Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract]

Commitments and contingencies:

Note 10– 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. The lease, as extended, expires on December 31, 2023. The lease requires an 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 $97,000 and $96,000 for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively. 

The following is a schedule of minimum future rentals on the Company’s non-cancelable operating leases.

12 month period ending December 31,
	2015	$	96,064
	2016		97,985
	2017		99,945
	2018		101,944
	2019		103,983
	Thereafter		437,148
	Total	$	937,069

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 appealed the judgment to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. On January 8, 2015, the Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court's judgment. The Company has determined to take no further action, and the proceedings are concluded.

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. On March 2, 2015, the District Court denied the defendants’ motion.