Commitments and Contingencies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract]

Commitments and contingencies:

8. 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 $24,000 for each of the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively.

On November 25, 2013, OdorStar and Kinpak filed a Second Amended Complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, 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. On January 8, 2015 the Court of Appeal affirmed the District Court’s judgement. On March 27, 2014, SSM Distributors LLC, d/b/a Biocide Systems, and SSM Manufacturing, Inc. (SMM Distributors LLC is now defunct) 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.