Revenue Recognition

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2023

Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]

Revenue Recognition

Note 4. Revenue Recognition

The Company recognizes revenue in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606). The standard provides a single comprehensive revenue recognition model for all contracts with customers and supersedes existing revenue recognition guidance. The revenue standard contains principles that an entity will apply to determine the measurement of revenue and timing of when it is recognized. The underlying principle is that an entity will recognize revenue to depict the transfer of goods or services to customers at an amount that the entity expects to be entitled to in exchange for those goods or services.

ASC 606 follows a five-step approach to determining revenue recognition including: 1) Identification of the contract; 2) Identification of the performance obligations; 3) Determination of the transaction price; 4) Allocation of the transaction price; and 5) Recognition of revenue.

The Company determined that its license agreements provide for three performance obligations which include: (i) the Grant of Use to its Patent Portfolio (“Grant of Use”), (ii) Stand-Ready Technical Support (“Technical Support”) including the transfer of trade secrets and other know-how, production of materials, scale-up support, analytical testing, etc., and (iii) access to new Intellectual Property (“IP”) that may be developed sometime during the course of the contract period (“New Improvements”). Given the nature of IP development, such New Improvements are on an unspecified basis and can occur and be made available to licensees at any time during the contract period.

When a contract includes more than one performance obligation, the Company needs to allocate the total consideration to each performance obligation based on its relative standalone selling price or estimate the standalone selling price if it is not observable. A standalone selling price is not available for our performance obligations since we do not sell any of the services separately and there is no competitor pricing that is available. As a consequence, the best method for determining standalone selling price of our Grant of Use performance obligation is through a comparison of the average royalty rate for comparable license agreements as compared to our license agreements. Comparable license agreements must consider several factors including: (i) the materials that are being licensed, (ii) the market application for the licensed materials, and (iii) the financial terms in the license agreements that can increase or decrease the risk/reward nature of the agreement.

Based on the royalty rate comparison referred to above, any pricing above and beyond the average royalty rate would relate to the Technical Support and New Improvements performance obligations. The Company focuses a significant portion of its time and resources to provide the Technical Support and New Improvements services to its licensees which further supports the conclusions reached using the royalty rate analysis.

The Technical Support and New Improvements performance obligations are co-terminus over the term of the license agreement. For purposes of determining the transaction price, and recognizing revenue, the Company combined the Technical Support and New Improvements performance obligations because they have the same pattern of transfer and the same term. We maintain a staff of scientists and other professionals whose primary job responsibilities throughout the year are: (i) being available to respond to Technical Support needs of our licensees, and (ii) developing improvements to our technology which are offered to our licensees as New Improvements. Since the costs incurred to satisfy the Technical Support and New Improvements performance obligations are incurred evenly throughout the year, the value of the Technical Support and New Improvements services are recognized throughout the initial contract period as these performance obligations are satisfied. If the agreement is not terminated at the end of the initial contract period, it will renew on the same terms as the initial contract for a one-year period. Consequently, any fees or minimum annual royalty obligations relating to this renewal contract will be allocated similarly to the initial contract over the additional one-year period.

We recognize revenue when or as the performance obligations in the contract are satisfied. For performance obligations that are fulfilled at a point in time, revenue is recognized at the fulfillment of the performance obligation. Since the IP is determined to be a functional license, the value of the Grant of Use is recognized in the first period of the contract term in which the license agreement is in force. The value of the Technical Support and New Improvements obligations is allocated throughout the contract period based on the satisfaction of its performance obligations. If the agreement is not terminated at the end of the contract period, it will renew on the same terms as the original agreement for a one-year period. Consequently, any fees or minimum annual royalties (“MAR”) relating to this renewal contract will be allocated similarly over that additional year.

The Company’s license agreements have a variable royalty fee structure (meaning that royalties are a fixed percentage of sales that vary from period to period) and frequently include a minimum annual royalty commitment. In instances when sales of licensed products by its licensees exceed the MAR, the Company recognizes fee income as the amounts have been earned. Typically, the royalty rate for such sales is 10-15% of the selling price. While this is variable consideration, it is subject to the sales/usage royalty exception to recognition of variable consideration in ASC 606 10-55-65 and therefore is not recognized until the subsequent sales or usage occurs or the MAR period commences.

Because of the immediate recognition of the Grant of Use performance obligation: (i) the first period of the contract term will generally have a higher percent allocation of the transaction price under ASC 606 than under the accounting guidance used prior to the adoption of ASC 606, and (ii) the remaining periods in the year will have less of the transaction price recognized under ASC 606 than under the accounting guidance used prior to the adoption of ASC 606. After the initial period in the contract term, the revenue for the remaining periods will be based on the satisfaction of the Technical Support and New Improvements obligations. Since most of our license agreements start as of January 1st, the revenue recognized for the contract under ASC 606 in our first quarter will tend to be higher than the accounting guidance used prior to the adoption of ASC 606.

As of March 31, 2023, the Company had $125,000 in unbilled revenue included in royalties receivables.

Certain of the contract fees are accrued by, or paid to, the Company in advance of the period in which they are earned resulting in deferred revenue (contract liabilities). Such excess amounts are recorded as deferred revenue and are recognized as revenue in future periods as earned. Contract assets represent unbilled receivables and are presented within accounts receivable, net on the condensed consolidated balance sheets.

The Company operates in a single business segment which is engaged in the development and marketing of technology and devices to control the flow of light. Our revenue source comes from the licensing of this technology and all of these license agreements have similar terms and provisions. The majority of the Company’s licensing fee income comes from the activities of several licensees participating in the automotive market. The Company currently believes that the automotive market will be the largest source of its royalty income over the next several years. The Company’s royalty income from this market may be influenced by numerous factors including various trends affecting demand in the automotive industry and the rate of introduction of new technology in OEM product lines. In addition to these macro factors, the Company’s royalty income from the automotive market could also be influenced by specific factors such as whether the Company’s SPD-SmartGlass technology appears as standard equipment or as an option on a particular vehicle, the number of additional vehicle models that SPD-SmartGlass appears on, the size of each window on a vehicle and the number of windows on a vehicle that use SPD SmartGlass, fluctuations in the total number of vehicles produced by a manufacturer, and in the percentage of cars within each model produced with SPD-SmartGlass, and changes in pricing or exchange rates.

As of March 31, 2023, the Company has one license agreement that is in its initial multiyear term (“Initial Term”) with continuing performance obligations going forward. The Initial Term of this agreement will end as of December 31, 2024. The Company currently expects this agreement will renew annually at the end of the Initial Term. As of March 31, 2023, the aggregate amount of the revenue to be recognized upon the satisfaction of the remaining performance obligations for this license agreement is $105,000. The revenue for the remaining performance obligations for this license agreement is expected to be recognized evenly throughout the remaining period of the Initial Term.