Commitments and Contingencies

6 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2022

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

Commitments and Contingencies

Indemnifications

We have agreed to indemnify certain customers against claims of infringement of intellectual property rights of others in our sales contracts with these customers. Historically, we have not paid any claims under these customer indemnification obligations. We enter into indemnification agreements with each of our directors and executive officers pursuant to which we agree to indemnify them for certain potential expenses and liabilities arising from their status as a director or executive officer of the Company. We maintain directors and officers insurance, which covers certain liabilities relating to our obligation to indemnify our directors and executive officers in certain circumstances. It is not possible to determine the aggregate maximum potential loss under these indemnification agreements due to the limited history of prior indemnification claims and the unique facts and circumstances involved in each particular claim.

Legal Proceedings

We are subject to various legal proceedings, claims, and litigation, either asserted or unasserted, that arise in the ordinary course of business. The outcome of these matters is currently not determinable and we are unable to estimate a range of loss, should a loss occur, from these proceedings. The ultimate outcome of legal proceedings involves judgments, estimates, and inherent uncertainties and the results of these matters cannot be predicted with certainty. Professional legal fees are expensed when incurred. We accrue for contingent losses when such losses are probable and reasonably estimable. In the event that estimates or assumptions prove to differ from actual results, adjustments are made in subsequent periods to reflect more current information.

Should we fail to prevail in any legal matter, or should several legal matters be resolved against the Company in the same reporting period, then the financial results of that particular reporting period could be materially affected.

Intellectual Property Lawsuits

We protect our proprietary technology by applying for patents where appropriate and, in other cases, by preserving the technology, related know-how, and information as trade secrets. The success and competitive position of our product lines are impacted by our ability to obtain intellectual property protection for our research and development efforts. We have, from time to time, exchanged correspondence with third parties regarding the assertion of patent or other intellectual property rights in connection with certain of our products and processes.

Resilience Litigation

In February 2021, Resilience Capital (“Resilience”) filed a complaint against us with the Delaware Chancery Court containing claims arising from the February 2020 sale of SDI’s real property (the “Concord Property Sale”) located in Concord, California (the “Concord Real Property”) to Eagle Rock Holdings, LP (“Buyer”) and that certain Single-Tenant Triple Net Lease, dated as of February 10, 2020, entered into by and between SDI and the Buyer, pursuant to which SDI leased from the Buyer the Concord Real Property for a 15 year term. The Resilience complaint seeks, among other items, (a) a declaration that the Concord Property Sale included a non-cash component; (b) a decree requiring us and Resilience to follow the appraisal requirements set forth in that certain Purchase and Sale Agreement (the "SDI Purchase Agreement"), dated as of June 7, 2019, by and among the Company, The Resilience Fund IV, L.P., The Resilience Fund IV-A, L.P., Aerospace Newco Holdings, Inc. and Ember Acquisition Sub, Inc.; (c) recovery of Resilience’s costs and expenses; and (d) pre- and post-judgment interest.

In April 2021, we filed with the Delaware Chancery Court our answer to the Resilience complaint and counterclaims against Resilience, in which we are seeking, among other items, (a) dismissal of the Resilience complaint and/or granting of judgment in favor of EMCORE with respect to the Resilience complaint, (b) entering final judgment against Resilience awarding damages to us for Resilience’s fraud and breaches of the SDI Purchase Agreement in an amount to be proven at trial and not less than $1,565,000, (c) a judicial determination of the respective rights and duties of us and Resilience under the SDI Purchase Agreement, (d) an award to us of costs and expenses and (e) pre- and post-judgment interest. We believe that the claims made by Resilience in its complaint are without merit and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves against them.