Commitments and Contingencies |
6 Months Ended | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Jun. 30, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Commitments and Contingencies | NOTE 6. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES Leases As of June 30, 2020, we leased approximately 180,000 square feet in 1305 O’Brien Drive, Menlo Park, California, where we house our headquarters, research and development, service and support functions. We also leased a sales office facility in Singapore and engineering support facilities in Allen, Texas. On July 22, 2015, we entered into a lease agreement with respect to our facility located at 1305 O’Brien Drive, Menlo Park, California. The term of the O’Brien Lease is one hundred thirty-two (132) months. In December 2016, we entered into an amendment to the O’Brien Lease which defined the commencement date of the lease to be October 25, 2016, notwithstanding that such substantial completion did not occur until the first quarter of 2017. Base monthly rent was abated for the first six (6) months of the lease term and thereafter was $540,000 per month during the first year of the lease term, with specified annual increases thereafter until reaching $711,000 per month during the last twelve (12) months of the lease term. If the rent is not received within five days of the due date, there will be an additional sum equal to 5% of the amount overdue as a late charge. Any amount not paid within 10 days after receipt of landlord’s written notice will bear interest from the date due until paid, at the lesser rate of (1) the prime rate of interest as published in the Wall Street Journal, plus 2% or (2) the maximum rate allowed by law, in addition to the late payment charge. We were required to establish a letter of credit for the benefits of the landlord and to submit $4.5 million as a deposit for the letter of credit in October 2015. Subsequently pursuant to the terms of the O’Brien Lease, at May 1, 2019 the $4.5 million in restricted cash was reduced to $4.0 million and at May 1, 2020 the $4.0 million in restricted cash was reduced to $3.5 million. All of our leases are operating leases. Operating lease assets and liabilities are reflected within “Operating lease right-of-use assets, net”, “Operating lease liabilities, current” and “Operating lease liabilities, non-current” on the condensed consolidated balance sheets. These assets and liabilities are recognized at the commencement date based on the present value of remaining minimum lease payments over the lease term using our estimated secured incremental borrowing rates at the effective date of January 1, 2019. Lease payments included in the measurement of the lease liability comprise the base rent per the term of the Lease. Lease expense for these leases is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term, with variable lease payments, such as common area maintenance fees, recognized in the period those payments are incurred. We often have options to renew lease terms for buildings. For the O’Brien Lease, the renewal option is 5 years and the rent will be based on fair market value at the time of renewal and was not included in the lease term. In addition, certain lease arrangements may be terminated prior to their original expiration date at our discretion. We evaluate renewal and termination options at the lease commencement date to determine if we are reasonably certain to exercise the option on the basis of economic factors. The weighted average remaining lease term for our operating leases as of June 30, 2020 was 7.3 years. The discount rate implicit within our leases is generally not determinable and therefore we determine the discount rate based on our incremental borrowing rate. The incremental borrowing rate for our leases is determined based on lease term and currency in which lease payments are made, adjusted for impacts of collateral. The weighted average discount rate used to measure our operating lease liabilities as of June 30, 2020 was 7.9%. The following table presents information as to the amount and timing of cash flows arising from our operating leases as of June 30, 2020:
Cash Flows Cash paid for amounts included in the present value of operating lease liabilities was $1.8 million and $3.6 million, respectively, for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020 and included in operating cash flow. Operating Lease Costs Operating lease costs were $1.6 million and $3.1 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020, respectively. Operating lease costs were $1.6 million and $3.1 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2019, respectively. For both 2020 and 2019 the operating lease costs primarily related to our operating leases, but also included immaterial amounts for variable leases. Contingencies We may become involved in legal proceedings, claims and assessments from time to time in the ordinary course of business. We accrue liabilities for such matters when it is probable that future expenditures will be made and such expenditures can be reasonably estimated. Legal U.S. District Court Proceedings On March 15, 2017, we filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware against ONT Inc. for patent infringement (C.A. No. 17-cv-275 (“275 Action”)). The complaint is based on our U.S. Patent No. 9,546,400 (the “’400 Patent”), entitled “Nanopore sequencing using n-mers” which covers novel methods for nanopore sequencing of nucleic acid molecules using the signals from multiple monomeric units. This patent was granted on January 17, 2017. We are seeking remedies including injunctive relief, damages and costs. On August 23, 2018, we filed an amended complaint, adding ONT Ltd. as a defendant in the 275 Action. On August 15, 2019, the judge granted our motion to amend the complaint in the 275 Action to add allegations of willful infringement by ONT Inc. and ONT Ltd. On September 25, 2017, we filed a second complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware against ONT Inc. for patent infringement (C.A. No. 17-cv-1353 (“1353 Action”)). The complaint is based on our U.S. Patent No. 9,678,056 (the “’056 Patent”) entitled “Control of Enzyme Translation in Nanopore Sequencing”, granted June 13, 2017, and U.S. Patent No. 9,738,929 (the “’929 Patent”) entitled “Nucleic Acid Sequence Analysis”, granted August 22, 2017. We are seeking remedies including injunctive relief, damages and costs. On March 28, 2018, we added a claim for infringement of our U.S. Patent No. 9,772,323 (the “’323 Patent”), entitled “Nanopore sequencing using n-mers.” On August 23, 2018 we filed an amended complaint, adding ONT Ltd. as a defendant in the 1353 Action. On August 15, 2019, the judge granted our motion to amend the complaint in the 1353 Action to add allegations of willful infringement by ONT Inc. and ONT Ltd.
A trial for the U.S. District Court matters was held from March 9 through March 18, 2020. The jury determined that ONT Inc. and ONT Ltd. infringed the ‘056 Patent, the ‘400 Patent, and the ‘323 Patent, but the jury declined to find these patents valid based on enablement and, in the case of claim one of the ’056 Patent, written description and indefiniteness. The jury declined to find valid or infringed U.S. Patent No. 9,738,929. We plan to appeal the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Unrelated to the preceding matters, on September 26, 2019, Personal Genomics of Taiwan, Inc. (“PGI”) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware against us for patent infringement (C.A. No. 19-cv-1810). The complaint is based on PGI’s U.S. Patent No. 7,767,441 (the “441 Patent”). We plan to vigorously defend in this matter. On November 20, 2019, we filed our answer to the complaint, denying infringement and seeking a declaratory judgement of invalidity of the ‘441 Patent. A trial for this matter is scheduled to begin on March 14, 2022. On June 22, 2020, we filed a petition requesting institution of an inter-partes review (IPR) to the Patent Trial and Appeals Board (the “Board”) at the United States Patent Office requesting the Board to find a set of claims in the ‘441 invalid. On June 27, 2020, we filed a second petition requesting institution of an IPR requesting the Board to find another set of claims in the ‘441 invalid. The two petitions requesting IPRs assert that all of the claims relevant to the PGI complaint are invalid. On May 19, 2020, PGI filed a complaint in the Wuhan People’s Court alleging infringement of one or more claims of China patent No. CN101743321B, which is related to the ‘441 Patent. We have not received service. We plan to vigorously defend in this matter. Other Proceedings From time to time, we may also be involved in a variety of other claims, lawsuits, investigations and proceedings relating to securities laws, product liability, patent infringement, contract disputes, employment and other matters that arise in the normal course of our business. In addition, third parties may, from time to time, assert claims against us in the form of letters and other communications. We record a provision for contingent losses when it is both probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. We currently do not believe that the ultimate outcome of any of the matters described above is probable or reasonably estimable, or that these matters will have a material adverse effect on our business; however, the results of litigation and claims are inherently unpredictable. Regardless of the outcome, litigation can have an adverse impact on us because of litigation and settlement costs, diversion of management resources and other factors. Indemnification Pursuant to Delaware law and agreements entered into with each of our directors and officers, we may have obligations, under certain circumstances, to hold harmless and indemnify each of our directors and officers against losses suffered or incurred by the indemnified party in connection with their service to us, and judgements, fines, settlements and expenses related to claims arising against such directors and officers to the fullest extent permitted under Delaware law, our bylaws and certificate of incorporation. We also enter and have entered into indemnification agreements with our directors and officers that may require us to indemnify them against liabilities that arise by reason of their status or service as directors or officers, except as prohibited by applicable law. In addition, we may have obligations to hold harmless and indemnify third parties involved with our fundraising efforts and their respective affiliates, directors, officers, employees, agents or other representatives against any and all losses, claims, damages and liabilities related to claims arising against such parties pursuant to the terms of agreements entered into between such third parties and us in connection with such fundraising efforts. To the extent that any such indemnification obligations apply to the lawsuits described above, any associated expenses incurred are included within the related accrued litigation expense amounts. No additional liability associated with such indemnification obligations has been recorded at June 30, 2020. |