Commitments and Contingencies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2014

Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract]

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

9. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

The Company leases its executive offices and warehouse facilities in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from an entity controlled by its Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. On May 16, 2013, the term of the lease, which was scheduled to expire on May 1, 2018, was extended through December 31, 2023. The lease requires annual minimum base rent of $94,800 and provides for a maximum annual 2% increase in subsequent years, although the entity has not raised the minimum rent since the Company entered into a previous lease agreement in 1998. Additionally, the leasing entity is entitled to reimbursement of all taxes, assessments, and any other expenses that arise from ownership. Each of the parties to the lease has agreed to review the terms of the lease every three years at the request of the other party.  Rent expense under the lease was approximately $25,000 and $24,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2014 and 2013, and was approximately $49,000 for each of the six month periods ended June 30, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

The Company leases from the Alabama State Port Authority a 1.5 acre docking facility on the Alabama River, located approximately eleven miles from the Company’s Alabama manufacturing facility.  The lease expires on September 30, 2014, and requires the Company to pay rent and additional expenses totaling approximately $8,000 annually.

On November 25, 2013, OdorStar and Kinpak filed a Second Amended Complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, alleging patent infringement by SSM Distributors LLC, d/b/a Biocide Systems, and SSM Manufacturing, Inc. SMM Distributors LLC is now defunct. The Second Amended Complaint, which amended a complaint initially filed on January 18, 2013,   alleges that Biocide manufactured, used, sold and continues to sell an odor-eliminating product that infringes OdorStar's U.S. Patent No. 6,764,661 (“the ‘661 patent”), relating to a device for producing chlorine dioxide.  Biocide denied infringement and both sides moved for summary judgment. On January 27, 2014, the District Court granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment of non-infringement and denied the plaintiffs' motion.

OdorStar and Kinpak have appealed the judgment to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Specifically, OdorStar and Kinpak contend that the district court erred in construing the claims of the ‘661 patent and in entering summary judgment of non-infringement based on an incorrect claim construction. The appeal is pending.

On March 27, 2014, the defendants filed a motion with the District Court seeking payment by OdorStar and Kinpak of their attorneys’ fees and non-taxable costs in the amount of $259,550, based on, among other things, the defendants’ contention that the plaintiffs' patent infringement claims were vexatious and intended to intimidate the defendants into withdrawing from competition with the plaintiffs.  OdorStar and Kinpak filed an opposition to the motion, essentially denying the defendants' contentions and stating that defendants were not entitled to payment of their attorneys’ fees under applicable legal standards. The District Court has not yet ruled on the motion.