CONTINGENT LIABILITIES

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2017

Notes to Financial Statements

CONTINGENT LIABILITIES

Employment Agreements

The Company has employment agreements with its Chief Executive Officer, its Senior Vice President of Administration and Chief Financial Officer, and its Chief Technical Officer. The Company may terminate the agreements with or without cause. Subject to the conditions and other limitations set forth in each respective employment agreement, each executive will be entitled to the following severance benefits if the Company terminates the executive’s employment without cause or in the event of an involuntary termination (as defined in the employment agreements) by the Company or by the executive:

Under the terms of the agreement, the Chief Executive Officer will be entitled to the following severance benefits if we terminate his employment without cause or in the event of an involuntary termination: (i) a lump sum cash payment equal to twenty-four months’ base salary; (ii) continuation of fringe benefits and medical insurance for a period of three years; and (iii) immediate vesting of 50% of outstanding stock options and restricted stock awards. In the event that the Chief Executive Officer’s employment is terminated within six months prior to or thirteen months following a change of control (as defined in the employment agreements), the Chief Executive Officer is entitled to the severance benefits described above, except that 100% of the Chief Executive Officer’s outstanding stock options and restricted stock awards will immediately vest. 

Under the terms of the employment agreements with our Senior Vice President of Administration and Chief Financial Officer, this executive will be entitled to the following severance benefits if we terminate their employment without cause or in the event of an involuntary termination: (i) a lump sum cash payment equal to six months of base salary; (ii) continuation of their fringe benefits and medical insurance for a period of six months; and (iii) immediate vesting of 50% of their outstanding stock options and restricted stock awards. In the event that their employment is terminated within six months prior to or thirteen months following a change of control (as defined in the employment agreements), they are entitled to the severance benefits described above, except that 100% of their outstanding stock options and restricted stock awards will immediately vest.

Under the terms of the employment agreement with our Chief Technical Officer, this executive will be entitled to the following severance benefits if we terminate his employment without cause or in the event of an involuntary termination: (i) a lump sum cash payment equal to six months of base salary; and (ii) continuation of their fringe benefits and medical insurance for a period of six months. In the event that his employment is terminated within six months prior to or thirteen months following a change of control (as defined in the employment agreements), he is entitled to the severance benefits described above, except that 100% of his outstanding stock options and restricted stock awards will immediately vest.

Effective September 15, 2017, the employment agreements for the Company's Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Technical Officer were amended to extend the term of each executive officer's employment agreement until December 31, 2018.

Litigation

There is no action, suit, proceeding, inquiry or investigation before or by any court, public board, government agency, self-regulatory organization or body pending or, to the knowledge of the executive officers of the Company or any of our subsidiaries, threatened against or affecting the Company, our Common Stock, any of our subsidiaries or of the Company’s or our subsidiaries’ officers or directors in their capacities as such, in which an adverse decision could have a material adverse effect.

Leases

The Company’s corporate headquarters are located in San Diego, California where we occupy 9,927 square feet of office space. This facility’s lease was renewed in September 2017 through October 2018 at a cost of approximately $30,000 per month. In addition to our corporate headquarters, we also occupied the following spaces at September 30, 2017:

● 1,508 square feet in Ottawa, Province of Ontario, Canada, at a cost of approximately $3,000 per month until the expiration of the lease on March 31, 2021. This lease was renewed in April 2016 for a five-year period ending on March 31, 2021. Renewal terms were substantially unchanged from the existing lease;

● 9,720 square feet in Portland, Oregon, at a cost of approximately $21,000 per month until the expiration of the lease on December 31, 2021. This lease was renewed in September 2017 resulting in an additional 1,675 feet, an increase from approximately $18,000 to approximately $21,000 per month and the extension of the term from October 2018 to December 2021; and

● 304 square feet of office space in Mexico City, Mexico, at a cost of approximately $3,000 per month until November 30, 2017.

 At September 30, 2017, future minimum lease payments are as follows:

($ in thousands)
2017 (three months)	$	144
2018		546
2019		284
2020		292
2021		272
Total	$	1,538

 Rental expense incurred under operating leases for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 was approximately $389,000 and $364,000, respectively.