Note 6 – Commitments and Contingencies

License Agreement

In 2015, the Company entered into licensing agreements which expire in February 2033. Per the agreements, the Company has an exclusive royalty-free license associated with semiconductor power switches which enhances its intellectual property portfolio. The agreements include both fixed payments, all of which were paid prior to 2017, and ongoing variable payments. The variable payments are a function of the number of associated patent filings pending and patents issued under the agreements. The Company will pay $10,000 for each patent filing pending and $20,000 for each patent issued within 20 days of December 21st of each year of the agreements, up to a maximum of $100,000 per year (i.e. five issued patents).

In April 2019, a patent associated with these agreements was issued and the Company recorded, as a non-cash activity, an intangible asset and a corresponding other long-term liability of $232,367, representing the estimated present value of future payments under the licensing agreements for this issued patent. Through March 31, 2020, three patents associated with the agreements were issued. At March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, the other long-term liability for the estimated present value of future payments under the licensing agreements was $599,860 and $595,802, respectively. The Company is accruing interest for future payments related to the issued patents associated with these agreements.

Legal Proceedings

On April 11, 2019, the Company entered into an asset purchase agreement (the “APA”) with Pathion Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and Pathion, Inc., a Delaware corporation, (together, “Pathion”) to sell certain assets (the “PPSA Assets”) related to the Company’s PPSA™ / Power Conversion Systems business (“PPSA Business”). The purchase price consisted of $500,000 in cash and 150,000 shares of the common stock of Pathion Holdings, Inc. Pursuant to the APA, Pathion would also assume certain liabilities relating to the PPSA Business.

On June 13, 2019, the Company filed a petition in the district court of the 250th Judicial District in Travis County (the “Court”), naming Pathion and certain Pathion officers as defendants. The petition asserts breach of the APA and the related sublease agreement for failure by Pathion to pay any cash amounts due thereunder, and fraudulent inducement by Pathion and the individual defendants for misrepresenting Pathion’s financial position and its stock value. The petition also requested a declaratory judgment that Pathion has no rights to the PPSA Assets.

On July 15, 2019, Pathion filed a general denial to the Company’s petition.

On July 22, 2019, the Company filed a motion for partial summary judgment on its declaratory judgment action and for severance. Pathion responded to the motion for summary judgment on August 6, 2019. That same day, Pathion filed a counterclaim, and requested injunctive relief and a declaratory judgment.

On August 13, 2019, the Court conducted a hearing on the Company’s motion for summary judgment. On August 23, 2019, the Court issued an order granting the Company’s motion for summary judgment and fees and severing judgment from remaining claims. Under this order, the Court declared and decreed that Pathion has no rights to the PPSA Assets and awarded the Company $24,800 in legal fees. On October 15, 2019, the Court issued a writ of garnishment against Pathion’s bank to enable collection of these legal fees.

On October 14, 2019, the Court granted Pathion’s counsel’s motion to withdraw. Ten days later, a new lawyer appeared for Pathion, and the next day, October 25, 2019, the Court issued a scheduling order requiring Pathion to produce documents and appear for deposition in December 2019 and set trial to begin on August 31, 2020. On December 12, 2019, after Pathion filed an emergency order to delay depositions, the Court set a new deposition date of January 7, 2020. The deposition occurred on January 7, 2020. On February 20, 2020, Pathion filed a request for the Company to produce documents within 30 days. The Company responded to this request on March 23, 2020.

At March 31, 2020, the Company, even though it did not expect an unfavorable outcome related to this proceeding, was unable to estimate the possible gain or loss, if any, related to this proceeding.

On April 17, 2020, the Company and Pathion, including the individual Pathion defendants, entered into an Agreement and General Release and, on April 22, 2020 jointly filed a Mutual Notice of Nonsuit with the Court. As a result, the parties have been released from any agreements previously signed by the parties and the legal proceeding has been dismissed. In connection with this settlement for no cash consideration, the parties signed a Rule 11 Agreement whereby the Company would still receive the $25,442 of legal fees plus interest that it was awarded by the Court in August 2019 and garnished in October 2019. These funds were received by the Company on April 23, 2020.

The Company may be subject to other litigation from time to time in the ordinary course of business. The Company is not currently party to any legal proceedings that it believes would reasonably have a material adverse impact on its business, financial results and cash flows.

Indemnification Obligations

In connection with the sale of its power conversion systems division in September 2019, the Company entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement with CE+T Energy that contains mutual indemnification obligations for breaches of representations, warranties and covenants and for certain other matters, including indemnification by the Company for assets and liabilities excluded from the sale and by CE+T Energy for liabilities assumed in the sale.

COVID-19 Pandemic

In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19 as a pandemic, which continues to spread throughout the United States and the rest of the world. The ultimate extent of the impact of COVID-19 on the financial performance of the Company will depend on future developments, including, among other things, the duration and spread of COVID-19, and the overall economy, all of which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted. The outbreak of COVID-19 has already caused significant disruptions to the global financial markets which may impact the Company’s ability to raise additional capital, on acceptable terms or at all.  If the financial markets and/or the overall economy are impacted for an extended period, the Company's operating results may be materially and adversely affected.