 may decline year over year due to the conditions noted. In April 2020, we implemented a COVID-19 mitigation plan designed to further reduce our operating expenses during the pandemic. Actions taken to date include work hour and salary reductions for senior management. These cost reductions are in addition to the significant restructuring actions we initiated in the first quarter of 2020. Based on our current cash position, our projected cash flow from operations and our cost reduction and cost containment efforts to date, we believe that we will have sufficient capital and or have access to sufficient capital through public and private equity and debt offerings to sustain operations for a period of one year following the date of this filing. If business interruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic were to be prolonged or expanded in scope, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows would be negatively impacted. We will continue to actively monitor this situation and will implement actions necessary to maintain business continuity.

Litigation.

From time to time, we are notified that we may be a party to a lawsuit or that a claim is being made against us. It is our policy to not disclose the specifics of any claim or threatened lawsuit until the summons and complaint are actually served on us. After carefully assessing the claim, and assuming we determine that we are not at fault or we disagree with the damages or relief demanded, we vigorously defend any lawsuit filed against us. We record a liability when losses are deemed probable and reasonably estimable. When losses are deemed reasonably possible but not probable, we determine whether it is possible to provide an estimate of the amount of the loss or range of possible losses for the claim, if material for disclosure. In evaluating matters for accrual and disclosure purposes, we take into consideration factors such as our historical experience with matters of a similar nature, the specific facts and circumstances asserted, the likelihood of our prevailing, the availability of insurance, and the severity of any potential loss. We reevaluate and update accruals as matters progress over time.

While the ultimate resolution is unknown, based on the information currently available, we do not expect that these lawsuits will individually, or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect to our results of operations, financial condition or cash flows. However, the outcome of any litigation is inherently uncertain and there can be no assurance that any expense, liability or damages that may ultimately result from the resolution of these matters will be covered by our insurance or will not be in excess of amounts recognized or provided by insurance coverage and will not have a material adverse effect on our operating results, financial condition or cash flows.

Axon

The Company owns U.S. Patent No. 9,253,452 (the “ ‘452 Patent”), which generally covers the automatic activation and coordination of multiple recording devices in response to a triggering event, such as a law enforcement officer activating the light bar on the vehicle.

The Company filed suit on January 15, 2016 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas (the “U.S. District Court”) (Case No: 2:16-cv-02032) against Axon Enterprise, Inc. (“Axon”), alleging willful patent infringement against Axon’s body camera product line and Signal auto-activation product. The Company is seeking both monetary damages and a permanent injunction against Axon for infringement of the ‘452 Patent.

In December 2016 and January 2017, Axon filed two petitions for Inter Partes Review (“IPR”) against the ‘452 Patent. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) rejected both of Axon’s petitions. Axon is now statutorily precluded from filing any more IPR petitions against the ‘452 Patent.

The District Court litigation was temporarily stayed following the filing of the petitions for IPR. However, on November 17, 2017, the U.S. District Court of Kansas rejected Axon’s request to maintain the stay. With this ruling, the parties then proceeded towards trial, after which the parties filed motions for summary judgement on January 31, 2019.

On June 17, 2019, the U.S. District Court granted Axon’s motion for summary judgment that Axon did not infringe on the Company’s patent and dismissed the case. The U.S. District Court’s ruling did not find that the ‘452 Patent was invalid. It also did not address any other issue, such as whether Digital’s requested damages were appropriate, and it did not impact the Company’s ability to file additional lawsuits to hold other competitors accountable for patent infringement. This ruling solely related to an interpretation of the Company’s claims as they relate to Axon and was unrelated to the supplemental briefing the Company filed on its damages claim. Those issues are separate and the U.S. District Court’s ruling on the motion for summary judgment had nothing to do with the Company’s damages request.

The Company filed an opening appeal brief on August 26, 2019 with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (the “Court of Appeals”), appealing the U.S. District Court’s granting of Axon’s motion for summary judgment. Axon responded by filing a responsive brief on November 6, 2019 and we then filed a reply brief responding to Axon on November 27, 2019. The Court of Appeals scheduled oral arguments on our appeal of the U.S. District Court’s summary judgment ruling on April 6, 2020. This appeal was intended to address the Company’s position that the U.S. District Court incorrectly dismissed our claims against Axon. If the Court of Appeals overturns the ruling of the U.S. District Court, the case would have been remanded to the U.S District Court before a new judge. On March 12, 2020, the panel of judges for the Court of Appeals issued an order cancelling the oral arguments previously set for April 6, 2020, having determined that the appeal will be decided solely based on the parties’ briefs. On April 22, 2020, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals denied our appeal and affirmed the District Court’s previous decision to grant Axon summary judgment. On May 22, 2020, we filed a petition for panel rehearing requesting that we be granted a rehearing of our appeal of the U.S. District Court’s summary judgment ruling. Furthermore, we requested that we be given an opportunity to make our case through oral argument in front of the three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals, which was also denied. The Company has abandoned its right to any further appeals.