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Note 10 - Commitments and Contingencies | 3 Months Ended
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Apr. 30, 2014
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block] |
10. | Commitments and Contingencies
Executive Severance Commitments We have a severance compensation agreement with our key executive. This agreement requires us to pay this executive, in the event of a termination of employment following a change of control of the Company or other circumstances, the amount of his then current annual base salary and the amount of any bonus amount the executive would have achieved for the year in which the termination occurs plus the acceleration of unvested options. We have not recorded any liability in the consolidated financial statements for this agreement. Although the contemplated sale of shares of common stock and the issuance of the Warrants and possible issuance of the Additional Warrant Shares by the Company to Broadwood could result in a change of control for purposes of the severance compensation agreements, the executive who is party to this agreement has waived his right to receive payments under this agreement in the event that a change of control occurs as a result of the sale of shares and the issuance of Warrants and Additional Warrants to Broadwood. Additionally, as a result of the Company’s sale of the 6,250,000 shares of common stock to Elkhorn, subsequent to fiscal year end (see Note 8), Elkhorn’s beneficial ownership of the Company has increased from approximately 9% to approximately 49% of the Company’s outstanding voting stock, making Elkhorn the Company’s largest shareholder and resulting in a change of control for purposes of the severance compensation agreement. The executive who is party to this agreement has waived his right to receive payments under this agreement as a result of the change in Elkhorn’s beneficial ownership of the Company. Letter of Credit During the first quarter of fiscal 2010, the Company obtained a $77,000 letter of credit from Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”) to allow for continuous and unlapsed compliance with a lease provision for the Company’s corporate offices. The letter of credit expires on August 1, 2014. Executive and Board of Directors Compensation On November 2, 2013, the Company approved a deferred compensation plan for its Chief Executive Officer and Board of Directors. As of April 30, 2014, no compensation expense has been accrued under this deferred compensation plan as its goal was not achieved. Legal Contingencies On April 26, 2011, Chicony, the contract manufacturer of the Bronx product that was the subject of a product recall, filed a complaint against us for breach of contract, seeking payment of $1.2 million for the alleged non-payment by us of amounts alleged by Chicony to be due it for products purchased from it by the Company. We denied liability and filed a cross-complaint on May 13, 2011 seeking the recovery of damages of $4.9 million caused by Chicony's failure to adhere to our technical specifications when manufacturing the Bronx product, which we believe resulted in the recall of the product. On April 16, 2013, the court approved our first-amended cross-complaint, which added intentional interference to our complaint and increased the damages we were seeking to at least $15.0 million. The trial date was held in October, 2013. In an effort to resolve this litigation before the previous trial date of April, 2013, we sent Chicony a settlement offer, which has since lapsed. On February 4, 2014, a jury returned a verdict in our favor and awarded us damages of approximately $10.8 million, offset by previously accrued liabilities of $1.1 million for a net award of approximately $9.7 million. Effective as of May 15, 2014, Chicony entered into a settlement agreement with us that dismisses all claims between the parties arising from the litigation referenced above. Pursuant to the terms of the settlement agreement, Chicony agreed to pay us $7.6 million in lieu of the jury’s net award of $9.7 million or any other related costs or fees. $4.0 million of the settlement amount was paid to us on May 16, 2014, with the balance of $3.6 million paid to us on June 2, 2014. As the gain contingency was not realized as of April 30, 2014, we will record a gain of $7.6 million associated with this settlement in the quarter ended July 31, 2014. Further pursuant to the settlement agreement, each party released the other and its affiliates from any and all claims related to the subject matter of the litigation and we covenanted not to sue Chicony on the next 500,000 power adapters sold by Chicony after May 15, 2014 that we allege infringe on our intellectual property rights. The settlement agreement also contains other representations, warranties and covenants of both parties that are customary for an agreement of this type. On September 1, 2011, subsequent to receiving an infringement notification from us, ACCO Brands USA LLC and its Kensington Computer Products Group division (collectively “Kensington”) filed a lawsuit against us alleging that five of our patents relating to power technology are invalid and/or not infringed by products made and/or sold by Kensington. On February 29, 2012, we denied these claims and filed a cross-complaint alleging infringement by Kensington of each of these five patents. A number of these patents are currently the subject of re-examination proceedings initiated by Kensington or other third parties. On February 4, 2014, Kensington entered into a settlement and licensing agreement with the Company with an effective date of February 1, 2014 that dismisses all claims between the two parties arising from the litigation referenced above. On March 6, 2012, we filed a lawsuit against EDAC Power Electronics Co. Ltd (“EDAC”) for breach of contract seeking payment of $2.5 million for the failure to deliver goods ordered by us in the time, place, manner and price indicated by each purchase order. As previously reported, the parties entered into a Settlement Agreement on July 24, 2012, ending the litigation between the parties. The settlement involved no cash payments by either of the parties, but allowed us to recover previously incurred product and freight costs and to discharge net liabilities of $1.4 million from our consolidated balance sheet that would otherwise have been due to EDAC had it prevailed in the lawsuit. The settlement resulted in a decrease to cost of revenue of $1.4 million during the fiscal year ended January 31, 2013. In addition to the pending matters described above, we are, from time to time, involved in various legal proceedings incidental to the conduct of our business. We are unable to predict the ultimate outcome of these matters.

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