ITEM 1.
BUSINESS
As used in this Annual Report, “we,” “us,” “our,” “ImageWare,” “ImageWare Systems,” “Company” or “our Company” refers to ImageWare Systems, Inc. and all of its subsidiaries.
Overview
The Company is a pioneer and leader in the emerging market for biometrically enabled software-based identity management solutions. Using those human characteristics that are unique to us all, we create software that provides a highly reliable indication of a person’s identity. Our “flagship” product is our patented IWS Biometric Engine®. Scalable for small city business or worldwide deployment, our IWS Biometric Engine is a multi-biometric software platform that is hardware and algorithm independent, enabling the enrollment and management of unlimited population sizes. It allows a user to utilize one or more biometrics on a seamlessly integrated platform. Our products are used to manage and issue secure credentials, including national IDs, passports, driver licenses and access control credentials. Our products also provide law enforcement with integrated mug shot, fingerprint LiveScan and investigative capabilities. We also provide comprehensive authentication security software using biometrics to secure physical and logical access to facilities or computer networks or Internet sites. Biometric technology is now an integral part of all markets we address and all of our products are integrated into the IWS Biometric Engine.
While we have historically marketed our products to the government market at the federal, state and local levels, the emergence of cloud based computing - a mobile market that demands increased security and interoperable systems, and the proven success of our products in the government market, will enable us to enlarge our target market focus to include the emerging consumer and non-government enterprise marketplace.
Our biometric technology is a core software component of an organization’s security infrastructure and includes a multi-biometric identity management solution for enrolling, managing, identifying and verifying the identities of people by the physical characteristics of the human body. We develop, sell and support various identity management capabilities within government (federal, state and local), law enforcement, commercial enterprises, and transportation and aviation markets for identification and verification purposes. Our IWS Biometric Engine is a patented biometric identity management software platform for multi-biometric enrollment, management and authentication, managing population databases of virtually unlimited sizes. It is hardware agnostic and can utilize different types of biometric algorithms. It allows different types of biometrics to be operated at the same time on a seamlessly integrated platform. It is also offered as a Software Development Kit (SDK) based search engine, enabling developers and system integrators to implement a biometric solution or integrate biometric capabilities into existing applications without having to derive biometric functionality from pre-existing applications. The IWS Biometric Engine combined with our secure credential platform, IWS EPI Builder, provides a comprehensive, integrated biometric and secure credential solution that can be leveraged for high-end applications such as passports, driver licenses, national IDs, and other secure documents.
Our law enforcement solutions enable agencies to quickly capture, archive, search, retrieve, and share digital images, fingerprints and other biometrics as well as criminal history records on a stand-alone, networked, wireless or Web-based platform. We develop, sell and support a suite of modular software products used by law enforcement and public safety agencies to create and manage criminal history records and to investigate crime. Our IWS Law Enforcement solution consists of five software modules: Capture and Investigative modules, which provide a criminal booking system with related databases as well as the ability to create and print mug photo/SMT image lineups and electronic mugbooks; a Facial Recognition module, which uses biometric facial recognition to identify suspects; a Web module, which provides access to centrally stored records over the Internet in a connected or wireless fashion; and a LiveScan module, which incorporates LiveScan capabilities into IWS Law Enforcement providing integrated fingerprint and palm print biometric management for civil and law enforcement use. The IWS Biometric Engine is also available to our law enforcement clients and allows them to capture and search using other biometrics such as iris or DNA.
Our secure credential solutions empower customers to create secure and smart digital identification documents with complete ID systems. We develop, sell and support software and design systems which utilize digital imaging and biometrics in the production of photo identification cards, credentials and identification systems. Our products in this market consist of IWS EPI Suite and IWS EPI Builder (SDK). These products allow for the production of digital identification cards and related databases and records and can be used by, among others, schools, airports, hospitals, corporations or governments. We have added the ability to incorporate multiple biometrics into the ID systems with the integration of IWS Biometric Engine to our secure credential product line.
Our enterprise authentication software includes the IWS Desktop Security product which is a comprehensive authentication management infrastructure solution providing added layers of security to workstations, networks and systems through advanced encryption and authentication technologies. IWS Desktop Security is optimized to enhance network security and usability, and uses multi-factor authentication methods to protect access, verify identity and help secure the computing environment without sacrificing ease-of-use features such as quick login. Additionally, IWS Desktop Security provides an easy integration with various smart card-based credentials including the Common Access Card (CAC), Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12), Personal Identity Verification (PIV) credential, and Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) with an organization’s access control process. IWS Desktop Security provides the crucial end-point component of a Logical Access Control System (LACS), and when combined with a Physical Access Control System (PACS), organizations benefit from a complete door to desktop access control and security model.
Recent Developments
New Software as a Service Business Model
With the advent of cloud based computing, the proliferation of mobile devices which allow for mobile transactions across wide geographical areas, the emergence of inexpensive and reliable biometric capture devices and the need to secure access to data, product and services, we believe that the market for multi-biometric solutions will expand to encompass significant deployments of biometric systems in the commercial and consumer markets. We therefore intend to leverage the strength of our existing government clients who have deployed the Company’s products for large populations, as well as our foundational patent portfolio in the field of multi-modal biometrics and the fusion of multiple biometric algorithms, to address the commercial and consumer market. As part of our marketing plan, we will offer new versions of our product suite on a Software as a Service (“SaaS”) model during 2012 and 2013. This new business model, which is intended to supplement our existing business model, will allow new commercial and consumer clients to verify identity in order to access data, products or services from mobile and desktop devices. We announced the first of these products, IWS CloudID, our next-generation cloud-ready suite of identity solutions, in September of 2012.
Fujitsu Relationship
On August 20, 2012, the Company and Fujitsu Frontech North America Inc. (“Fujitsu”) executed an original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, licensing agreement. Subsequently, on September 6, 2012, the Company received certification to run its patented Biometric Engine® across Fujitsu’s NuVola Private Cloud Platform. Utilization of the NuVola Cloud Platform will allow the Biometric Engine to rapidly and securely deploy biometric security information to users.
On March 26, 2013 the Company and Fujitsu announced a partnership to roll out a new biometric identity management solution and delivery model. The Cloud-based offering is built on Fujitsu’s Global Cloud Platform (GCP) and features ImageWare’s CloudIDTM product suite, anchored by their patented multi-modal Biometric Engine®. The products will be licensed on a service or transactional basis. With a target launch date of April, 2013, the strategic partnership also breaks new ground in that Fujitsu and ImageWare will share revenue from the arrangement. The initial market territory will be the North American market however, both have agreed to collaborate on a broader global model as soon as practicable during 2013.
Additional Intellectual Property
In addition to our eight issued U.S. and foreign patents, we recently filed three new patent applications surrounding new “Anonymous Matching” technologies. These technologies will allow biometric matching for identity verification while protecting the privacy of an individual. It is our belief that such technology will be critical to providing biometric management solutions for the consumer market where privacy protection has been a historical issue and barrier to biometric adoption.
In June 2012, the Company entered into an asset purchase agreement with Vocel, Inc., a Delaware Corporation (“Vocel”), whereby the Company purchased from Vocel software, trademarks and four U.S. patents relating to wireless technology. These patents, combined with the Company’s existing foundational patents in the areas of biometric identification, verification, enrollment and fusion, provide a unique and protected foundation on which to build interactive mobile applications that are secured using biometrics. Securing these patents is expected to strengthen and accelerate the Company’s entry into the mobile marketplace by providing a method for exchanging content-rich interactive messages via wireless devices.
Credit Facility
In March 2013, the Company entered into a new unsecured line of credit agreement with available borrowing of up to $2,500,000. The credit line was extended by an existing shareholder and member of our Board of Directors. Borrowings under the credit facility bear interest of 8% per annum and are due in March 2015. At any time prior to the Maturity Date, the holder shall have the right to convert the outstanding balance owed into shares of the Company’s common stock by dividing the outstanding balance by $0.95.
Advances under the credit facility are made at the Company’s request. The line of credit shall terminate, and no further advances shall be made, upon the earlier of the Maturity Date or such date that the Company consummates a debt and/or equity financing resulting in net proceeds to the Company of at least $2,500,000. In the event of such financing, the outstanding balance due under the terms of the credit facility shall be due and payable upon demand.
As additional consideration for the unsecured line of credit agreement, the Company issued to the holder a warrant exercisable for 1,052,632 shares of the Company’s common stock. The warrant has a term of two years from the date of issuance and an exercise price of $0.95 per share.
Industry Background
Biometrics and Secure Credential Markets
We believe the biometric identity management market will continue to grow as the role of biometrics becomes more widely adopted for enhancing security and complying with government regulations and initiatives and as biometric capture devices become increasingly mobile, robust and cost effective. Our biometric and secure credentialing solutions are meeting the requirements and standards for true multi-modal biometric identity management systems, as well as providing scalability to support evolving functionality.
As a result of HSPD-12, government organizations are required to adopt new processes for verifying the identity of employees and contractors as well as controlling access to secure facilities and information systems. In response to the strict requirements set forth by the Federal government, ImageWare enhanced its IWS Biometric Engine and secure credentialing product suite by adding card management and card printing modules which enable the offering of end-to-end support for PIV-I and PIV-II business processes, technical requirements, as well as the ability to partner with leading physical and logical access control vendors for logistics and deployment considerations. We believe that the HSPD-12 standards as well as the product enhancements created to meet those standards will, in large part, be adopted by the commercial market and that the Company’s products will transition into those market spaces without significant customization.
Organizations concerned with security can use our technology to create secure “smart” identification cards that can be instantly checked against a database of applicable biometrics to prevent unauthorized access to secure facilities or computer networks. We believe potential customers in these markets include, among others, large corporations, border crossings (land, air and sea), airports, hospitals, universities and government agencies.
Identification systems have historically been sold based upon the cost-savings digital systems offer over traditional non-digital systems. We believe that the ability to easily capture images and data in a digital database and to enable immediate and widespread access to that database for remote identification/verification will be a functionality that both public and private sector customers will require in the future and that such functionality will be one of the primary drivers for future growth within this market. We are able to provide field-proven identification products with high quality reference accounts across the board in terms of size and complexity of systems and user requirements. When combined with our proven biometric, cloud and interactive mobile messaging capabilities, we believe we can provide a leading product offering into the biometrically enabled secure identity management market.
Law Enforcement and Public Safety Markets
The United States law enforcement and public safety markets are composed of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. Our target customers include local police and sheriff’s departments, primary state law enforcement agencies, prisons, special police agencies, county constable offices, and federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, DEA and ICE. In addition, police agencies in foreign countries have shown interest in using the full range of IWS Law Enforcement products to meet the growing need for a flexible yet robust booking/investigative solution that includes the routine use of IWS Facial Recognition as well as the ability to use other biometrics. We continue to target agencies in foreign countries for our biometric and law enforcement solutions.
Law enforcement customers require demanding end-to-end solutions that incorporate robust features and functionalities such as biometric and secure credentialing capabilities, as well as instant access to centrally maintained records for real time verification of identity and privileges. Law enforcement has long used the multiple biometrics of fingerprint and face in establishing an individual’s identity record. More recently, law enforcement is seeking capability to utilize additional biometrics such as iris and DNA. The Company’s multi-biometric platform product, the IWS Biometric Engine, allows company customers to use as many and different biometrics as desired all on a single, integrated platform.
Agencies are also moving toward a more shared experience where specific pieces of suspect/arrest data may be viewed by outside agencies allowing a suspect’s identity to be quickly defined with the end goal being the swift apprehension of the subject.
Products and Services
Our identity management solutions are primarily focused around biometrics and secure credentials providing complete, cross-functional and interoperable systems. Our biometric and secure credentialing products provide complete and interoperable solutions with features and functions required throughout the entire identity management life cycle, enabling users the flexibility to make use of any desired options, such as identity proofing and enrollment, card issuance, maintenance and access control. Our solutions offer a significant benefit that one vendor’s solution is used throughout the various stages, from establishing an applicant’s verified identity, to issuance of smart card based credentials, to the usage and integration to physical and logical access control systems.
These solutions improve global communication, the integrity and authenticity of access control to facilities and information systems, as well as enhance security, increase efficiency, reduce identity fraud, and protect personal privacy.
We categorize our identity management products and services into three basic markets: (1) Biometrics, (2) Secure Credential, and (3) Law Enforcement and Public Safety. We offer a series of modular products that can be seamlessly integrated into an end-to-end solution or licensed as individual components.
Biometrics
Our biometric product line consists of the following:
IWS Biometric Engine
This is a biometric identity management platform for multi-biometric enrollment, management and authentication, managing population databases of unlimited sizes without regard to hardware or algorithm. Searches can be 1:1 (verification), 1:N (identification), X:N (investigative) and N:N (database integrity). IWS Biometric Engine is technology and biometric agnostic, enabling the use of biometric devices and algorithms from any vendor, and the support of the following biometric types: finger, face, iris, hand geometry, palm, signature, DNA, voice, 3D face and retina. IWS Biometric Engine is a second-generation solution from the Company that is based on field-proven ImageWare technology solutions that have been used to manage millions of biometric records since 1997 and is ideal for a variety of applications including: criminal booking, background checks (civil and criminal), watch list, visa/passport and border control (air, land and sea), physical and logical access control, and other highly-secure identity management environments. The Company believes that this product will be very attractive to the emerging commercial and consumer markets as they deploy biometric identity management systems.
Our IWS Biometric Engine is scalable, and biometric images and templates can be enrolled either live or offline. Because it stores the enrolled images, a new algorithm can be quickly converted to support new or alternate algorithms and capture devices. The IWS Biometric Engine is built to be hardware “agnostic,” and currently supports over 100 hardware capture devices and over 70 biometric algorithms.
The IWS Biometric Engine is available as a Software Development Kit (SDK), as well as a platform for custom configurations to meet specific customer requirements. The added suite of products provides government, law enforcement, border management and enterprise businesses, a wide variety of application-specific solutions that address specific government mandates and technology standards. It also provides the ability to integrate into existing legacy systems and expand based upon specific customer requirements. This enables users to integrate a complete solution or components as needed. The application suite of products includes packaged solutions for:
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HSPD-12 Personal Identity Verification (PIV)
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Border Management
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Applicant Identity Vetting
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Mobile Acquisition
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Physical Access Control
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Single-Sign-On and Logical Access Control
IWS PIV Management Application. The Company provides a set of Enterprise Server products within our complete PIV solution, and these software products supply server-based features and functions, while the use case for PIV requires client-based presentation of PIV data and workflow. The IWS PIV Management Application supplies the web-based graphical user interface that presents the user or client interface to the various server functions. Since the server-based applications perform specific functions for specific phases of the PIV life cycle, these server-based applications need to be bound together with additional workflow processes. The IWS PIV Management Application meets this need with software modules that interface and interconnect the server-based applications.
IWS PIV Middleware. The IWS PIV Middleware product, which is NIST certified and listed on the GSA approved product list, is a library of functions that connect a card reader & PIV card on the hardware side with a software application. The library implements the specified PIV Middleware API functions that support interoperability of PIV Cards. This software has been developed in conformance with the FIPS-201 specification, and the software has been certified by the NIST Personal Identification Verification Program (NPIVP) Validation Authority as being compliant.
IWS Background Server. The IWS Background Server is a software application designed specifically for government and law enforcement organizations to support the first stage of biometric identity management functions such as identity proofing and vetting. IWS Background Check Server automatically processes the submission of an applicant’s demographic and biographic data to investigative bureaus for background checks prior to issuing a credential.
IWS Desktop Security. IWS Desktop Security is a highly flexible, scalable and modular authentication management platform that is optimized to enhance network security and usability. This architecture provides an additional layer of security to workstations, networks and systems through advanced encryption and authentication technologies. Biometric technologies (face, fingerprint, iris, voice or signature), can be seamlessly coupled with TPM chips to further enhance corporate security. USB tokens, smart cards and RFID technologies can also be readily integrated. Additional features include:
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Support for multiple authentication tools including Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) within a uniformed platform and privilege Management Infrastructure (PMI) technology to provide more advanced access control services and assure authentication and data integrity;
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Integration with IWS Biometric Engine for searching and match capabilities (1:1, 1:N and X:N);
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Integration with IWS EPI Builder for the production and management of secure credentials;
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Support for both BioAPI and BAPI standards;
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Supports a single sign-on feature that securely manages Internet Explorer and Windows application ID and password information;
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Supports file and folder encryption features; and
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Supports various operating systems, including Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003.
IWS Biometric Quality Assessment & Enhancement (IWS Biometric IQA&E). The IWS Biometric IQA&E is a biometric image enhancement and assessment solution that assists government organizations with the ability to evaluate and enrich millions of biometric images automatically, saving time and costs associated with biometric enrollment while maintaining image and database integrity.
The IWS Biometric IQA&E improves the accuracy and effectiveness of biometric template enrollments. The software may be used stand-alone or in conjunction with the IWS Biometric Engine. IWS Biometric IQA&E provides automated image quality assessment with respect to relevant image quality standards from organizations such as International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), International Organization for Standards (ISO) and American Association of Motor Vehicle Association (AAMVA). IWS Biometric IQA&E also enables organizations to conduct multi-dimensional facial recognition, which further enhances accuracy for numerous applications including driver licenses, passports and watch lists.
IWS Biometric IQA&E automatically provides real-time biometric image quality analysis and feedback to improve the overall effectiveness of biometric images thus increasing the biometric verification performance, and maintaining database and image data integrity. IWS Biometric IQA&E provides a complete platform that includes an image enhancement library for biometric types including face, finger and iris.
Secure Credential
Our secure credential products consist of the following:
IWS Card Management. The IWS Card Management System (CMS) is a comprehensive solution to support and manage the issuance of smart cards complete with the following capabilities:
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Biometric enrollment and identity proofing with Smart Card encoding of biometrics;
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Flexible models of central or distributed issuance of credentials;
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Customizable card life-cycle workflow managed by the CMS; and
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Integration of the CMS data with other enterprise solutions, such as physical access control and logical access control (i.e. Single-Sign-On - SSO).
IWS EPI Suite. This is an ID software solution for producing, issuing, and managing secure credentials and personal identification cards. Users can efficiently manage large amounts of data, images and card designs, as well as track and issue multiple cards per person, automatically populate multiple cards and eliminate redundant data entry. IWS EPI Suite was designed to integrate with our customers’ existing security and computing infrastructure. We believe that this compatibility may be an appealing feature to corporations, government agencies, transportation departments, school boards, and other public institutions.
IWS EPI Builder. This is a software developer’s kit (SDK) and a leading secure credential component of identity management and security solutions, providing all aspects of ID functionality from image and biometric capture to the enrollment, issuance and management of secure documents. It contains components which developers or systems integrators can use to support and produce secure credentials including national IDs, passports, International Civil Aviation Office (ICAO)-compliant travel documents, smart cards and driver licenses. IWS EPI Builder enables organizations to develop custom identification solutions or incorporate sophisticated identification capabilities into existing applications including the ability to capture images, biometric and demographic data; enable biometric identification and verification (1:1 and 1:X) as well as support numerous biometric hardware and software vendors. It also enables users to add electronic identification functionality for other applications, including access control, tracking of time and attendance, point of sale transactions, human resource systems, school photography systems, asset management, inventory control, warehouse management, facilities management and card production systems.
IWS EPI PrintFarm. While it is the last stage of PIV Card Issuance, the PIV smart card printing process is by no means the least important stage. Production printing of tens of thousands of PIV cards requires a significant investment and a well-engineered system. The IWS EPI PrintFarm software offers a cost-effective yet high-performance method for high-volume card printing.
IWS PIV Encoder. PIV smart cards must be programmed with specific mandatory data, digital signatures and programs in order to maintain the interoperability as well as the security features specified for the cards. The IWS PIV Encoder could be considered to be a complex device driver that properly programs the PIV smart cards. The Encoder interacts with the Card Management System for data payload elements. It interacts with the Certificate Authority to encrypt or sign the PIV smart card data with trusted certificates. Finally, it acts as the application-level device driver to make the specific PIV smart card encoding system properly program the smart card, regardless if the system is a standalone encoding system or one integrated into a card printer.
Law Enforcement and Public Safety
We believe our integrated suite of software products significantly reduces the inefficiencies and expands the capabilities of traditional booking and mug shot systems. Using our products, an agency can create a digital database of thousands of criminal history records, each including one or more full-color facial images, finger and palm prints, biographic text information and images of other distinctive physical features such as scars, marks and tattoos (SMT’s). This database can be quickly searched using text queries, or biometric technology that can compare biometric characteristics of an unknown suspect with those in the database.
Our investigative software products can be used to create, edit and distribute both mug photo and SMT photo lineups of any size. In addition, electronic mug books display hundreds of images for a witness to review and from which electronic selections are made. The Witness View software component records the viewing of a lineup (mug photo or SMT) detailing the images provided for viewing along with the image or images selected. In addition to a printed report, the Witness View module provides a non-editable executable file (.exe) that may be played on any computer for court exhibit viewing purposes.
Our IWS Law Enforcement solution consists of software modules, which may also be purchased individually. The IWS Law Enforcement Capture and Investigative module make up our booking system and database. Our add-on modules include LiveScan, Facial Recognition, Law Enforcement Web and Witness View as well as the IWS Biometric Engine.
IWS Law Enforcement. IWS Law Enforcement is a digital booking, identification and investigative solution that enables users to digitally capture, store, search and retrieve images and demographic data including mug shots, fingerprints and scars, marks and tattoos (SMTs). Law enforcement may choose between submitting fingerprint data directly to the State AFIS, FBI criminal repository, or other agencies as required. Additional features and functionality include real-time access to images and data, creating of photo lineups and electronic mug books, and production of identification cards and credentials. IWS Law Enforcement also uses off-the-shelf hardware and is designed to comply with open industry standards so that it can operate on an array of systems ranging from a stand-alone personal computer to a wide area network. To avoid duplication of entries, the system can be integrated easily with several other information storage and retrieval systems, such as a records/jail management system (RMS/JMS) or an automated fingerprint identification system.
Capture. This software module allows users to capture and store a variety of images (facial, SMT and others such as evidence photos) as well as biographical text information. Each record includes images and text information in an easy-to-view format made up of fields designed and defined by the individual agency. Current customers of this module range from agencies that capture a few thousand mug shots per year to those that capture hundreds of thousands of mug shots each year.
LiveScan. This software module is FBI certified which complies with the FBI Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) Image Quality Specifications (IQS) while utilizing FBI certified LiveScan devices from most major vendors. LiveScan allows users to capture single to ten prints and palm data, providing an integrated biometric management solution for both civil and law enforcement use. By adding LiveScan capabilities, law enforcement organizations further enhance the investigative process by providing additional identifiers to identify suspects involved in a crime. In addition, officers no longer need to travel to multiple booking stations to capture fingerprints and mug shots. All booking information including images may be located at a central designation and from there routed to the State AFIS or FBI criminal history record repository.
Investigative. This software module allows users to search the database created with IWS Law Enforcement. Officers can conduct text searches in many fields, including file number, name, alias, distinctive features, and other information such as gang membership and criminal history. The Investigative module creates a catalogue of possible matches, allowing officers or witnesses to save time by looking only at mug shots that closely resemble the description of the suspect. This module can also be used to create a line-up of similar facial images from which a witness may identify the suspect.
Facial Recognition. This software module uses biometric facial recognition and retrieval technology to help authorities identify possible suspects. Images taken from surveillance videos or photographs can be searched against a digital database of facial images to retrieve any desired number of faces with similar characteristics. This module can also be used at the time of booking to identify persons using multiple aliases. Using biometrics-based technology, the application can search through thousands of facial images in a matter of seconds, reducing the time it would otherwise take a witness to flip through a paper book of facial images that may or may not be similar to the description of the suspect. The Facial Recognition module then creates a selection of possible matches ranked in order of similarity to the suspect, and a percentage confidence level is attributed to each possible match. The application incorporates search engine technology, which we license from various facial recognition algorithm providers.
LE Web. This software module enables authorized personnel to access and search agency booking records stored in IWS Law Enforcement through a standard Web browser from within the agency’s intranet. This module allows remote access to the IWS Law Enforcement database without requiring the user to be physically connected to the customer’s network. This application requires only that the user have access to the Internet and authorization to access the law enforcement agency’s intranet.
EPI Designer for Law Enforcement. The EPI Designer for LE software is a design solution created for the IWS Law Enforcement databases based on the IWS EPI Suite program. This program is integrated with the various IWS databases an agency is utilizing and allows for unique booking/inmate reports, wristbands, photo ID cards, Wanted or BOLO fliers, etc. to be created from the fields of information stored in booking records. Designs can be created in minutes and quickly added to the IWS Law Enforcement system allowing all users with appropriate permissions immediate access to the newly added form.
Maintenance and Customer Support
We offer software and hardware support to our customers. Customers can contract with us for technical support that enables them to use a toll-free number to speak with our technical support center for software support and general assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As many of our government customers operate around the clock and perceive our systems as critical to their day-to-day operations, a very high percentage contract for technical support. Customer support services typically provide us with annual revenue of approximately 15% of the initial sales price of the hardware and software purchased by our customers. For the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, maintenance revenues accounted for approximately 71% and 53% of our total revenues, respectively.
Software Customization and Fulfillment
We directly employ computer programmers and also retain independent programmers to develop our software and perform quality control. We provide customers with software that we specifically customize to operate on their existing computer system. We work directly with purchasers of our system to ensure that the system they purchase will meet their unique needs. We configure and test the system either at our facilities or on-site and conduct any customized programming necessary to connect the system with any legacy systems already in place. We can also provide customers with a complete computer hardware system with our software already installed and configured. In either case, the customer is provided with a complete turnkey solution, which can be used immediately. When we provide our customers with a complete solution including hardware, we use off-the-shelf computers, cameras and other components purchased from other companies such as Dell or Hewlett Packard. Systems are assembled and configured either at our facilities or at the customer’s location.
Customers
We have a wide variety of domestic and international customers. Most of our IWS Law Enforcement customers are government agencies at the federal, state and local levels in the United States. Our secure credential products are also being used in Australia, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines. For the year ended December 31, 2012 one customer accounted for approximately 16% or $611,000 of total revenues and had $0 trade receivables as of the end of the year. For the year ended December 31, 2011 one customer accounted for approximately 34% or $1,836,000 of total revenues and had $0 trade receivables as of the end of the year.
Our Strategy
Our strategy is to provide patented open-architected identity management solutions including multi-biometric, secure credential and law enforcement technologies that are stand alone, integrated and/or bundled with key partners including channel relationships and large systems integrators such as, United Technology Security, SAIC, GCR, Unisys, Lockheed Martin, IBM and Fujitsu, among others. Key elements of our strategy for growth include the following:
Fully Exploit the Biometrics, Access Control and Identification Markets
The establishment of the Department of Homeland Security coupled with the movement by governments around the world to authenticate the identity of their citizens, employees and contractors has accelerated the adoption of biometric identification systems that can provide secure credentials and instant access to centrally maintained records for real-time verification of identity and access (physical and logical) privileges. Using our products, an organization can create secure credentials that correspond to records including images and biographic data in a digital database. A border guard or customs agent can stop an individual to quickly and accurately verify his identity against a database of authorized persons, and either allow or deny access as required. Our technology is also standards based and applied to facilitate activities such as federal identification mandates while complying with personal identification verification standards (HSPD-12), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards, American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) driver licenses, voter registration, immigration control and welfare fraud identification. We believe that these or very similar standards are applicable in markets throughout the world.
With the identity management market growing at a rapid pace, biometric identifiers are becoming recognized and accepted as integral components to the identification process in the public and private sectors. As biometric technologies (facial recognition, fingerprint, iris, etc.) are adopted, identification systems must be updated to enable their use in the field. We have built our solutions to enable the incorporation of one or multiple biometrics, which can be associated with a record and stored both in a database and on a card for later retrieval and verification without regard to the specific hardware employed. We believe the increasing demand for biometric technology will drive demand for our solutions. Our identity management products are built to accommodate the use of biometrics and meet the demanding requirements across the entire identity life cycle.
Expand Law Enforcement and Public Safety Markets
We intend to use our successful installations with customers such as the Arizona Department of Public Safety, New South Wales Police, and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department as reference accounts and to market IWS Law Enforcement as a superior technological solution. Our recent addition of the LiveScan module and support for local AFIS to our IWS Law Enforcement will enhance its functionality and value to the law enforcement customer as well as increase the potential revenue the Company can generate from a system sale. We primarily sell directly to the law enforcement community. Our sales strategy is to increase sales to new and existing customers including renewing supporting maintenance agreements. We have also established relationships with large systems integrators such as Sagem Morpho to OEM our law enforcement solution utilizing their worldwide sales force. We will focus our sales efforts in the near term to establish IWS Law Enforcement as the integrated mug shot and LiveScan system adopted in as many countries, states, large counties and municipalities as possible. Once we have a system installed in a region, we intend to then sell additional systems or retrieval seats to other agencies within the primary customer’s region and in neighboring regions. In addition, we plan to market our integrated investigative modules to the customer, including Facial Recognition, Web and WitnessView. As customer databases of digital mug shots grow, we expect that the perceived value of our investigative modules, and corresponding revenues from sales of those modules, will also grow.
New Software as a Service Business Model
With the advent of cloud based computing, the proliferation of mobile devices which allow for mobile transactions across wide geographical areas, the emergence of inexpensive and reliable biometric capture devices and the need to secure access to data, product and services, the Company believes that the market for multi-biometric solutions will expand to encompass significant deployments of biometric systems in the commercial and consumer markets. The Company therefore intends to leverage the strength of its existing government clients who have deployed the Company’s products for large populations, as well as its foundational patent portfolio in the field of multi-modal biometrics and the fusion of multiple biometric algorithms, to address the commercial and consumer market. As part of its marketing plan, the Company will offer new versions of its product suite on a Software as a Service (“SaaS”) model during 2013. This new business model, which is intended to supplement the Company’s existing business model, will allow new commercial and consumer clients to verify identity in order to access data, products or services from mobile and desktop devices.
Mobile Applications
The Company strengthened its patent portfolio in June 2012 with the purchase of four U.S. patents relating to wireless technology from Vocel. These patents, combined with the Company’s existing foundational patents in the areas of biometric identification, verification, enrollment and fusion, provide a unique and protected foundation on which to build interactive mobile applications that are secured using biometrics.
The combination of our biometric identification technologies and wireless technologies has led to the development of the IWS Interactive Messaging System, which is a push application platform secured by biometrics that transforms mobile devices into a complete mobile ID, enabling companies to create applications that allow a range of unprecedented activities - from secure sharing of sensitive information to biometrically securing a mobile wallet. Identity authentication, using multi-modal biometrics gives users the confidence that their personal information is secure while the push marketing capabilities of the technology allow companies unparalleled interactivity that can be personalized to the needs and interests of their customers.
Sales and Marketing
We market and sell our products through our direct sales force and through indirect distribution channels, including systems integrators. As of December 31, 2012 and 2011, we had sales and account representatives based domestically in the District of Columbia, California and internationally in Canada and Mexico. Geographically, our sales and marketing force consisted of nine persons in the United States, and one person in Mexico.
We sell through a direct sales organization, which is supported by technical experts. Our technical experts are available by telephone and conduct on-site customer presentations in support of our sales professionals.
The typical sales cycle for IWS Biometric Engine and IWS Law Enforcement includes a pre-sale process to define the potential customer’s needs and budget, an on-site demonstration and conversations between the potential customer and existing customers. Government agencies are typically required to purchase large systems by including a list of requirements in a Request For Proposal, known as an “RFP,” and by allowing several companies to openly bid for the project by responding to the RFP. If our response is selected, we enter into negotiations for the contract and, if successful, ultimately receive a purchase order from the customer. This process can take anywhere from a few months to over a year.
Our Biometric and ID products are also sold to large integrators, direct via our sales force and to end users through distributors. Depending on the customer’s requirements, there may be instances that require an RFP. The sales cycle can vary from a few weeks to a year.
In addition to our direct sales force, we have developed relationships with a number of systems integrators who contract with government agencies for the installation and integration of large computer and communication systems. By acting as a subcontractor to these systems integrators, we are able to avoid the time consuming and often-expensive task of submitting proposals to government agencies, and we also gain access to large clients.
We also work with companies that offer complementary products, where value is created through product integration. Through teaming arrangements we are able to enhance our products and to expand our customer base through the relationships and contracts of our strategic partners.
We plan to continue to market and sell our products internationally. Some of the challenges and risks associated with international sales include the difficulty in protecting our intellectual property rights, difficulty in enforcing agreements through foreign legal systems and volatility and unpredictability in the political and economic conditions of foreign countries. We believe we can work to successfully overcome these challenges.
Competition
The Law Enforcement and Public Safety Markets
Due to the fragmented nature of the law enforcement and public safety market and the modular nature of our product suite, we face different degrees of competition with respect to each IWS Law Enforcement module. We believe the principal bases on which we compete with respect to all of our products are:
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the unique ability to integrate our modular products into a complete biometric, LiveScan, imaging and investigative system;
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our reputation as a reliable systems supplier;
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the usability and functionality of our products; and
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the responsiveness, availability and reliability of our customer support.
Our law enforcement product line faces competition from other companies such as DataWorks Plus and 3M. Internationally, there are often a number of local companies offering solutions in most countries.
Secure Credential Market
Due to the breadth of our software offering in the secure credential market space, we face differing degrees of competition in certain market segments. The strength of our competitive position is based upon:
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our strong brand reputation with a customer base which includes small and medium-sized businesses, Fortune 500 corporations and large government agencies;
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the ease of integrating our technology into other complex applications; and
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the leveraged strength that comes from offering customers software tools, packaged solutions and Web-based service applications that support a wide range of hardware peripherals.
Our software faces competition from Datacard Corporation, a privately held manufacturer of hardware, software and consumables for the ID market as well as small, regionally based companies.
Biometric Market
The market to provide biometric systems to the identity management market is evolving and we face competition from a number of sources. We believe that the strength of our competitive position is based on:
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our ability to provide a system which enables the enrollment, management and authentication of multiple biometrics managing population databases of unlimited sizes;
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searches can be 1:1 (verification), 1:N (identification), X:N (investigative), and N:N (database integrity);
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the system is technology and biometric agnostic, enabling the use of biometric devices and algorithms from any vendor, and the support of the following biometric types: finger, face, iris, hand geometry, palm, DNA, signature, voice, and 3D face and retina; and
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we hold five patents covering our core multi-modal biometric and fusion technology, which we believe will give us a competitive advantage over our direct competitors who have little or no patent protection.
Our multi-biometric product faces competition from French-based Safran, Irish-based Daon, 3M and Aware Inc., none of which have offerings with the scope and flexibility of our IWS Biometric Engine and its companion suite of products or relevant patent protection.
Intellectual Property
We rely on trademark, patent, trade secret and copyright laws and confidentiality and license agreements to protect our intellectual property. We have several federally registered trademarks including the trademark ImageWare and IWS Biometric Engine as well as trademarks for which there are pending trademark registrations with the United States, Canadian and other International Patent & Trademark Offices.
We hold several issued patents and have several other patent applications pending for elements of our products. We believe we have the foundational patents regarding the use of multiple biometrics and continue to be an IP leader in the biometric arena. It is our belief that this intellectual property leadership will create a sustainable competitive advantage. In addition to our eight issued U.S. and foreign patents, we recently filed three new patent applications surrounding new “Anonymous Matching” technologies. These technologies will allow biometric matching for identity verification while protecting the privacy of an individual. It is our belief that such technology will be critical to providing biometric management solutions for the consumer market where privacy protection has been a historical issue and barrier to biometric adoption.
The Company strengthened its patent portfolio in June 2012 with the purchase of four U.S. patents relating to wireless technology from Vocel. These patents, combined with the Company’s existing foundational patents in the areas of biometric identification, verification, enrollment and fusion, provide a unique and protected foundation on which to build interactive mobile applications that are secured using biometrics.
The combination of our biometric identification technologies and wireless technologies has led to the development of the IWS Interactive Messaging System, which is a push application platform secured by biometrics that transforms mobile devices into a complete mobile ID, enabling companies to create applications that allow a range of unprecedented activities - from secure sharing of sensitive information to biometrically securing a mobile wallet. Identity authentication, using multi-modal biometrics gives users the confidence that their personal information is secure while the push marketing capabilities of the technology allow companies unparalleled interactivity that can be personalized to the needs and interests of their customers.
We regard our software as proprietary and retain title to and ownership of the software we develop. We attempt to protect our rights in the software primarily through patents and trade secrets. We have not published the source code of most of our software products and require employees and other third parties who have access to the source code and other trade secret information to sign confidentiality agreements acknowledging our ownership and the nature of these materials as our trade secrets.
Despite these precautions, it may be possible for unauthorized parties to copy or reverse-engineer portions of our products. While our competitive position could be threatened by disclosure or reverse engineering of this proprietary information, we believe that copyright and trademark protection are less important than other factors such as the knowledge, ability, and experience of our personnel, name recognition and ongoing product development and support.
Our software products are licensed to end users under a perpetual, nontransferable, nonexclusive license that stipulates which modules can be used and how many concurrent users may use them. These forms of licenses are typically not signed by the licensee and may be more difficult to enforce than signed agreements in some jurisdictions.
Research and Development
Our research and development team consisted of 24 and 22 programmers, engineers and other employees as of December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively. We also contract with outside programmers for specific projects as needed. We spent approximately $3.2 million and $2.7 million on research and development in 2012 and 2011, respectively. We continually work to increase the speed, accuracy, and functionality of our existing products. We anticipate that our research and development efforts will continue to focus on new technology and products for the identity management markets.
Employees
We had a total of 54 and 50 full-time employees as of December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively. Our employees are not covered by any collective bargaining agreement, and we have never experienced a work stoppage. We believe that our relations with our employees are good.
Environmental Regulation
Our business does not require us to comply with any particular environmental regulations.
ITEM 1A.
ITEM 1A.
RISK FACTORS
An investment in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. Before investing in our common stock, you should consider carefully the specific risks detailed in this “Risk Factors” section and any prospectus or prospectus supplement. If any of these risks occur, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be harmed, the price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.
We have a history of significant recurring losses totaling approximately $118 million at December 31, 2012, and these losses may continue in the future.
As of December 31, 2012, we had an accumulated deficit of $118 million, and these losses may continue in the future. We expect to continue to incur significant sales and marketing, research and development, and general and administrative expenses. As a result, we will need to generate significant revenues to achieve profitability, and we may never achieve profitability.
Our operating results have fluctuated in the past and are likely to fluctuate significantly in the future.
Our operating results have fluctuated in the past. These fluctuations in operating results are the consequence of:
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varying demand for and market acceptance of our technology and products;
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changes in our product or customer mix;
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the gain or loss of one or more key customers or their key customers, or significant changes in the financial condition of one or more of our key customers or their key customers;
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our ability to introduce, certify and deliver new products and technologies on a timely basis;
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the announcement or introduction of products and technologies by our competitors;
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competitive pressures on selling prices;
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costs associated with acquisitions and the integration of acquired companies, products and technologies;
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our ability to successfully integrate acquired companies, products and technologies;
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our accounting and legal expenses; and
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general economic conditions.
These factors, some of which are not within our control, will likely continue in the future. To respond to these and other factors, we may need to make business decisions that could result in failure to meet financial expectations. If our quarterly operating results fail to meet or exceed the expectations of securities analysts or investors, our stock price could drop suddenly and significantly. Most of our expenses, such as employee compensation, inventory and debt repayment obligations, are relatively fixed in the short term. Moreover, our expense levels are based, in part, on our expectations regarding future revenue levels. As a result, if our revenue for a particular period were below our expectations, we would not be able to proportionately reduce our operating expenses for that period. Any revenue shortfall would have a disproportionately negative effect on our operating results for the period.
We depend upon a small number of large system sales ranging from $100,000 to in excess of $2,000,000 and we may fail to achieve one or more large system sales in the future.
Historically, we have derived a substantial portion of our revenues from a small number of sales of large, relatively expensive systems, typically ranging in price from $100,000 to $2,000,000. If we fail to receive orders for these large systems in a given sales cycle on a consistent basis, our business could be significantly harmed. Further, our quarterly results are difficult to predict because we cannot predict in which quarter, if any, large system sales will occur in a given year. As a result, we believe that quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our results of operations are not a good indication of our future performance. In some future quarters, our operating results may be below the expectations of securities analysts and investors, in which case the market price of our common stock may decrease significantly.
Our lengthy sales cycle may cause us to expend significant resources for as long as one year in anticipation of a sale to certain customers, yet we still may fail to complete the sale.
When considering the purchase of a large computerized identity management system, potential customers of ours may take as long as eighteen months to evaluate different systems and obtain approval for the purchase. Under these circumstances, if we fail to complete a sale, we will have expended significant resources and received no revenue in return. Generally, customers consider a wide range of issues before committing to purchase our products, including product benefits, ability to operate with their current systems, product reliability and their own budgetary constraints. While potential customers are evaluating our products, we may incur substantial selling costs and expend significant management resources in an effort to accomplish potential sales that may never occur. In times of economic recession, our potential customers may be unwilling or unable to commit resources to the purchase of new and costly systems.
A significant number of our customers and potential customers are government agencies that are subject to unique political and budgetary constraints and have special contracting requirements, which may affect our ability to obtain new and retain current government customers.
A significant number of our customers are government agencies. These agencies often do not set their own budgets and therefore have little control over the amount of money they can spend from quarter-to-quarter or year-to-year. In addition, these agencies experience political pressure that may dictate the manner in which they spend money. Due to political and budgetary processes and other scheduling delays that may frequently occur relating to the contract or bidding process, some government agency orders may be canceled or substantially delayed, and the receipt of revenues or payments from these agencies may be substantially delayed. In addition, future sales to government agencies will depend on our ability to meet government contracting requirements, certain of which may be onerous or impossible to meet, resulting in our inability to obtain a particular contract. Common requirements in government contracts include bonding requirements, provisions permitting the purchasing agency to modify or terminate at will the contract without penalty, and provisions permitting the agency to perform investigations or audits of our business practices, any of which may limit our ability to enter into new contracts or maintain our current contracts.
We occasionally rely on systems integrators to manage our large projects, and if these companies do not perform adequately, we may lose business.
We occasionally act as a subcontractor to systems integrators who manage large projects that incorporate our systems, particularly in foreign countries. We cannot control these companies, and they may decide not to promote our products or may price their services in such a way as to make it unprofitable for us to continue our relationship with them. Further, they may fail to perform under agreements with their customers, in which case we might lose sales to these customers. If we lose our relationships with these companies, our business, financial condition and results of operations may suffer.
If the patents we own or license, or our other intellectual property rights, do not adequately protect our products and technologies, we may lose market share to our competitors and our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.
Our success depends significantly on our ability to protect our rights to the technologies used in our products. We rely on patent protection, trade secrets, as well as a combination of copyright and trademark laws and nondisclosure, confidentiality and other contractual arrangements to protect our technology. However, these legal means afford only limited protection and may not adequately protect our rights or permit us to gain or keep any competitive advantage. In addition, we cannot be assured that any of our current and future pending patent applications will result in the issuance of a patent to us. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) may deny or require significant narrowing of claims in our pending patent applications, and patents issued as a result of the pending patent applications, if any, may not provide us with significant commercial protection or may not be issued in a form that is advantageous to us. We could also incur substantial costs in proceedings before the PTO. These proceedings could result in adverse decisions as to the claims included in our patents.
Our issued and licensed patents and those that may be issued or licensed in the future may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented, which could limit our ability to stop competitors from marketing related products. Additionally, upon expiration of our issued or licensed patents, we may lose some of our rights to exclude others from making, using, selling or importing products using the technology based on the expired patents. We also must rely on contractual rights with the third parties that license technology to us to protect our rights in the technology licensed to us. Although we have taken steps to protect our intellectual property and technology, there is no assurance that competitors will not be able to design around our patents. We also rely on unpatented proprietary technology. We cannot assure you that we can meaningfully protect all our rights in our unpatented proprietary technology or that others will not independently develop substantially equivalent proprietary products or processes or otherwise gain access to our unpatented proprietary technology. We seek to protect our know-how and other unpatented proprietary technology with confidentiality agreements and intellectual property assignment agreements with our employees. However, such agreements may not provide meaningful protection for our proprietary information in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure or other breaches of the agreements or in the event that our competitors discover or independently develop similar or identical designs or other proprietary information. In addition, we rely on the use of registered and common law trademarks with respect to the brand names of some of our products. Our common law trademarks provide less protection than our registered trademarks. Loss of rights in our trademarks could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Furthermore, the laws of foreign countries may not protect our intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. If we fail to apply for intellectual property protection or if we cannot adequately protect our intellectual property rights in these foreign countries, our competitors may be able to compete more effectively against us, which could adversely affect our competitive position, as well as our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If third parties claim that we infringe their intellectual property rights, we may incur liabilities and costs and may have to redesign or discontinue selling certain products.
Whether a product infringes a patent involves complex legal and factual issues, the determination of which is often uncertain. We face the risk of claims that we have infringed on third parties’ intellectual property rights. Searching for existing intellectual property rights may not reveal important intellectual property and our competitors may also have filed for patent protection, which is not as yet a matter of public knowledge, or claimed trademark rights that have not been revealed through our availability searches. Our efforts to identify and avoid infringing on third parties’ intellectual property rights may not always be successful. Any claims of patent or other intellectual property infringement, even those without merit, could:
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increase the cost of our products;
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be expensive and time consuming to defend;
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result in us being required to pay significant damages to third parties;
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force us to cease making or selling products that incorporate the challenged intellectual property;
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require us to redesign, reengineer or rebrand our products;
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require us to enter into royalty or licensing agreements in order to obtain the right to use a third party’s intellectual property, the terms of which may not be acceptable to us;
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require us to indemnify third parties pursuant to contracts in which we have agreed to provide indemnification to such parties for intellectual property infringement claims;
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divert the attention of our management; and
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result in our customers or potential customers deferring or limiting their purchase or use of the affected products until the litigation is resolved.
In addition, new patents obtained by our competitors could threaten a product’s continued life in the market even after it has already been introduced.
We operate in foreign countries and are exposed to risks associated with foreign political, economic and legal environments and with foreign currency exchange rates.
We have significant foreign operations. As a result, we are exposed to risks, including among others, risks associated with foreign political, economic and legal environments and with foreign currency exchange rates. Our results may be adversely affected by, among other things, changes in government policies with respect to laws and regulations, anti-inflation measures, currency conversions, collection of receivables abroad and rates and methods of taxation.
We depend on key personnel, the loss of any of whom could materially adversely affect future operations.
Our success will depend to a significant extent upon the efforts and abilities of our executive officers and other key personnel. The loss of the services of one or more of these key employees and any negative market or industry perception arising from the loss of such services could have a material adverse effect on us and the trading price of our common stock. Our business will also be dependent upon our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel. Acquiring and keeping these personnel could prove more difficult or cost substantially more than estimated and we cannot be certain that we will be able to retain such personnel or attract a high caliber of personnel in the future.
We face competition from companies with greater financial, technical, sales, marketing and other resources, and, if we are unable to compete effectively with these competitors, our market share may decline and our business could be harmed.
We face competition from other established companies. A number of our competitors have longer operating histories, larger customer bases, significantly greater financial, technological, sales, marketing and other resources than we do. As a result, our competitors may be able to respond more quickly than we can to new or changing opportunities, technologies, standards or client requirements, more quickly develop new products or devote greater resources to the promotion and sale of their products and services than we can. Likewise, their greater capabilities in these areas may enable them to better withstand periodic downturns in the identity management solutions industry and compete more effectively on the basis of price and production. In addition, new companies may enter the markets in which we compete, further increasing competition in the identity management solutions industry.
We believe that our ability to compete successfully depends on a number of factors, including the type and quality of our products and the strength of our brand names, as well as many factors beyond our control. We may not be able to compete successfully against current or future competitors, and increased competition may result in price reductions, reduced profit margins, loss of market share and an inability to generate cash flows that are sufficient to maintain or expand the development and marketing of new products, any of which would adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.
Risks Related to Our Securities
Our common stock is no longer listed on the AMEX or the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board and is now traded on the OTC Pink Sheets.
In May of 2008 the AMEX removed the Company’s common stock from being listed on their exchange as we failed to comply with AMEX’s continued listing standards. In December of 2008 our common stock was removed from being quoted on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board as we failed to timely file required reports with the SEC. As of the end of the third quarter of 2008 we were faced with limited funds for operations and were compelled to suspend SEC filings and the associated costs until such time as we had sufficient resources to cover ongoing operations and the expenses of maintaining compliance with SEC filing requirements. There is no assurance that we will be able to attain compliance with SEC filing requirements in the future, and if we are able to attain compliance, there is no assurance we will be able to maintain compliance. If we are not able to attain and maintain compliance with SEC reporting requirements for the minimum required periods, we will not be eligible for re-listing on the OTC markets or other exchanges.
The holders of our preferred stock have certain rights and privileges that are senior to our common stock, and we may issue additional shares of preferred stock without stockholder approval that could have a material adverse effect on the market value of the common stock.
Our Board of Directors (“Board”) has the authority to issue a total of up to four million shares of preferred stock and to fix the rights, preferences, privileges, and restrictions, including voting rights, of the preferred stock, which typically are senior to the rights of the common stockholders, without any further vote or action by the common stockholders. The rights of our common stockholders will be subject to, and may be adversely affected by, the rights of the holders of the preferred stock that have been issued, or might be issued in the future. Preferred stock also could have the effect of making it more difficult for a third party to acquire a majority of our outstanding voting stock. This could delay, defer, or prevent a change in control. Furthermore, holders of preferred stock may have other rights, including economic rights, senior to the common stock. As a result, their existence and issuance could have a material adverse effect on the market value of the common stock. We have in the past issued and may from time to time in the future issue, preferred stock for financing or other purposes with rights, preferences, or privileges senior to the common stock. As of December 31, 2012, we had one series of preferred stock outstanding, Series B Preferred Stock (“Series B Preferred”).
The provisions of our Series B Preferred prohibit the payment of dividends on the common stock unless the dividends on those preferred shares are first paid. In addition, upon a liquidation, dissolution or sale of our business, the holders of the Series B Preferred will be entitled to receive, in preference to any distribution to the holders of common stock, initial distributions of $2.50 per share, plus all accrued but unpaid dividends. As of December 31, 2012, we had cumulative undeclared dividends on the Series B Preferred of approximately $8,000.
Certain large shareholders may have certain personal interests that may affect the Company.
As a result of the shares issued to Goldman Capital Management and related entities (together, “Goldman”) in connection with the Qualified Financing, Goldman beneficially owns, in the aggregate, approximately 40.2% of the Company’s outstanding voting securities. Additionally, Neil Goldman, principal of Goldman, serves as a director on our Board. As a result, Goldman has the potential ability to exert influence over both the actions of the Board of Directors and the outcome of issues requiring approval by the Company’s shareholders. This concentration of ownership may have effects such as delaying or preventing a change in control of the Company that may be favored by other shareholders or preventing transactions in which shareholders might otherwise recover a premium for their shares over current market prices.
Our stock price has been volatile, and your investment in our common stock could suffer a decline in value.
There has been significant volatility in the market price and trading volume of equity securities, which is unrelated to the financial performance of the companies issuing the securities. These broad market fluctuations may negatively affect the market price of our common stock. You may not be able to resell your shares at or above the price you pay for those shares due to fluctuations in the market price of our common stock caused by changes in our operating performance or prospects and other factors.
Some specific factors that may have a significant effect on our common stock market price include:
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actual or anticipated fluctuations in our operating results or future prospects;
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our announcements or our competitors’ announcements of new products;
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the public’s reaction to our press releases, our other public announcements and our filings with the SEC;
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strategic actions by us or our competitors, such as acquisitions or restructurings;
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new laws or regulations or new interpretations of existing laws or regulations applicable to our business;
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changes in accounting standards, policies, guidance, interpretations or principles;
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changes in our growth rates or our competitors’ growth rates;
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developments regarding our patents or proprietary rights or those of our competitors;
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our inability to raise additional capital as needed;
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substantial sales of common stock underlying warrants and preferred stock;
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concern as to the efficacy of our products;
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changes in financial markets or general economic conditions;
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sales of common stock by us or members of our management team; and
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changes in stock market analyst recommendations or earnings estimates regarding our common stock, other comparable companies or our industry generally.
Our future sales of our common stock could adversely affect its price and our future capital-raising activities could involve the issuance of equity securities, which would dilute shareholders’ investments and could result in a decline in the trading price of our common stock.
We may sell securities in the public or private equity markets if and when conditions are favorable, even if we do not have an immediate need for additional capital at that time. Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock, or the perception that such sales could occur, could adversely affect the prevailing market price of our common stock and our ability to raise capital. We may issue additional common stock in future financing transactions or as incentive compensation for our executive management and other key personnel, consultants and advisors. Issuing any equity securities would be dilutive to the equity interests represented by our then-outstanding shares of common stock. The market price for our common stock could decrease as the market takes into account the dilutive effect of any of these issuances. Furthermore, we may enter into financing transactions at prices that represent a substantial discount to the market price of our common stock. A negative reaction by investors and securities analysts to any discounted sale of our equity securities could result in a decline in the trading price of our common stock.
Our corporate documents and Delaware law contain provisions that could discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our company.
Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws may discourage, delay or prevent a merger or acquisition involving us that our stockholders may consider favorable. For example, our certificate of incorporation authorizes preferred stock, which carries special rights, including voting and dividend rights. With these rights, preferred stockholders could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us.
We are also subject to the anti-takeover provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Under these provisions, if anyone becomes an “interested stockholder,” we may not enter into a “business combination” with that person for three years without special approval, which could discourage a third party from making a takeover offer and could delay or prevent a change of control. For purposes of Section 203, “interested stockholder” means, generally, someone owning 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock or an affiliate of ours that owned 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock during the past three years, subject to certain exceptions as described in Section 203.
We do not expect to pay cash dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future.
We have never paid cash dividends on our common stock and do not anticipate that any cash dividends will be paid on the common stock for the foreseeable future. The payment of any cash dividend by us will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on, among other things, our earnings, capital, regulatory requirements and financial condition. Furthermore, the terms of our Series B Preferred directly limit our ability to pay cash dividends on our common stock.
ITEM IB.
UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.
ITEM 2.
ITEM 2.
PROPERTIES
As of December 31, 2012 our corporate headquarters was located in San Diego, California where we occupied approximately 7,694 square feet of office space. This facility is leased through October 2014 at a cost of approximately $13,881 per month. We also occupy 6,768 square feet in Ottawa, Province of Ontario, Canada. These premises were leased until September 2013, however, in January 2013, we signed a lease to downsize to a 1,508 square foot space in the same building commencing April 2013 until March 2016. These facilities are leased at a cost of approximately $4,664 per month. As of December 31, 2012 we also occupied 6,546 square feet of office space in Portland, Oregon. This facility is leased through October 2015 at a cost of approximately $12,105 per month. We also occupy approximately 190 square feet of office space in Mexico City, Mexico. Our lease for this facility is for an indefinite term at a cost of approximately $1,728 per month.
ITEM 3.
ITEM 3.
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
On September 21, 2012, Blue Spike, LLC, a Texas limited liability company (“Blue Spike”), filed claims against the Company in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, alleging that the Company is impermissibly using Blue Spike’s patented technologies in certain Company products, including its Biometric Engine. To date, Blue Spike has filed similar suits asserting claims of patent infringement against a total of approximately eighty-five companies between August 9, 2012 and February 6, 2013. The Company has filed a motion to dismiss the complaint and a motion to transfer Blue Spike’s case against the Company to San Diego. Neither motion has yet been ruled upon. The defendants span a wide range of industries, from Internet search engines to chip manufacturers, digital rights management, video streaming and digital watermarking. Blue Spike is seeking to recover an unspecified amount of compensatory damages from the Company, and an injunction to enjoin the Company from further acts of alleged infringement. The Company believes Blue Spike’s claim to be without merit and intends to vigorously defend itself. The Company is unable to estimate a possible range of loss at this time.
Other than as specifically described above, we are currently not involved in any litigation that we believe could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations. Other than described above, 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.
ITEM 4.
ITEM 4.
MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
None.
PART II
ITEM 5.
ITEM 5.
MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Market Information
Our common stock does not trade on an established securities exchange. Our common stock is quoted under the symbol “IWSY” on the Pink Sheets. The following table sets forth the high and low bid information for our common stock for each quarter in 2012 and 2011, which reflect inter-dealer prices, without retail mark-up, mark-down or commission and may not represent actual transactions:
Holders
As of March 14, 2013, we had approximately 194 holders of record of our common stock. A significant number of our shares were held in street name and, as such, we believe that the actual number of beneficial owners is significantly higher.
Dividends
We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our common stock. We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings for use in the operation of our business and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any future determination to declare cash dividends will be made at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, general business conditions and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant.
As of December 31, 2012, the Company had cumulative undeclared dividends of approximately $8,000 relating to our Series B Preferred. As a result of the consummation of the December 20, 2011 equity financing round, resulting in gross proceeds of $10.0 million (“Qualified Financing”), as of December 20, 2011, the Series C Preferred and Series D Preferred, including accrued but unpaid dividends, were converted into 11,768,525 shares of our common stock.
Repurchases
We did not repurchase any shares of our common stock during fiscal 2012 or 2011.
Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans
For a discussion of our equity compensation plans, please see Item 12 of this Annual Report.
ITEM 6.
ITEM 6.
SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
Not applicable. We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
ITEM 7.
ITEM 7.
MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes and other financial information appearing elsewhere in this Form 10-K. Readers are also urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures made by us which attempt to advise interested parties of the factors which affect our business, including (without limitation) the disclosures made under the captions “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors,” and in the audited consolidated financial statements and related notes included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Recent Developments
New Software as a Service Business Model
With the advent of cloud based computing, the proliferation of mobile devices which allow for mobile transactions across wide geographical areas, the emergence of inexpensive and reliable biometric capture devices and the need to secure access to data, product and services, we believe that the market for multi-biometric solutions will expand to encompass significant deployments of biometric systems in the commercial and consumer markets. We therefore intend to leverage the strength of our existing government clients who have deployed the Company’s products for large populations, as well as our foundational patent portfolio in the field of multi-modal biometrics and the fusion of multiple biometric algorithms, to address the commercial and consumer market. As part of our marketing plan, we will offer new versions of our product suite on a Software as a Service (“SaaS”) model during 2012. This new business model, which is intended to supplement our existing business model, will allow new commercial and consumer clients to verify identity in order to access data, products or services from mobile and desktop devices.
Fujitsu Relationship
On August 20, 2012, the Company and Fujitsu Frontech North America Inc. (“Fujitsu”) executed an original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, licensing agreement. Subsequently, on September 6, 2012, the Company received certification to run its patented Biometric Engine® across Fujitsu’s NuVola Private Cloud Platform. Utilization of the NuVola Cloud Platform will allow the Biometric Engine to rapidly and securely deploy biometric security information to users.
Additional Intellectual Property
In addition to our eight issued U.S. and foreign patents, we recently filed three new patent applications surrounding new “Anonymous Matching” technologies. These technologies will allow biometric matching for identity verification while protecting the privacy of an individual. It is our belief that such technology will be critical to providing biometric management solutions for the consumer market where privacy protection has been a historical issue and barrier to biometric adoption.
In June 2012, the Company entered into an asset purchase agreement with Vocel, Inc., a Delaware Corporation (“Vocel”), whereby the Company purchased from Vocel software, trademarks and four U.S. patents relating to wireless technology. These patents, combined with the Company’s existing foundational patents in the areas of biometric identification, verification, enrollment and fusion, provide a unique and protected foundation on which to build interactive mobile applications that are secured using biometrics.
The combination of our biometric identification technologies and wireless technologies has led to the development of the IWS Interactive Messaging System, which is a push application platform secured by biometrics that transforms mobile devices into a complete mobile ID, enabling companies to create applications that allow a range of unprecedented activities - from secure sharing of sensitive information to biometrically securing a mobile wallet. Identity authentication, using multi-modal biometrics gives users the confidence that their personal information is secure while the push marketing capabilities of the technology allow companies unparalleled interactivity that can be personalized to the needs and interests of their customers.
Credit Facility
In March 2013, the Company entered into a new unsecured line of credit agreement with available borrowing of up to $2,500,000. The credit line was extended by an existing shareholder and member of our Board of Directors. Borrowings under the credit facility bear interest of 8% per annum and are due in March 2015. At any time prior to the Maturity Date, the holder shall have the right to convert the outstanding balance owed into shares of the Company’s common stock by dividing the outstanding balance by $0.95.
Advances under the credit facility are made at the Company’s request. The line of credit shall terminate, and no further advances shall be made, upon the earlier of the Maturity Date or such date that the Company consummates a debt and/or equity financing resulting in net proceeds to the Company of at least $2,500,000. In the event of such financing, the outstanding balance due under the terms of the credit facility shall be due and payable upon demand.
As additional consideration for the unsecured line of credit agreement, the Company issued to the holder a warrant exercisable for 1,052,632 shares of the Company’s common stock. The warrant has a term of two years from the date of issuance and an exercise price of $0.95 per share.
Overview
We are a pioneer and leader in the emerging market for biometrically enabled software-based identity management solutions. Using those human characteristics that are unique to us all, we create software that provides a highly reliable indication of a person’s identity. Our “flagship” product is our patented IWS Biometric Engine®. Scalable for small city business or worldwide deployment, our IWS Biometric Engine is a multi-biometric software platform that is hardware and algorithm independent, enabling the enrollment and management of unlimited population sizes. It allows a user to utilize one or more biometrics on a seamlessly integrated platform. Our products are used to manage and issue secure credentials, including national IDs, passports, driver licenses and access control credentials. Our products also provide law enforcement with integrated mug shot, fingerprint LiveScan and investigative capabilities. We also provide comprehensive authentication security software using biometrics to secure physical and logical access to facilities or computer networks or Internet sites. Biometric technology is now an integral part of all markets we address and all of our products are integrated into the IWS Biometric Engine.
While we have historically marketed our products to the government market at the federal, state and local levels, the emergence of cloud based computing - a mobile market that demands increased security and interoperable systems, and the proven success of our products in the government market, will enable us to enlarge our target market focus to include the emerging consumer and non-government enterprise marketplace.
Our biometric technology is a core software component of an organization’s security infrastructure and includes a multi-biometric identity management solution for enrolling, managing, identifying and verifying the identities of people by the physical characteristics of the human body. We develop, sell and support various identity management capabilities within government (federal, state and local), law enforcement, commercial enterprises, and transportation and aviation markets for identification and verification purposes. Our IWS Biometric Engine is a patented biometric identity management software platform for multi-biometric enrollment, management and authentication, managing population databases of virtually unlimited sizes. It is hardware agnostic and can utilize different types of biometric algorithms. It allows different types of biometrics to be operated at the same time on a seamlessly integrated platform. It is also offered as a Software Development Kit (SDK) based search engine, enabling developers and system integrators to implement a biometric solution or integrate biometric capabilities into existing applications without having to derive biometric functionality from pre-existing applications. The IWS Biometric Engine combined with our secure credential platform, IWS EPI Builder, provides a comprehensive, integrated biometric and secure credential solution that can be leveraged for high-end applications such as passports, driver licenses, national IDs, and other secure documents.
Our law enforcement solutions enable agencies to quickly capture, archive, search, retrieve, and share digital images, fingerprints and other biometrics as well as criminal history records on a stand-alone, networked, wireless or Web-based platform. We develop, sell and support a suite of modular software products used by law enforcement and public safety agencies to create and manage criminal history records and to investigate crime. Our IWS Law Enforcement solution consists of five software modules: Capture and Investigative modules, which provide a criminal booking system with related databases as well as the ability to create and print mug photo/SMT image lineups and electronic mugbooks; a Facial Recognition module, which uses biometric facial recognition to identify suspects; a Web module, which provides access to centrally stored records over the Internet in a connected or wireless fashion; and a LiveScan module, which incorporates LiveScan capabilities into IWS Law Enforcement providing integrated fingerprint and palm print biometric management for civil and law enforcement use. The IWS Biometric Engine is also available to our law enforcement clients and allows them to capture and search using other biometrics such as iris or DNA.
Our secure credential solutions empower customers to create secure and smart digital identification documents with complete ID systems. We develop, sell and support software and design systems which utilize digital imaging and biometrics in the production of photo identification cards, credentials and identification systems. Our products in this market consist of IWS EPI Suite and IWS EPI Builder (SDK). These products allow for the production of digital identification cards and related databases and records and can be used by, among others, schools, airports, hospitals, corporations or governments. We have added the ability to incorporate multiple biometrics into the ID systems with the integration of IWS Biometric Engine to our secure credential product line.
Our enterprise authentication software includes the IWS Desktop Security product which is a comprehensive authentication management infrastructure solution providing added layers of security to workstations, networks and systems through advanced encryption and authentication technologies. IWS Desktop Security is optimized to enhance network security and usability, and uses multi-factor authentication methods to protect access, verify identity and help secure the computing environment without sacrificing ease-of-use features such as quick login. Additionally, IWS Desktop Security provides an easy integration with various smart card-based credentials including the Common Access Card (CAC), Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12), Personal Identity Verification (PIV) credential, and Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) with an organization’s access control process. IWS Desktop Security provides the crucial end-point component of a Logical Access Control System (LACS), and when combined with a Physical Access Control System (PACS), organizations benefit from a complete door to desktop access control and security model.
Critical Accounting Estimates
The discussion and analysis of our consolidated financial condition and results of operations are based on our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or U.S. GAAP. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP requires us to utilize accounting policies and make certain estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingencies as of the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during a fiscal period. The SEC considers an accounting policy to be critical if it is important to a company’s financial condition and results of operations, and if it requires significant judgment and estimates on the part of management in its application.
Significant estimates include the allowance for doubtful accounts receivable, inventory carrying values, deferred tax asset valuation allowances, accounting for loss contingencies, recoverability of goodwill and acquired intangible assets and amortization periods, assumptions used in the Black-Scholes model to calculate the fair value of share based payments, assumptions used in the application of fair value methodologies to calculate the fair value of derivative liabilities, revenue and cost of revenues recognized under the percentage of completion method and assumptions used in the application of fair value methodologies to calculate the fair value of pension assets and obligations.
The following are our critical accounting policies because we believe they are both important to the portrayal of our financial condition and results of operations and require critical management judgments and estimates about matters that are uncertain. If actual results or events differ materially from those contemplated by us in making these estimates, our reported financial condition and results of operations for future periods could be materially affected.
Revenue Recognition. Our revenue recognition policy is significant because our revenue is a key component of our consolidated results of operations. We recognize revenue from the following major revenue sources:
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Long-term fixed-price contracts involving significant customization;
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Fixed-price contracts involving minimal customization;
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Software licensing;
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Sales of computer hardware and identification media; and
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Lost contract customer support (PCS)
The Company’s revenue recognition policies are consistent with U.S. GAAP including Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 985-605, “Software Revenue Recognition”, ASC 605-35 “Revenue Recognition, Construction-Type and Production-Type Contracts”, “Securities and Exchange Commission Staff Accounting Bulletin 104, and ASC 605-25 “Revenue Recognition, Multiple Element Arrangements”. Accordingly, the Company recognizes revenue when all of the following criteria are met: persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, delivery has occurred or services have been rendered, the fee is fixed or determinable, and collectability is reasonably assured.
We recognize revenue and profit as work progresses on long-term, fixed-price contracts involving significant amount of hardware and software customization using the percentage of completion method based on costs incurred to date compared to total estimated costs at completion. Revenue from contracts for which we cannot reliably estimate total costs or there are not significant amounts of customization are recognized upon completion. Determining when a contract should be accounted for using the percentage of completion method involves judgment. Critical items that are considered in this process are the degree of customization and related labor hours necessary to complete the required work as well as ongoing estimates of the future labor hours needed to complete the contract. We also generate non-recurring revenue from the licensing of our software. Software license revenue is recognized upon the execution of a license agreement, upon deliverance, when fees are fixed and determinable, collectability is probable and when all other significant obligations have been fulfilled. We also generate revenue from the sale of computer hardware and identification media. Revenue for these items is recognized upon delivery of these products to the customer. The Company’s revenue from periodic maintenance agreements is generally recognized ratably over the respective maintenance periods provided no significant obligations remain and collectability of the related receivable is probable. Pricing of maintenance contracts is consistent period to period and calculated as a percentage of the software or hardware revenue which approximates 15% annually. Amounts collected in advance for maintenance services are included in current liabilities under "Deferred revenues." Sales tax collected from customers is excluded from revenue.
For a detailed discussion on the application of these and other accounting policies, see Note 2 in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements beginning on page.
Allowance for Doubtful Accounts. We provide an allowance for our accounts receivable for estimated losses that may result from our customers’ inability to pay. We determine the amount of allowance by analyzing historical losses, customer concentrations, customer creditworthiness, current economic trends, the age of the accounts receivable balances and changes in our customer payment terms when evaluating the adequacy of the allowance for doubtful accounts. Our accounts receivable balance was $328,000, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $3,000 at December 31, 2012. Our accounts receivable balance was $348,000, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $4,000 at December 31, 2011.
Valuation of Goodwill, Other Intangible and Long-Lived Assets. The Company accounts for its intangible assets under the provisions of ASC 350, “Intangibles - Goodwill and Other”. In accordance with ASC 350, intangible assets with a definite life are analyzed for impairment under ASC 360-10-05 and intangible assets with an indefinite life are analyzed for impairment under ASC 360. In accordance with ASC 350, goodwill, or the excess of cost over fair value of net assets acquired is tested for impairment using a fair value approach at the “reporting unit” level. A reporting unit is the operating segment, or a business one level below that operating segment (referred to as a component) if discrete financial information is prepared and regularly reviewed by management at the component level. The Company’s reporting unit is at the entity level. The Company recognizes an impairment charge for any amount by which the carrying amount of a reporting unit’s goodwill exceeds its fair value. The Company uses fair value methodologies to establish fair values.
We assess impairment of goodwill and identifiable intangible assets whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. Factors we consider important which could trigger an impairment review include the following:
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Significant underperformance relative to historical or expected future operating results;
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Significant changes in the manner of our use of the acquired assets or the strategy of our overall business; and
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Significant negative industry or economic trends.
The Company annually, or more frequently if events or circumstances indicate a need, tests the carrying amount of goodwill for impairment. The Company performs its annual impairment test in the fourth quarter of each year. A two-step impairment test is used to first identify potential goodwill impairment and then measure the amount of goodwill impairment loss, if any. The first step was conducted by determining and comparing the fair value, employing the market approach, of the Company’s reporting units to the carrying value of the reporting unit. In 2006, the Company determined that its only reporting unit is Identity Management. Based on the results of this impairment test, the Company determined that its goodwill assets were not impaired as of December 31, 2012.
The Company evaluates long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate their net book value may not be recoverable. When such factors and circumstances exist, the Company compares the projected undiscounted future cash flows associated with the related asset or group of assets over their estimated useful lives against their respective carrying amount. Impairment, if any, is based on the excess of the carrying amount over the fair value, based on market value when available, or discounted expected cash flows, of those assets and is recorded in the period in which the determination is made. The Company’s management currently believes there is no impairment of its long-lived assets. There can be no assurance, however, that market conditions will not change or demand for the Company’s products under development will continue. Either of these could result in future impairment of long-lived assets.
There are many management assumptions and estimates underlying the determination of an impairment loss, and estimates using different, but reasonable, assumptions could produce significantly different results. Significant assumptions include estimates of future levels of revenues and operating expenses. Therefore, the timing and recognition of impairment losses by us in the future, if any, may be highly dependent upon our estimates and assumptions. There can be no assurance that goodwill impairment will not occur in the future.
Goodwill and other net intangible assets amounted to approximately $3,616,000 and $3,479,000 at December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively.
Stock-Based Compensation. At December 31, 2012 and 2011, the Company had two stock-based compensation plans for employees and nonemployee directors, which authorize the granting of various equity-based incentives including stock options and restricted stock.
The Company estimates the fair value of its stock options using a Black-Scholes option-pricing model, consistent with the provisions of ASC 718, “Compensation - Stock Compensation”. The fair value of stock options granted is recognized to expense over the requisite service period. Stock-based compensation expense for all share-based payment awards is recognized using the straight-line single-option method. Stock-based compensation expense is reported in general and administrative, sales and marketing, engineering and customer service expenses based upon the departments to which substantially all of the associated employees report and credited to additional paid-in-capital. Stock-based compensation expense related to equity options was approximately $571,000 and $250,000 for the year ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively. In January 2010, the Company issued 847,258 shares of restricted stock to members of management and the Board. These shares will vest quarterly over a three-year period. The restricted shares were issued as compensation for the cancellation of 1,412,096 options held by members of management and the Board. The Company evaluated the exchange in accordance with ASC 718 and determined there was no incremental cost to be recorded in conjunction with the exchange as the fair value of the options surrendered at the modification date exceeded the fair value of the restricted shares issued at the modification date. The Company recorded approximately $37,000 and $39,000 in compensation expense for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively, related to these restricted shares.
ASC 718 requires the use of a valuation model to calculate the fair value of stock-based awards. For the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, the Company has elected to use the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, which incorporates various assumptions including volatility, expected life, and interest rates. The Company is required to make various assumptions in the application of the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. The Company has determined that the best measure of expected volatility is based on the historical weekly volatility of the Company’s common stock. Historical volatility factors utilized in the Company’s Black-Scholes computations ranged from 99% to 135% for the grants issued in years 2012 and 2011. The Company has elected to estimate the expected life of an award based upon the SEC approved “simplified method” noted under the provisions of Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 110. The expected term used by the Company to value the grants issued in 2012 and 2011 as computed by this method were 5.9 years. The effect of the difference between the actual historical expected life and the simplified method was immaterial. The interest rate used is the risk free interest rate and is based upon U. S. Treasury rates appropriate for the expected term. Interest rates used in the Company’s Black-Scholes calculations were 2.6% for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011. Dividend yield is zero as the Company does not expect to declare any dividends on the Company’s common shares in the foreseeable future.
In addition to the key assumptions used in the Black-Scholes model, the estimated forfeiture rate at the time of valuation is a critical assumption. The Company has estimated an annualized forfeiture rate of approximately 0% for corporate officers, 4.1% for members of the Board of Directors and 6.0% for all other employees. The Company reviews the expected forfeiture rate annually to determine if that percent is still reasonable based on historical experience.
Income Taxes. The Company accounts for income taxes in accordance with ASC 740, “Accounting for Income Taxes.” Deferred income taxes are recognized for the tax consequences related to temporary differences between the carrying amount of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for tax purposes at each year-end, based on enacted tax laws and statutory tax rates applicable to the periods in which the differences are expected to affect taxable income. A valuation allowance is established when necessary based on the weight of available evidence, if it is considered more likely than not that all or some portion of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. Income tax expense is the sum of current income tax plus the change in deferred tax assets and liabilities.
ASC 740-10 requires a company to first determine whether it is more-likely-than-not (defined as a likelihood of more than fifty percent) that a tax position will be sustained based on its technical merits as of the reporting date, assuming that taxing authorities will examine the position and have full knowledge of all relevant information. A tax position that meets this more-likely-than-not threshold is then measured and recognized at the largest amount of benefit that is greater than fifty percent likely to be realized upon effective settlement with a taxing authority.
We recognize and measure uncertain tax positions in accordance with U.S. GAAP, pursuant to which we only recognize the tax benefit from an uncertain tax position if it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained on examination by the taxing authorities, based on the technical merits of the position. Any tax benefits recognized in the consolidated financial statements from such positions are then measured based on the largest benefit that has a greater than 50 percent likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement. We report a liability for unrecognized tax benefits resulting from uncertain tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. U.S. GAAP further requires that a change in judgment related to the expected ultimate resolution of uncertain tax positions be recognized in earnings in the quarter of such change. We recognize interest and penalties, if any, related to unrecognized tax benefits in income tax expense.
We file annual income tax returns in multiple taxing jurisdictions around the world. A number of years may elapse before an uncertain tax position is audited and finally resolved. While it is often difficult to predict the final outcome or the timing of resolution of any particular uncertain tax position, we believe that our analysis of income tax reserves reflects the most likely outcome. We adjust these reserves, if any, as well as the related interest, in light of changing facts and circumstances. Settlement of any particular position could require the use of cash.
In June 2010, the Company was notified that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has proposed certain significant adjustments to the Company’s transfer pricing tax position for the years 2001 through 2008. Management evaluated those proposed adjustments and in July 2010 filed a formal notice of appeal. In 2011, the Company was notified that certain significant portions of the Company’s appeal had been accepted by the CRA.
Significant judgment is required in evaluating the Company’s uncertain tax positions and determining the Company’s provision for income taxes. No assurance can be given that the final tax outcome of these matters will not be different from that which is reflected in the Company’s historical income tax provisions and accruals. The Company adjusts these items in light of changing facts and circumstances. To the extent that the final tax outcome of these matters is different than the amounts recorded, such differences will impact the provision for income taxes in the period in which such determination is made.
The Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) limits the availability of certain tax credits and net operating losses that arose prior to certain cumulative changes in a corporation’s ownership resulting in a change of control of the Company. The Company’s use of its net operating loss carryforwards and tax credit carryforwards will be significantly limited because the Company believes it underwent “ownership changes,” as defined under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code, in 1991, 1995, 2000, 2003, 2004 and 2011, though the Company has not performed a study to determine the limitation. The Company has reduced its deferred tax assets to zero relating to its federal and state research credits because of such limitations. The Company continues to disclose the tax effect of the net operating loss carryforwards at their original amount as the actual limitation has not yet been quantified. The Company has also established a full valuation allowance for substantially all deferred tax assets due to uncertainties surrounding its ability to generate future taxable income to realize these assets. Since substantially all deferred tax assets are fully reserved, future changes in tax benefits will not impact the effective tax rate. Management periodically evaluates the recoverability of the deferred tax assets. If it is determined at some time in the future that it is more likely than not that deferred tax assets will be realized, the valuation allowance would be reduced accordingly at that time.
Fair-Value Measurements. The Company accounts for fair value measurements in accordance with ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures”, which defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value in generally accepted accounting principles, and expands disclosures about fair value measurements.
ASC 820 establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). The three levels of the fair value hierarchy under ASC 820 are described below:
Level 1
Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities.
Level 2
Applies to assets or liabilities for which there are inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets; quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in markets with insufficient volume or infrequent transactions (less active markets); or model-derived valuations in which significant inputs are observable or can be derived principally from, or corroborated by, observable market data.
Level 3
Prices or valuation techniques that require inputs that are both significant to the fair value measurement and unobservable (supported by little or no market activity).
Assessing the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement requires judgment, considering factors specific to the asset or liability. Determining whether a fair value measurement is based on Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3 inputs is important because certain disclosures are applicable only to those fair value measurements that use Level 3 inputs. The use of Level 3 inputs may include information derived through extrapolation or interpolation which involves management assumptions.
Derivative Financial Instruments. The Company does not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market or foreign currency risks.
The Company reviews the terms of the common and preferred stock, warrants and convertible debt it issues to determine whether there are embedded derivative instruments, including embedded conversion options, which are required to be bifurcated and accounted for separately as derivative financial instruments. In circumstances where the host instrument contains more than one embedded derivative instrument, including the conversion option, that is required to be bifurcated, the bifurcated derivative instruments are accounted for as a single, compound derivative instrument.
Bifurcated embedded derivatives are initially recorded at fair value and are then revalued at each reporting date with changes in the fair value reported as non-operating income or expense. When the equity or convertible debt instruments contain embedded derivative instruments that are to be bifurcated and accounted for as liabilities, the total proceeds received are first allocated to the fair value of all the bifurcated derivative instruments. The remaining proceeds, if any, are then allocated to the host instruments themselves, usually resulting in those instruments being recorded at a discount from their face value.
The discount from the face value of the convertible debt, together with the stated interest on the instrument, is amortized over the life of the instrument through periodic charges to interest expense, using the effective interest method.
Results of Operations
This management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes contained elsewhere in this Annual Report.
Comparison of Results for Fiscal Years Ended December 31, 2012 and 2011
Product Revenue
Software and royalty revenue decreased approximately 56% or $1,180,000 during the year ended December 31, 2012 as compared to the corresponding period in 2011. This decrease is due to lower project-oriented revenues of our identity management software into project solutions of approximately $1,197,000 and lower identification software royalties and license revenues of approximately $46,000, offset by slightly higher sales of boxed identity management software through our distribution channel of approximately $62,000 and slightly higher sales of our law enforcement project related revenues of approximately $1,000.
Revenues from the sale of hardware and consumables decreased approximately 31% or $61,000 during the year ended December 31, 2012 as compared to the corresponding period in 2011. The decrease reflects lower revenue from project solutions containing hardware and consumable components.
Services revenue is comprised primarily of software integration services, system installation services and customer training. Such revenue decreased approximately 77% or $210,000 during the year ended December 31, 2012 as compared to the corresponding period in 2011, due primarily to lower service revenues being generated from software integration of our biometric engine and Personal Identity Verification (“PIV”) products into project solutions combined with a reduction in our installation of hardware products.
We believe that the period-to-period fluctuations of identity management software revenue in project-oriented solutions are largely due to the timing of government procurement with respect to the various programs we are pursuing. Based on management’s current visibility into the timing of potential government procurements, we believe that we will see a significant increase in government procurement and implementations with respect to identity management initiatives; however we cannot predict the timing of such initiatives. During the year ended December 31, 2012, we accelerated our efforts to move the Biometric Engine into cloud and mobile markets and expanding our end-user market into non-government sectors including commercial, consumer and healthcare applications. Such efforts resulted in the consummation, in August 2012, of an OEM Software License Agreement with Fujitsu Frontech North America Inc. and certification on the Fijitsu’s NuVola Private Cloud Platform. We anticipate that we will see positive results from these efforts in the next few months, which should stabalize our period-to-period fluctuations in revenue and enable us to provide better visibility into the timing of future revenues.
Maintenance Revenue
Maintenance revenue was approximately $2,806,000 for the year ended December 31, 2012 as compared to approximately $2,878,000 for the corresponding period in 2011. The decrease of $72,000 is primarily due to the expiration of certain identity management maintenance contracts.
We anticipate growth of our maintenance revenue through the retention of existing customers combined with the expansion of our installed base resulting from the completion of project-oriented work, however we cannot predict the timing of this anticipated growth.
Cost of Product Revenue
The cost of software and royalty product revenue decreased 19% or $27,000 during the year ended December 31, 2012 as compared to the corresponding period in 2011. The increase in software and royalty cost of product revenues as a percentage of software and royalty product revenue was primarily driven by higher content of third-party software in project solutions and higher levels of software customization during the year ended December 31, 2012 as compared to the corresponding period of 2011.
The decrease in the cost of product revenue for our hardware and consumable sales of $81,000 for the year ended December 31, 2012 as compared to the corresponding period in 2011 reflects the decrease in hardware and consumable revenues for the year ended December 31, 2012 as compared to the same period in 2011 combined with lower costs incurred on hardware and consumable procurements.
Cost of service revenue decreased $124,000 or 75% during the year ended December 31, 2012 as compared to the corresponding period in 2011. The 75% decrease in cost of services product revenue is reasonably similar to the 77% decrease in services revenue.
Cost of Maintenance Revenue
Cost of maintenance revenue increased 4% or $40,000 during the year ended December 31, 2012 as compared to the corresponding period in 2011 due to higher maintenance costs incurred on certain large-scale identification projects of approximately $75,000, higher costs incurred on certain law enforcement projects of approximately $21,000 offset by lower costs incurred during 2012 of approximately $56,000 resulting from the movement of certain technical support functions from our Canadian office to our San Diego office.
Product Gross Profit
Software and royalty gross profit decreased 58% or approximately $1,153,000 for the year ended December 31, 2012 from the corresponding period in 2011 due primarily to a 56% or $1,180,000 decrease in software and royalty revenue.
Hardware and consumables gross profit increased $20,000 during the year ended December 31, 2012 as compared to the corresponding period in 2011. This increase reflects lower cost of hardware and consumables revenues of $81,000 offset by lower hardware and consumables revenue of $61,000. Costs of products can vary as a percentage of product revenue from quarter to quarter depending upon product mix and hardware content and print media consumable content included in systems installed during a given period.
Services gross profit decreased approximately $86,000 for the year ended December 31, 2012 as compared to the corresponding period of 2011 due to lower services revenue of $210,000.
Maintenance Gross Profit
Gross margins related to maintenance revenue decreased to 65% for the year ended December 31, 2012 from 68% for the corresponding period in the prior year due to a combination of a $72,000 decrease in maintenance revenues and an increase in $40,000 in maintenance costs. The increase in maintenance cost of revenue is due primarily to a higher maintenance costs of approximately $75,000 incurred on certain large-scale identification projects combined with higher costs of approximately $21,000 incurred on certain law enforcement projects offset by lower costs of approximately $56,000 resulting from the movement of certain technical support functions from our Canadian office to our San Diego office.
Operating Expense
General and Administrative Expense
General and administrative expense is comprised primarily of salaries and other employee-related costs for executive, financial, and other infrastructure personnel. General legal, accounting and consulting services, insurance, occupancy and communication costs are also included with general and administrative expense. The dollar increase of $1,103,000 is comprised of the following major components:
●
Increase in professional fees including consulting services and contract services of approximately $810,000 due primarily to increases in audit related fees of $92,000, increases in legal fees of approximately $168,000, increases in patent expenses of approximately $263,000, increases in investor relations and contract services of approximately $91,000 and increases in contractor fees and corporate expenses of approximately $196,000.
●
Increase in personnel related expense of approximately $22,000.
●
Increase in stock-based compensation expense of approximately $199,000.
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Increase in travel, insurances, licenses, dues, rent, and office related costs of approximately $97,000.
●
Decrease in financing fees of approximately $25,000.
We continue to focus our efforts on achieving additional future operating efficiencies by reviewing and improving upon existing business processes and evaluating our cost structure. We believe these efforts will allow us to continue to gradually decrease our level of general and administrative expense expressed as a percentage of total revenue.
Sales and Marketing Expense
Sales and marketing expense consists primarily of the salaries, commissions, other incentive compensation, employee benefits and travel expense of our sales, marketing, and business development. The dollar increase of $426,000 during the year ended December 31, 2012 as compared to the corresponding period in 2011 is primarily comprised of the following major components:
●
Increase in personnel related expense of approximately $142,000.
●
Increase in professional services of approximately $198,000.
●
Increase in travel and trade show expense of approximately $81,000.
●
Increase in stock-based compensation of approximately $52,000.
●
Increase in rent, office related expense, contract services and other expense of approximately $48,000.
●
Decreases in our Canada and Mexico office expenses of approximately $95,000.
We anticipate that the level of expense incurred for sales and marketing during the year ended December 31, 2013 will increase as we pursue large project solution opportunities.
Research and Development Expense
Research and development expense consists primarily of salaries, employee benefits and outside contractors for new product development, product enhancements, custom integration work and related facility costs. Such expense increased approximately $516,000 for the year ended December 31, 2012 as compared to the corresponding period in 2011 due primarily to the following major components:
●
Increase in personnel expenditures of approximately $311,000 due to headcount increases combined with increases in contractor and contract services of approximately $87,000.
●
Increase in travel, rent and office related costs of approximately $50,000.
●
Increase in stock-based compensation of approximately $68,000.
Our level of expenditures in research and development reflects our belief that to maintain our competitive position in markets characterized by rapid rates of technological advancement, we must continue to invest significant resources in new systems and software as well as continue to enhance existing products.
Depreciation and Amortization
During the year ended December 31, 2012, depreciation and amortization expense increased approximately $41,000 as compared to the corresponding period in 2011. The increase in depreciation and amortization expense reflects additions to fixed assets during the year ended December 31, 2012, primarily for the replacement of obsolete computer equipment and the acquisition of certain patents. The Company’s amortization expense consists of amortization expense incurred on the Company’s EPI trademark and trade name intangible asset of approximately $16,000 and approximately $6,000 related to the amortization of the acquired Vocel patents.
Interest Expense (Income), Net
For the year ended December 31, 2012, we recognized interest income of $3,000 and interest expense of $21,000. For the year ended December 31, 2011, we recognized interest income of $0 and interest expense of $4,851,000. Interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2012 contains the following components:
●
Coupon interest of approximately $5,000 related to our 7% convertible notes.
●
Other interest expense of approximately $16,000.
Interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2011 contains the following components:
●
Coupon interest on secured notes payable and convertible notes payable of approximately $348,000.
●
Accretion of note discount and beneficial conversion feature to interest expense of approximately $4,448,000.
●
Other interest expense of approximately $55,000.
Change in Fair Value of Derivative Liabilities
For the year ended December 31, 2012, we recognized a non-cash expense of approximately $4,712,000 compared to a non-cash income of approximately $3,970,000 for the corresponding period of 2011. The 2012 expense is related to the change in fair value of the Company’s derivative liabilities associated with the anti-dilution provisions and cash settlement provisions in certain warrants to purchase shares of our common stock. The 2011 income is related to the change in fair value of the Company’s Derivative Liabilities associated with the embedded conversion feature in our Series C and Series D Preferred Stock and the anti-dilution provisions in certain warrants to purchase shares of our common stock. The Derivative Liabilities were revalued using available market information and commonly accepted valuation methodologies.
Other Income, Net
For the year ended December 31, 2012, we recognized other income of $336,000 and other expense of $14,000. For the year ended December 31, 2011, we recognized other income of $25,000 and other expense of $0. Other income for the year ended December 31, 2012 is comprised of approximately $336,000 from the write off of certain accounts payable due the expiration of the legal statute of limitations on such accounts payable. Other expense for the year ended December 31, 2012 is comprised of approximately $14,000 from the write off of certain deferred financing fees. Other income for the year ended December 31, 2011 contains approximately $25,000 in miscellaneous receipts at our German sales office.
Income Tax Expense
During the year ended December 31, 2012, we recorded an expense of $22,000 from income taxes as compared to a benefit of $19,000 for the year ended December 31, 2011.
During the year ended December 31, 2012, our expense for income taxes of $22,000 related to taxes on income generated in certain foreign jurisdictions offset by research and development tax credits generated in certain foreign jurisdictions.
We have incurred consolidated pre-tax losses during the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, and have incurred operating losses in all periods prior to 2009. Management has determined that it is more likely than not that a tax benefit from such losses will not be realized. Accordingly, we did not record a benefit for income taxes for these periods.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
On December 20, 2011, we consummated an equity financing resulting in gross proceeds of $10.0 million (“Qualified Financing”), including the $750,000 of promissory notes converted into the Qualified Financing. In connection with the Qualified Financing, we issued 20,000,000 shares of our common stock (the “Shares”), and warrants to purchase 12,207,500 shares of common stock exercisable for $0.50 per share (“Warrants”), which number includes 2,207,500 shares issuable upon exchange of warrants issued to MDB Capital Group in consideration for acting as placement agent in connection with the Qualified Financing. We also issued 90,000 shares of common stock and a warrant exercisable for 45,000 shares of common stock in lieu of cash in payment for legal fees related to the Qualified Financing. We also issued a warrant to purchase 250,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $0.50, which expires two years from the date of grant, to a significant investor to cover certain expenses related to and in anticipation of the Qualified Financing. The net proceeds from the Qualified Financing were approximately $8,544,000, of which, $1,500,000 was then used to repay certain convertible notes payable. As of December 31, 2012, all debt other than the $65,000 in related party notes payable had been converted to common stock or repaid. In addition, in connection with the Qualified Financing, (i) the anti-dilution provision contained in certain of our existing warrants were amended resulting in such warrants no longer qualifying as derivative liabilities; and (ii) a significant investor ("Investor") exchanged $4.5 million principal amount of convertible promissory notes of the Company ("Exchanged Notes"), and accrued but unpaid interest on the Exchanged Notes and on an additional $2.25 million in promissory notes, into 9,774,559 shares of our common stock ("Exchange Shares"). The Investor also agreed to convert $750,000 principal amount of additional promissory notes held by the Investor and invest the proceeds into the Qualified Financing.
In addition, on September 10, 2012, the Investor exercised warrants to purchase an aggregate total of 7.0 million shares of our common stock, resulting in $3,500,000 of net proceeds to the Company. At December 31, 2012, our principal sources of liquidity consisted of cash and cash equivalents of $4,225,000 and accounts receivable, net of $328,000. As of December 31, 2012, we had positive working capital of $1,250,000 which included $1,561,000 of deferred revenue. This compares to positive working capital of $2,948,000 during the corresponding period in 2011. Historically, our principal sources of cash have included customer payments from the sale of our products, proceeds from the issuance of common and preferred stock and proceeds from the issuance of debt. Our principal uses of cash have included cash used in operations, payments relating to purchases of property and equipment and repayments of borrowings. We expect that our principal uses of cash in the future will be for product development including customization of identity management products for enterprise and consumer applications, further development of intellectual property, development of SaaS capabilities for existing products as well as general working capital and capital expenditure requirements. We expect that, as our revenues grow, our sales and marketing and research and development expenses will continue to grow and, as a result, we will need to generate significant net revenues to achieve and sustain income from operations.
In March 2013, the Company entered into a new unsecured line of credit agreement with available borrowing of up to $2,500,000. The credit line was extended by an existing shareholder and member of our Board of Directors. Borrowings under the credit facility bear interest of 8% per annum and are due in March 2015. At any time prior to the Maturity Date, the holder shall have the right to convert the outstanding balance owed into shares of the Company’s common stock by dividing the outstanding balance by $0.95.
Advances under the credit facility are made at the Company’s request. The line of credit shall terminate, and no further advances shall be made, upon the earlier of the Maturity Date or such date that the Company consummates a debt and/or equity financing resulting in net proceeds to the Company of at least $2,500,000. In the event of such financing, the outstanding balance under the terms of this note shall be due and payable upon demand.
As additional consideration for the unsecured line of credit agreement, the Company issued to the holder a warrant exercisable for 1,052,632 shares of the Company’s common stock. The warrant has a term of two years from the date of issuance and an exercise price of $0.95 per share.
Management believes that the Company’s current cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to meet working capital and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next 12 months from the date of this filing and that we will have sufficient liquidity to fund our business and meet our contractual obligations over a period beyond the next 12 months.
Operating Activities
Net cash used in operating activities was $5,553,000 during the year ended December 31, 2012 as compared to $2,269,000 for the corresponding period in 2011. During the year ended December 31, 2012, net cash used in operating activities consisted of net loss of $10,190,000 and a decrease in operating cash from changes in assets and liabilities of $458,000. Those amounts were offset by net non-cash costs of $5,095,000, including a $4,712,000 unrealized loss related to the change in value of our derivative liabilities, $608,000 in stock based compensation and $69,000 in depreciation and amortization, $27,000 related to warrants issued in lieu of cash, $15,000 in deferred financing fee expense offset by $336,000 of non-cash income from the write-off of certain accounts payable due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. During the year ended December 31, 2012, we used cash of $217,000 from increases in current assets and used cash of $241,000 through decreases in current liabilities and deferred revenues, excluding debt.
The cash used in operations of $2,269,000 during the year ended December 31, 2011 was primarily driven by a loss from operations of $2,343,000. Further, we had a net loss of $3,180,000 in 2011 largely driven by interest expense of $4,851,000, of which, approximately $2,250,000 relates to the write-off of the unamortized note discount and beneficial conversion feature related to the convertible debt that was converted to common stock in December 2011 as part of the Qualified Financing. This expense was offset by approximately $3,970,000 in non-cash income resulting from the change in fair value of derivative liabilities. Changes in working capital and other assets and liabilities in total decreased the net cash used in operations by approximately $103,000 due largely to a $570,000 increase in accrued expenses.
Investing Activities
Net cash used in investing activities was $181,000 for the year ended December 31, 2012, as compared to $11,000 for the year ended December 31, 2011. For the year ended December 31, 2012, we used cash to fund capital expenditures of computer equipment, software and furniture and fixtures. This level of equipment purchases resulted primarily from the replacement of older equipment
Financing Activities
We generated cash of $3,259,000 from financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2012 as compared to the generation of $8,953,000 for the same period in 2011. We generated cash of $3,527,000 from the exercise of 7,052,647 common stock warrants and $7,000 from the exercise of 24,924 common stock options. We used cash of $229,000 for the payment of dividends on our Series B Convertible Redeemable Preferred Stock and $45,000 for the repayment of notes payable. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the $8,953,000 generated in cash was the result of $8,544,000 in net proceeds from the Qualified Financing offset by a net outflow of $250,000 to repay certain notes payable, and $655,000 in proceeds from the exercise of warrants to purchase 1,310,000 shares of common stock and proceeds of exercised stock options of $4,000.
Debt
As of December 31, 20112 we had $65,000 in outstanding debt, exclusive of any debt discounts, and another $29,000 in related accrued interest, as compared to $110,000 in outstanding debt as of December 31, 2011.
Factors That May Affect Future Financial Condition and Liquidity
As a result of the Qualified Financing in December 2011, the receipt of cash from the exercise of warrants in September 2012, and the credit facility secured by the March 2013 convertible promissory note, we believe that our current cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to meet our working capital and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next 12 months from the date of the filing of this Annual Report and that we will have sufficient liquidity to fund our business and meet our contractual obligations over a period beyond the next 12 months. However, we may be required to obtain additional financing in order to fund our continued operations. Due to the tightening of the credit markets, general economic conditions, and other economic and business factors, this financing may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. Although we cannot accurately anticipate the effect of inflation or foreign exchange markets on our operations, we do not believe these external economic forces have had, or are likely in the foreseeable future to have, a material impact on our results of operations.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
At December 31, 2012, we did not have any relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, such as entities often referred to as structured finance, special purpose or variable interest entities, which would have been established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements or other contractually narrow or limited purposes. In addition, we did not engage in trading activities involving non-exchange traded contracts. As a result, we are not exposed to any financing, liquidity, market or credit risk that could arise if we had engaged in such relationships. We do not have relationships and transactions with persons or entities that derive benefits from their non-independent relationship with us or our related parties except as disclosed elsewhere in this Annual Report.
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
From time to time, new accounting pronouncements are issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”), or other standard setting bodies, which are adopted by us as of the specified effective date. Unless otherwise discussed, the Company’s management believes the impact of recently issued standards not yet effective will not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements upon adoption.
FASB ASU No. 2012-02. In July 2012, the FASB issued ASU No. 2012-02, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Testing Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets for Impairment. This new accounting standard allows companies to perform a qualitative assessment to determine whether further impairment testing of indefinite-lived intangible assets is necessary. Under the guidance in ASU 2012-02, an entity has the option to bypass the qualitative assessment for any indefinite-lived intangible asset in any period and proceed directly to performing the quantitative impairment test. An entity will be able to resume performing the qualitative assessment in any subsequent period. ASU 2012-02 is effective for annual and interim impairment tests performed for fiscal years beginning after September 15, 2012. Early adoption is permitted, including for annual and interim impairment tests performed as of a date before July 27, 2012, if a public entity’s financial statements for the most recent annual or interim period have not yet been issued. The Company is currently evaluating the effect of this ASU on its consolidated financial statements.
Impact of Inflation
The primary inflationary factor affecting our operations is labor costs and we do not believe that inflation has materially affected earnings during the past four years. Substantial increases in costs and expenses, particularly labor and operating expenses, could have a significant impact on our operating results to the extent that such increases cannot be passed along to customers and end users.
ITEM 7A.
ITEM 7A.
QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Each of our contracts require payment in U.S. dollars. We therefore do not engage in hedging transactions to reduce our exposure to changes in currency exchange rates, although in the event any future contracts are denominated in a foreign currency, we may do so in the future. As a result, our financial results are not affected by factors such as changes in foreign currency exchange rates.
ITEM 8.
ITEM 8.
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
Our consolidated financial statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011 and the report of our independent registered public accounting firm are included in Item 15 of this Annual Report.
ITEM 9.
ITEM 9.
CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
Not Applicable.
ITEM 9A.
ITEM 9A.
CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
(a)
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures.
Under the supervision and with the participation of our Management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operations of our disclosure controls and procedures, as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as of December 31, 2012. Based on this evaluation, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports submitted under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms. In making this assessment, we used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control-Integrated Framework.
(b)
Management's Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting.
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act). Our internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes of accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.
This Annual Report does not include an attestation report of our registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting. Management’s report was not subject to attestation by our registered public accounting firm pursuant to an exemption for smaller reporting companies under Section 989G of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Therefore, even those systems determined to be effective can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving their control objectives.
Our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer evaluated the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2012. In making this assessment, we used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control-Integrated Framework. Based on this evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that, as of December 31, 2012, our internal control over financial reporting was effective.
(c)
Changes in Internal Controls over Financial Reporting.
The Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have determined that there have been no changes, in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting during the period covered by this report identified in connection with the evaluation described in the above paragraph that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
ITEM 9B.
ITEM 9B.
OTHER INFORMATION
Not applicable.
PART III
ITEM 10.
ITEM 10.
DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
The information required by this item will be set forth in our definitive proxy statement for our 2013 annual meeting of stockholders to be filed within 120 days after our fiscal year end and is incorporated in this report by reference.
ITEM 11.
ITEM 11.
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
The information required by this item will be set forth in our definitive proxy statement for our 2013 annual meeting of stockholders to be filed within 120 days after our fiscal year end and is incorporated in this report by reference.
ITEM 12.
ITEM 12.
SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDERS MATTERS
The information required by this item will be set forth in our definitive proxy statement for our 2013 annual meeting of stockholders to be filed within 120 days after our fiscal year end and is incorporated in this report by reference.
ITEM 13.
ITEM 13.
CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE
The information required by this item will be set forth in our definitive proxy statement for our 2013 annual meeting of stockholders to be filed within 120 days after our fiscal year end and is incorporated in this report by reference.
ITEM 14.
ITEM 14.
PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
The information required by this item will be set forth in our definitive proxy statement for our 2013 annual meeting of stockholders to be filed within 120 days after our fiscal year end and is incorporated in this report by reference.
PART IV
ITEM 15.
ITEM 15.
EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
(a)
The following documents are filed as part of this annual report:
*Pursuant to Rule 406T of Regulation S-T, these interactive data files are deemed not filed or part of a registration statement or prospectus for purposes of Sections 11 or 12 of the Securities Act of 1933 or Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and otherwise are not subject to liability.
SIGNATURES
In accordance with Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this Report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, there unto duly authorized.
Registrant
Date: April 1, 2013
ImageWare Systems, Inc.
/s/ S. James Miller, Jr.
S. James Miller, Jr.
Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer), President
Date: April 1, 2013
/s/ Wayne Wetherell
Wayne Wetherell
Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer)
In accordance with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this Report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Company and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
Date: April 1, 2013
/s/ S. James Miller, Jr.
S. James Miller, Jr.
Chairman of the Board
Date: April 1, 2013
/s/ David Loesch
David Loesch
Director
Date: April 1, 2013
/s/ Steve Hamm
Steve Hamm
Director
/s/ David Carey
Date: April 1, 2013
David Carey
Director
/s/ John Cronin
Date: April 1, 2013
John Cronin
Director
/s/ Neal Goldman
Date: April 1, 2013
John Cronin
Director
/s/ Charles Crocker
Date: April 1, 2013
John Cronin
Director
IMAGEWARE SYSTEMS, INC.
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of
ImageWare Systems, Inc.
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of ImageWare Systems, Inc. as of December 31, 2012 and 2011, and the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive loss, shareholders' equity (deficit), and cash flows for the years then ended. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. Our audits included consideration of internal control over financial reporting as a basis for designing audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of ImageWare Systems, Inc. as of December 31, 2012 and 2011, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the years then ended in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
/s/ Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C.
San Diego, California
April 1, 2013
IMAGEWARE SYSTEMS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(In thousands, except share amounts)
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
IMAGEWARE SYSTEMS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(In thousands, except share and per share amounts)
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
IMAGEWARE SYSTEMS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE LOSS
(In thousands)
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
IMAGEWARE SYSTEMS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY (DEFICIT)
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2012 AND DECEMBER 31, 2011
(In thousands, except share amounts)
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
IMAGEWARE SYSTEMS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY (DEFICIT)
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2012 AND DECEMBER 31, 2011
(In thousands, except share amounts)
(continued)
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
IMAGEWARE SYSTEMS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(In thousands)
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
IMAGEWARE SYSTEMS, INC.
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2012 AND 2011
1. DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS AND OPERATIONS
Overview
ImageWare Systems, Inc. (the “Company”) is incorporated in the state of Delaware. The Company is a pioneer and leader in the emerging market for biometrically enabled software-based identity management solutions. Using those human characteristics that are unique to us all, the Company creates software that provides a highly reliable indication of a person’s identity. The Company’s “flagship” product is the patented IWS Biometric Engine®. The Company’s products are used to manage and issue secure credentials, including national IDs, passports, driver licenses and access control credentials. The Company’s products also provide law enforcement with integrated mug shot, fingerprint LiveScan and investigative capabilities. The Company also provides comprehensive authentication security software using biometrics to secure physical and logical access to facilities or computer networks or Internet sites. Biometric technology is now an integral part of all markets the Company addresses and all of the products are integrated into the IWS Biometric Engine.
Recent Developments
Fujitsu Relationship
On August 20, 2012, the Company and Fujitsu Frontech North America Inc. (“Fujitsu”) executed an original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, licensing agreement. Subsequently, on September 6, 2012, the Company received certification to run its patented Biometric Engine® across Fujitsu’s NuVola Private Cloud Platform. Utilization of the NuVola Cloud Platform will allow the Biometric Engine to rapidly and securely deploy biometric security information to users.
Additional Intellectual Property
In addition to our eight issued U.S. and foreign patents, we recently filed three new patent applications surrounding new “Anonymous Matching” technologies. These technologies will allow biometric matching for identity verification while protecting the privacy of an individual. It is our belief that such technology will be critical to providing biometric management solutions for the consumer market where privacy protection has been a historical issue and barrier to biometric adoption.
In June 2012, the Company entered into an asset purchase agreement with Vocel, Inc., a Delaware Corporation (“Vocel”), whereby the Company purchased from Vocel software, trademarks and four U.S. patents relating to wireless technology. These patents, combined with the Company’s existing foundational patents in the areas of biometric identification, verification, enrollment and fusion, provide a unique and protected foundation on which to build interactive mobile applications that are secured using biometrics.
The combination of our biometric identification technologies and wireless technologies has led to the development of the IWS Interactive Messaging System, which is a push application platform secured by biometrics that transforms mobile devices into a complete mobile ID, enabling companies to create applications that allow a range of unprecedented activities - from secure sharing of sensitive information to biometrically securing a mobile wallet.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
On December 20, 2011, we consummated an equity financing resulting in gross proceeds of $10.0 million (“Qualified Financing”), including the $750,000 of promissory notes converted into the Qualified Financing. In connection with the Qualified Financing, we issued 20,000,000 shares of our common stock (the “Shares”), and warrants to purchase 12,207,500 shares of common stock exercisable for $0.50 per share (“Warrants”), which number includes 2,207,500 shares issuable upon exchange of warrants issued to MDB Capital Group in consideration for acting as placement agent in connection with the Qualified Financing. We also issued 90,000 shares of common stock and a warrant exercisable for 45,000 shares of common stock in lieu of cash in payment for legal fees related to the Qualified Financing. We also issued a warrant to purchase 250,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $0.50, which expires two years from the date of grant, to a significant investor to cover certain expenses related to and in anticipation of the Qualified Financing. The net proceeds from the Qualified Financing were approximately $8,544,000, of which, $1,500,000 was then used to repay certain convertible notes payable. As of December 31, 2012, all debt other than the $65,000 in related party notes payable had been converted to common stock or repaid. In addition, in connection with the Qualified Financing, (i) the anti-dilution provision contained in certain of our existing warrants were amended resulting in such warrants no longer qualifying as derivative liabilities; and (ii) a significant investor ("Investor") exchanged $4.5 million principal amount of convertible promissory notes of the Company ("Exchanged Notes"), and accrued but unpaid interest on the Exchanged Notes and on an additional $2.25 million in promissory notes, into 9,774,559 shares of our common stock ("Exchange Shares"). The Investor also agreed to convert $750,000 principal amount of additional promissory notes held by the Investor and invest the proceeds into the Qualified Financing.
In addition, on September 10, 2012, the Investor exercised warrants to purchase an aggregate total of 7.0 million shares of our common stock, resulting in $3,500,000 of net proceeds to the Company. At December 31, 2012, our principal sources of liquidity consisted of cash and cash equivalents of $4,225,000 and accounts receivable, net of $328,000. As of December 31, 2012, we had positive working capital of $1,250,000 which included $1,561,000 of deferred revenue. This compares to positive working capital of $2,948,000 during the corresponding period in 2011. Historically, our principal sources of cash have included customer payments from the sale of our products, proceeds from the issuance of common and preferred stock and proceeds from the issuance of debt. Our principal uses of cash have included cash used in operations, payments relating to purchases of property and equipment and repayments of borrowings. We expect that our principal uses of cash in the future will be for product development including customization of identity management products for enterprise and consumer applications, further development of intellectual property, development of SaaS capabilities for existing products as well as general working capital and capital expenditure requirements. We expect that, as our revenues grow, our sales and marketing and research and development expenses will continue to grow and, as a result, we will need to generate significant net revenues to achieve and sustain income from operations.
In March 2013, the Company entered into a new unsecured line of credit agreement with available borrowing of up to $2,500,000. The credit line was extended by an existing shareholder and member of our Board of Directors. Borrowings under the credit facility bear interest of 8% per annum and are due in March 2015. At any time prior to the Maturity Date, the holder shall have the right to convert the outstanding balance owed into shares of the Company’s common stock by dividing the outstanding balance by $0.95.
Advances under the credit facility are made at the Company’s request. The line of credit shall terminate, and no further advances shall be made, upon the earlier of the Maturity Date or such date that the Company consummates a debt and/or equity financing resulting in net proceeds to the Company of at least $2,500,000. In the event of such financing, the outstanding balance under the terms of this note shall be due and payable upon demand.
As additional consideration for the unsecured line of credit agreement, the Company issued to the holder a warrant exercisable for 1,052,632 shares of the Company’s common stock. The warrant has a term of two years from the date of issuance and an exercise price of $0.95 per share.
Management believes that the Company’s current cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to meet working capital and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next 12 months from the date of this filing and that we will have sufficient liquidity to fund our business and meet our contractual obligations over a period beyond the next 12 months.
2. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Principles of Consolidation
The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All significant intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated.
Operating Cycle
Assets and liabilities related to long-term contracts are included in current assets and current liabilities in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets, although they will be liquidated in the normal course of contract completion which may take more than one operating cycle.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of the consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenue and expense during the reporting period. Significant estimates include the allowance for doubtful accounts receivable, inventory carrying values, deferred tax asset valuation allowances, accounting for loss contingencies, recoverability of goodwill and acquired intangible assets and amortization periods, assumptions used in the Black-Scholes model to calculate the fair value of share based payments, assumptions used in the application of fair value methodologies to calculate the fair value of derivative liabilities, revenue and cost of revenues recognized under the percentage of completion method and assumptions used in the application of fair value methodologies to calculate the fair value of pension assets and obligations. Actual results could differ from estimates.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company defines cash equivalents as highly liquid investments with original maturities of less than 90 days that are not held for sale in the ordinary course of business.
Accounts Receivable
In the normal course of business, the Company extends credit without collateral requirements to its customers that satisfy pre-defined credit criteria. Accounts receivable are recorded net of an allowance for doubtful accounts. Accounts receivable are considered delinquent when the due date on the invoice has passed. The Company records its allowance for doubtful accounts based upon its assessment of various factors. The Company considers historical experience, the age of the accounts receivable balances, the credit quality of its customers, current economic conditions and other factors that may affect customers’ ability to pay to determine the level of allowance required. Accounts receivable are written off against the allowance for doubtful accounts when all collection efforts by the Company have been unsuccessful.
Inventories
Inventories are stated at the lower of cost, determined using the average cost method, or market.
Property, Equipment and Leasehold Improvements
Property and equipment, consisting of furniture and equipment, are stated at cost and are being depreciated on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful lives of the assets, which generally range from three to five years. Maintenance and repairs are charged to expense as incurred. Major renewals or improvements are capitalized. When assets are sold or abandoned, the cost and related accumulated depreciation are removed from the accounts and the resulting gain or loss is recognized. Expenditures for leasehold improvements are capitalized. Amortization of leasehold improvements is computed using the straight-line method over the shorter of the remaining lease term or the estimated useful lives of the improvements.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
For certain of the Company’s financial instruments, including accounts receivable, accounts payable, accrued expenses, deferred revenues and notes payable to related parties, the carrying amounts approximate fair value due to their relatively short maturities.
Derivative Financial Instruments
The Company does not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market or foreign currency risks.
The Company reviews the terms of the common and preferred stock, warrants and convertible debt it issues to determine whether there are embedded derivative instruments, including embedded conversion options, which are required to be bifurcated and accounted for separately as derivative financial instruments. In circumstances where the host instrument contains more than one embedded derivative instrument, including the conversion option, that is required to be bifurcated, the bifurcated derivative instruments are accounted for as a single, compound derivative instrument.
Bifurcated embedded derivatives are initially recorded at fair value and are then revalued at each reporting date with changes in the fair value reported as non-operating income or expense. When the equity or convertible debt instruments contain embedded derivative instruments that are to be bifurcated and accounted for as liabilities, the total proceeds received are first allocated to the fair value of all the bifurcated derivative instruments. The remaining proceeds, if any, are then allocated to the host instruments themselves, usually resulting in those instruments being recorded at a discount from their face value.
The discount from the face value of the convertible debt, together with the stated interest on the instrument, is amortized over the life of the instrument through periodic charges to interest expense, using the effective interest method.
Revenue Recognition
The Company recognizes revenue from the following major revenue sources:
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Long-term fixed-price contracts involving significant customization
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Fixed-price contracts involving minimal customization
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Software licensing
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Sales of computer hardware and identification media
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Postcontract customer support (“PCS”)
The Company’s revenue recognition policies are consistent with U.S. GAAP including the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 985-605, “Software Revenue Recognition”, ASC 605-35 “Revenue Recognition, Construction-Type and Production-Type Contracts”, “Securities and Exchange Commission Staff Accounting Bulletin 104”, and ASC 605-25 “Revenue Recognition, Multiple Element Arrangements”. Accordingly, the Company recognizes revenue when all of the following criteria are met: persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, delivery has occurred or services have been rendered, the fee is fixed or determinable, and collectability is reasonably assured.
The Company recognizes revenue and profit as work progresses on long-term, fixed-price contracts involving significant amount of hardware and software customization using the percentage of completion method based on costs incurred to date compared to total estimated costs at completion. The primary components of costs incurred are third party software and direct labor cost including fringe benefits. Revenues recognized in excess of amounts billed are classified as current assets under “Costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings on uncompleted contracts”. Amounts billed to customers in excess of revenues recognized are classified as current liabilities under “Billings in excess of costs and estimated earnings on uncompleted contracts”. Revenue from contracts for which the Company cannot reliably estimate total costs or there are not significant amounts of customization are recognized upon completion. The Company also generates non-recurring revenue from the licensing of its software. Software license revenue is recognized upon the execution of a license agreement, upon deliverance, when fees are fixed and determinable, when collectability is probable and when all other significant obligations have been fulfilled. The Company also generates revenue from the sale of computer hardware and identification media. Revenue for these items is recognized upon delivery of these products to the customer. The Company’s revenue from periodic maintenance agreements is generally recognized ratably over the respective maintenance periods provided no significant obligations remain and collectability of the related receivable is probable. Pricing of maintenance contracts is consistent period to period and calculated as a percentage of the software or hardware revenue, which is approximately 15% annually. Amounts collected in advance for maintenance services are included in current liabilities under "Deferred revenue". Sales tax collected from customers is excluded from revenue.
Goodwill
The Company accounts for its intangible assets under the provisions of ASC 350, “Intangibles - Goodwill and Other”. In accordance with ASC 350, intangible assets with a definite life are analyzed for impairment under ASC 360-10-05 “Property, Plant and Equipment” and intangible assets with an indefinite life are analyzed for impairment under ASC 360 annually, or more often if circumstances dictate. The Company performs its annual goodwill impairment test in the fourth quarter of each year. In accordance with ASC 350, goodwill, or the excess of cost over fair value of net assets acquired is tested for impairment using a fair value approach at the “reporting unit” level. A reporting unit is the operating segment, or a business one level below that operating segment (referred to as a component) if discrete financial information is prepared and regularly reviewed by management at the component level. The Company’s reporting unit is at the entity level. The Company recognizes an impairment charge for any amount by which the carrying amount of a reporting unit’s goodwill exceeds its fair value. The Company uses fair value methodologies to establish fair values.
The Company did not record any goodwill impairment charges for the years ended December 31, 2012 or 2011.
Intangible and Long Lived Assets
Intangible assets are carried at their cost less any accumulated amortization. Any costs incurred to renew or extend the life of an intangible or long lived asset are reviewed for capitalization. The Company evaluates long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate their net book value may not be recoverable. When such factors and circumstances exist, the Company compares the projected undiscounted future cash flows associated with the related asset or group of assets over their estimated useful lives against their respective carrying amount. Impairment, if any, is based on the excess of the carrying amount over the fair value, based on market value when available, or discounted expected cash flows, of those assets and is recorded in the period in which the determination is made. The Company’s management currently believes there is no impairment of its long-lived assets. There can be no assurance, however, that market conditions will not change or demand for the Company’s products under development will continue. Either of these could result in future impairment of long-lived assets.
Concentration of Credit Risk
Financial instruments which potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist principally of cash and trade accounts receivable. The Company places its cash with high quality financial institutions and at times during the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011 exceeded the FDIC insurance limits of $250,000 for 2012 and 2011. Sales are typically made on credit and the Company generally does not require collateral. The Company performs ongoing credit evaluations of its customers’ financial condition and maintains an allowance for doubtful accounts. The Company considers historical experience, the age of the accounts receivable balances, the credit quality of its customers, current economic conditions and other factors that may affect customers’ ability to pay to determine the level of allowance required. Accounts receivable are presented net of an allowance for doubtful accounts of approximately $3,000 and $4,000 at December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively.
For the year ended December 31, 2012 one customer accounted for approximately 15 % or $611,000 of total revenues and had trade receivables of $0 as of the end of the year. For the year ended December 31, 2011 one customer accounted for approximately 34% or $1,836,000 of total revenues and had trade receivables of $0 as of the end of the year.
Stock Based Compensation
At December 31, 2012, the Company had two stock-based compensation plans for employees and nonemployee directors, which authorize the granting of various equity-based incentives including stock options and restricted stock.
The Company estimates the fair value of its stock options using a Black-Scholes option-pricing model, consistent with the provisions of ASC 718, “Compensation - Stock Compensation”. The fair value of stock options granted is recognized to expense over the requisite service period. Stock-based compensation expense for all share-based payment awards is recognized using the straight-line single-option method. Stock-based compensation expense is reported in operating expenses based upon the departments to which substantially all of the associated employees report and credited to additional paid-in-capital. Stock-based compensation expense related to equity options was approximately $571,000 and $250,000 for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively. In January 2010, the Company issued 847,258 shares of restricted stock to members of management and the Board. These shares will vest quarterly over a three-year period. The restricted shares were issued as compensation for the cancellation of 1,412,096 options held by members of management and the Board. The Company evaluated the exchange in accordance with ASC 718 and determined there was no incremental cost to be recorded in conjunction with the exchange as the fair value of the options surrendered at the modification date exceeded the fair value of the restricted shares issued at the modification date. The Company recorded approximately $37,000 and $39,000 in compensation expense for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011 related to these restricted shares.
ASC 718 requires the use of a valuation model to calculate the fair value of stock-based awards. The Company has elected to use the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, which incorporates various assumptions including volatility, expected life, and interest rates. The Company is required to make various assumptions in the application of the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. The Company has determined that the best measure of expected volatility is based on the historical weekly volatility of the Company’s common stock. Historical volatility factors utilized in the Company’s Black-Scholes computations for options granted during the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011 ranged from 99% to 135%. The Company has elected to estimate the expected life of an award based upon the SEC approved “simplified method” noted under the provisions of Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 110. The expected term used by the Company during the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011 was 5.9 years. The difference between the actual historical expected life and the simplified method was immaterial. The interest rate used is the risk free interest rate and is based upon U.S. Treasury rates appropriate for the expected term. Interest rates used in the Company’s Black-Scholes calculations for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011 averaged 2.6%. Dividend yield is zero as the Company does not expect to declare any dividends on the Company’s common shares in the foreseeable future.
In addition to the key assumptions used in the Black-Scholes model, the estimated forfeiture rate at the time of valuation is a critical assumption. The Company has estimated an annualized forfeiture rate of approximately 0% for corporate officers, 4.1% for members of the Board of Directors and 6.0% for all other employees. The Company reviews the expected forfeiture rate annually to determine if that percent is still reasonable based on historical experience.
Income Taxes
Current income tax expense or benefit is the amount of income taxes expected to be payable or refundable for the current year. A deferred income tax asset or liability is computed for the expected future impact of differences between the financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities and for the expected future tax benefit to be derived from tax credits and loss carryforwards. Deferred tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance when, in the opinion of management, it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized.
Foreign Currency Translation
The financial position and results of operations of the Company’s foreign subsidiaries are measured using the foreign subsidiary’s local currency as the functional currency. Revenues and expenses of such subsidiaries have been translated into U.S. dollars at average exchange rates prevailing during the period. Assets and liabilities have been translated at the rates of exchange on the balance sheet date. The resulting translation gain and loss adjustments are recorded directly as a separate component of shareholders’ equity, unless there is a sale or complete liquidation of the underlying foreign investments. The Company translates foreign currencies of its German, Canadian and Mexican subsidiaries. The cumulative translation adjustment, which is recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income, decreased approximately $75,000 for the year ended December 31, 2012 and increased approximately $25,000 for the year ended December 31, 2011.
Comprehensive Income
Comprehensive income consists of net gains and losses affecting shareholders’ deficit that, under generally accepted accounting principles, are excluded from net loss. For the Company, the only items are the cumulative translation adjustment and the additional minimum liability related to the Company’s defined benefit pension plan, recognized pursuant to ASC 715-30, "Compensation - Retirement Benefits - Defined Benefit Plans - Pension".
Advertising Costs
The Company expenses advertising costs as incurred. The Company incurred approximately $12,000 in advertising expenses during the year ended December 31, 2012 and did not incur any advertising expense during the year ended December 31, 2011.
Loss Per Share
Basic loss per common share is calculated by dividing net loss available to common shareholders for the period by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted loss per common share is calculated by dividing net loss available to common shareholders for the period by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding during the period, adjusted to include, if dilutive, potential dilutive shares consisting of convertible preferred stock, convertible notes payable, stock options and warrants, calculated using the treasury stock and if-converted methods. For diluted loss per share calculation purposes, the net loss available to commons shareholders is adjusted to add back any preferred stock dividends and any interest on convertible debt reflected in the consolidated statement of operations for the respective periods.
The Company has excluded the following weighted-average securities from the calculation of diluted loss per share, as their effect would have been antidilutive:
Recently Issued Accounting Standards
From time to time, new accounting pronouncements are issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”), or other standard setting bodies, which are adopted by us as of the specified effective date. Unless otherwise discussed, the Company’s management believes the impact of recently issued standards not yet effective will not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements upon adoption.
FASB ASU No. 2012-02. In July 2012, the FASB issued ASU No. 2012-02, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Testing Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets for Impairment. This new accounting standard allows companies to perform a qualitative assessment to determine whether further impairment testing of indefinite-lived intangible assets is necessary. Under the guidance in ASU 2012-02, an entity has the option to bypass the qualitative assessment for any indefinite-lived intangible asset in any period and proceed directly to performing the quantitative impairment test. An entity will be able to resume performing the qualitative assessment in any subsequent period. ASU 2012-02 is effective for annual and interim impairment tests performed for fiscal years beginning after September 15, 2012. Early adoption is permitted, including for annual and interim impairment tests performed as of a date before July 27, 2012, if a public entity’s financial statements for the most recent annual or interim period have not yet been issued. The Company is currently evaluating the effect of this ASU on its consolidated financial statements.
Reclassifications
Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation. Such reclassifications did not affect the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Results of Operations or Consolidated Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011.
3. FAIR VALUE ACCOUNTING
The Company accounts for fair value measurements in accordance with ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures,” which defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value in generally accepted accounting principles, and expands disclosures about fair value measurements.
ASC 820 establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). The three levels of the fair value hierarchy under ASC 820 are described below:
Level 1
Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities.
Level 2
Applies to assets or liabilities for which there are inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets; quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in markets with insufficient volume or infrequent transactions (less active markets); or model-derived valuations in which significant inputs are observable or can be derived principally from, or corroborated by, observable market data.
Level 3
Prices or valuation techniques that require inputs that are both significant to the fair value measurement and unobservable (supported by little or no market activity).
The following table sets forth the Company’s financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value by level within the fair value hierarchy. As required by ASC 820, assets and liabilities are classified in their entirety based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement.
The Company’s pension assets are classified within Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy because they are valued using market prices. The pension assets are primarily comprised of the cash surrender value of insurance contracts. All plan assets are managed in a policyholder pool in Germany by outside investment managers. The investment objectives for the plan are the preservation of capital, current income and long-term growth of capital.
As of December 31, 2012, the Company had 5,211,229 outstanding warrants to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock that qualified for derivative liability treatment. The recorded fair market value of those warrants at December 31, 2012 was approximately $2,244,000 which is reflected as a non-current liability in the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2012. The fair value of the Company’s derivative liabilities are classified within Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy because they are valued using pricing models that incorporate management assumptions that cannot be corroborated with observable market data. The Company uses Monte-Carlo simulation methodologies and the Black Scholes valuation model in the determination of the fair value of the derivative liabilities.
The Monte-Carlo simulation methodology is affected by the Company’s stock price as well as assumptions regarding the expected stock price volatility over the term of the derivative liabilities in addition to the probability of future financings. The Black Scholes valuation model is affected by the Company’s stock price as well as assumptions regarding the expected stock price volatility over the term of the derivative liabilities in addition to expected dividend yield and risk free interest rates appropriate for the expected term.
The Company monitors the activity within each level and any changes with the underlying valuation techniques or inputs utilized to recognize if any transfers between levels are necessary. That determination is made, in part, by working with outside valuation experts for Level 3 instruments and monitoring market related data and other valuation inputs for Level 1 and Level 2 instruments.
A reconciliation of the Company’s liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3) is as follows:
All unrealized gains or losses resulting from changes in value of any Level 3 instruments are reflected as a separate line in the consolidated statement of operations in arriving at net loss. The Company is not a party to any hedge arrangements, commodity swap agreement or any other derivative financial instruments. See further disclosures regarding the Company’s derivative liabilities in Note 11.
4. INTANGIBLE ASSETS AND GOODWILL
The Company has intangible assets in the form of trademarks, trade names and patents. The carrying amount of the Company’s acquired trademarks and trade names were approximately $47,000 and $63,000 as of December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively which include accumulated amortization of $300,000 and $284,000 as of December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively. Amortization expense related to trademarks and tradenames was $16,000 and $15,000 for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively. All intangible assets are amortized over their estimated useful lives with no estimated residual values. Any costs incurred by the Company to renew or extend the life of intangible assets will be evaluated under ASC No. 350, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other, for proper treatment.
In June 2012, the Company entered into an asset purchase agreement with Vocel, Inc., a Delaware corporation, whereby the Company purchased certain assets, consisting primarily of certain patents and trademarks. The Company evaluated this transaction under ASC No. 805, Business Combinations, and determined that this transaction constituted an asset purchase.
As consideration for this asset purchase:
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The Company issued to Vocel a warrant to purchase 150,000 shares of the Company’s common stock (“Purchaser Warrant”). The Purchaser Warrant is exercisable at $0.88 per share and vests 100% when the Company has derived $500,000 of gross revenue from the sale or license of the purchased intellectual property (“Warrant Vesting Date”). The Purchaser Warrant is exercisable for a period of three years form the Warrant Vesting Date; and
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The Company agreed to pay Vocel a royalty of 7.5% of gross revenue received by the Company from any third party sale or license of the purchased intellectual property.
The Company determined the aggregate fair value of the consideration issued to be approximately $159,000 and allocated this amount to the relative fair value of the assets acquired resulting in $159,000 being allocated to patents. The Company began amortization of the acquired patents in the third quarter of 2012 on a straight-line basis over their weighted-average remaining life of approximately 13.5 years. Amortization expense related to patents was $6,000 and $0 for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively.
The following table presents the changes in the carrying amounts of the Company’s acquired intangible assets for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011. All intangible assets are being amortized over their estimated useful lives with no estimated residual values.
The Company annually, or more frequently if events or circumstances indicate a need, tests the carrying amount of goodwill for impairment. The Company performs its annual impairment test in the fourth quarter of each year. A two-step impairment test is used to first identify potential goodwill impairment and then measure the amount of goodwill impairment loss, if any. The first step was conducted by determining and comparing the fair value, employing the market approach, of the Company’s reporting unit to the carrying value of the reporting unit. The Company continues to have only one reporting unit, Identity Management. Based on the results of this impairment test, the Company determined that its goodwill was not impaired as of December 31, 2012 and 2011.
Amortization expense for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011 was approximately $22,000 and $15,000, respectively.
The estimated acquired intangible amortization expense for the next five fiscal years is as follows:
5. RELATED PARTIES
As more fully described in Note 9, on November 14, 2008 the Company entered into a series of convertible promissory notes (the “Related-Party Convertible Notes”), aggregating $110,000 with certain officers and members of the Company’s Board of Directors. The Related-Party Convertible Notes bear interest at 7.0% per annum and were originally due February 14, 2009.
In conjunction with the original issuance of the Related-Party Convertible Notes in 2008, the Company issued an aggregate of 149,996 warrants to the note holders to purchase shares of common stock of the Company. The warrants have an exercise price $0.50 per share and may be exercised at any time from November 14, 2008 until November 14, 2013. All warrants were outstanding and exercisable as of December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011.
The Company did not repay the Related-Party Convertible Notes on the due date. In August 2009, the Company received from the Related-Party Convertible Note holders a waiver of default and extension to January 31, 2010 of the maturity date of the Related-Party Convertible Notes. As consideration for the waiver and note extension, the company issued to the Related-Party Convertible Note holders an aggregate of 150,000 warrants to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock. The warrants have an exercise price of $0.50 per share and expire on August 25, 2014.
During the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company repaid $45,000 in principal to certain holders of the Related Party Convertible Notes.
On January 21, 2013, the holders of the Related-Party Convertible Notes agreed to extend the due date on their respective convertible notes to be due and payable not later than June 30, 2014, however, the Related-Party Convertible Notes will be callable at any time, at the option of the note holder, prior to June 30, 2014.
During the year ended December 31, 2012 the Company entered into a series of professional service contracts with an entity that a member of the Company’s Board of Directors has an ownership interest in. The aggregate contract value was $370,000 and the Company paid the professional services firm approximately $188,000 during the year ended December 31, 2012.
In March 2013, the Company entered into a new unsecured line of credit agreement with available borrowing of up to $2,500,000. The credit line was extended by an existing shareholder and member of our Board of Directors. Borrowings under the credit facility bear interest of 8% per annum and are due in March 2015. At any time prior to the Maturity Date, the holder shall have the right to convert the outstanding balance owed into shares of the Company’s common stock by dividing the outstanding balance by $0.95.
Advances under the credit facility are made at the Company’s request. The line of credit shall terminate, and no further advances shall be made, upon the earlier of the Maturity Date or such date that the Company consummates a debt and/or equity financing resulting in net proceeds to the Company of at least $2,500,000. In the event of such financing, the outstanding balance under the terms of this note shall be due and payable upon demand.
As additional consideration for the unsecured line of credit agreement, the Company issued to the holder a warrant exercisable for 1,052,632 shares of the Company’s common stock. The warrant has a term of two years from the date of issuance and an exercise price of $0.95 per share.
6. INVENTORY
Inventories of $262,000 as of December 31, 2012 were comprised of work in process of $254,000 representing direct labor costs on in-process projects and finished goods of $8,000 net of reserves for obsolete and slow-moving items of $3,000. Inventories of $45,000 as of December 31, 2011 were comprised of work in process of $29,000 representing direct labor costs on in-process projects and finished goods of $16,000 net of reserves for obsolete and slow-moving items of $3,000. Appropriate consideration is given to obsolescence, excessive levels, deterioration and other factors in evaluating net realizable value and required reserve levels.
7. PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT
Property and equipment at December 31, 2012 and 2011, consists of:
Total depreciation expense for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011 was approximately $47,000 and $13,000, respectively.
8. ACCRUED LIABILITIES
Principal components of accrued liabilities consist of:
9. NOTES PAYABLE
7% Convertible Promissory Notes to Related Parties
On November 14, 2008, the Company entered into a series of convertible promissory notes (the "Related-Party Convertible Notes"), in the principal aggregate amount of $110,000, with certain officers and members of the Company’s Board of Directors. The Related-Party Convertible Notes bear interest at 7.0% per annum and were due February 14, 2009. The principal amount of the Related-Party Convertible Notes plus accrued but unpaid interest is convertible at the option of the holder into common stock of the Company. The number of shares into which the Related-Party Convertible Notes are convertible shall be calculated by dividing the outstanding principal and accrued but unpaid interest by $0.50 (the “Conversion Price”).
In conjunction with the issuance of the Related-Party Convertible Notes, the Company issued an aggregate of 149,996 warrants to the note holders to purchase common stock of the Company. The warrants have an exercise price of $0.50 per share and may be exercised at any time from November 14, 2008 until November 14, 2013.
The Company, in 2008, initially recorded the convertible notes net of a discount equal to the fair value allocated to the warrants of approximately $13,000. The Company estimated the fair value of the warrants using the Black-Scholes option pricing model using the following assumptions: term of 5 years, a risk free interest rate of 2.53%, a dividend yield of 0%, and volatility of 96%. The convertible notes also contained a beneficial conversion feature, resulting in an additional debt discount of $12,000. The beneficial conversion amount was measured using the accounting intrinsic value, i.e. the excess of the aggregate fair value of the common stock into which the debt is convertible over the proceeds allocated to the security. The Company has accreted the beneficial conversion feature over the life of the Related-Party Convertible Notes.
The Company did not repay the Related-Party Convertible Notes on the due date. In August 2009, the Company received from the Related-Party Convertible Note holders a waiver of default and extension of the Maturity Date to to January 31, 2010. As consideration for the waiver and note extension, the Company issued to the Related-Party Convertible Note holders warrants to purchase an aggregate of 150,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. The warrants have an exercise price of $0.50 per share and expire on August 25, 2014.
The Company did not repay the notes on January 31, 2010. During the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company repaid $45,000 in principal to certain holders of the Related-Party Convertible Notes. On January 21, 2013, the holders of the Related-Party Convertible Notes agreed to extend the due date on their respective convertible notes to be due and payable not later than June 30, 2014 however, the Related-Party Convertible Notes will be callable at any time, at the option of the note holder, prior to June 30, 2014.
10. DERIVATIVE LIABILITIES
The Company accounts for its derivative instruments under the provisions of ASC 815, “Derivatives and Hedging-Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity-Scope and Scope Exceptions”. Under the provisions of ASC 815, the anti-dilution and cash settlement provisions in certain warrants (collectively the “Derivative Liabilities”) qualify as derivative instruments.
The Company is required to mark-to-market, at the end of each reporting period, the value of the Derivative Liabilities. The Company revalues these Derivative Liabilities at the end of each reporting period by using available market information and commonly accepted valuation methodologies. The periodic change in value of the Derivative Liabilities is recorded as either non-cash derivative income (if the value of the embedded derivative and warrants decrease) or as non-cash derivative expense (if the value of the embedded derivative and warrants increase). Although the values of the embedded derivative and warrants are affected by interest rates, the remaining contractual conversion period and the Company’s stock volatility, the primary cause of the change in the values of the Derivative Liabilities will be the value of the Company’s common stock. If the stock price goes up, the value of these derivatives will generally increase and if the stock price goes down the value of these derivatives will generally decrease.
The Company uses a Monte-Carlo simulation methodology and the Black Scholes valuation model in the determination of the fair value of the Derivative Liabilities. The Monte-Carlo simulation methodology is affected by the Company’s stock price as well as assumptions regarding the expected stock price volatility over the term of the Derivative Liabilities and assumptions regarding future financings. The Company utilized the services of an independent valuation firm, Vantage Point Advisors, Inc. to perform the Monte Carlo simulations.
The Black-Scholes valuation model is affected by the Company’s stock prices as well as assumptions regarding the expected stock price volatility of the term of the derivative liabilities in addition to interest rates and dividend yields.
As of December 31, 2011, the Company had approximately 18,547,500 outstanding warrants to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock that qualified for derivative liability treatment. The recorded fair market value of those warrants at December 31, 2011 was approximately $11,824,000, which is reflected as a non-current liability in the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2011. On March 21, 2012, the Company amended 12,252,500 warrants such that these warrants no longer qualify as derivative liabilities. The Company determined the change in fair value from the date of previous measurement (December 31, 2011) to the date of amendment (March 21, 2012) for these warrants and recorded approximately $5,110,000 in expense. Such expense is included in Company’s consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2012 under the caption “Change in fair value of derivative liabilities”.
Additionally, as a result of the agreements to amend the warrants and the warrants no longer qualifying for derivative liability treatment, the Company reclassified $13,588,000 of derivative liabilities into a component of additional paid-in capital in the Company's consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2012.
During the year ended December 31, 2012, 1,067,617 warrants qualifying for derivative liability treatment were cashless exercised resulting in the issuance of 636,780 shares of common stock with an aggregate fair value of approximately $708,000. Also, during the year ended December 31, 2012, 3,947 warrants qualifying for derivative liability treatment were exercised for cash proceeds of approximately $2,000 resulting in the issuance of 3,947 shares of common stock.
11. INCOME TAXES
The Company accounts for income taxes in accordance with ASC 740, Accounting for Income Taxes, (ASC 740). Deferred income taxes are recognized for the tax consequences related to temporary differences between the carrying amount of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for tax purposes at each year-end, based on enacted tax laws and statutory tax rates applicable to the periods in which the differences are expected to affect taxable income. A valuation allowance is established when necessary based on the weight of available evidence, if it is considered more likely than not that all or some portion of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. Income tax expense is the sum of current income tax plus the change in deferred tax assets and liabilities. The Company has established a valuation allowance against its deferred tax asset due to the uncertainty surrounding the realization of such asset.
ASC 740-10 requires a company to first determine whether it is more-likely-than-not (defined as a likelihood of more than fifty percent) that a tax position will be sustained based on its technical merits as of the reporting date, assuming that taxing authorities will examine the position and have full knowledge of all relevant information. A tax position that meets this more-likely-than-not threshold is then measured and recognized at the largest amount of benefit that is greater than fifty percent likely to be realized upon effective settlement with a taxing authority.
The Company’s uncertain position relative to unrecognized tax benefits and any potential increase in these liabilities relates primarily to the allocations of revenue and costs among the Company’s global operations and the impact of tax rulings made during the period affecting its tax positions. The Company’s existing tax position could result in liabilities for unrecognized tax benefits. The Company recognizes interest and/or penalties related to uncertain tax positions in income tax expense. The amount of interest and penalties accrued as of December 31, 2012 and 2011 was $4,000 and $49,000, respectively.
Significant judgment is required in evaluating the Company’s uncertain tax positions and determining the Company’s provision for income taxes. No assurance can be given that the final tax outcome of these matters will not be different from that which is reflected in the Company’s historical income tax provisions and accruals. The Company adjusts these items in light of changing facts and circumstances. To the extent that the final tax outcome of these matters is different than the amounts recorded, such differences will impact the provision for income taxes in the period in which such determination is made.
The significant components of the income tax provision (benefit) are as follows:
The principal components of the Company’s deferred tax assets (liabilities) at December 31, 2012 and 2011 are as follows:
A reconciliation of the provision (benefit) for income taxes to the amount computed by applying the statutory income tax rates to loss before income taxes is as follows:
The Company has established a valuation allowance against its deferred tax assets due to the uncertainty surrounding the realization of such assets.
At December 31, 2012 and 2011, the Company had federal and state net operating loss carryforwards, a portion of which may be available to offset future taxable income for tax purposes. The federal net operating loss carryforwards expire at various dates from 2013 through 2032. The state net operating loss carryforwards expire at various dates from 2013 through 2022.
The Internal Revenue Code (“the Code”) limits the availability of certain tax credits and net operating losses that arose prior to certain cumulative changes in a corporation’s ownership resulting in a change of control of the Company. The Company’s use of its net operating loss carryforwards and tax credit carryforwards will be significantly limited because the Company believes it underwent “ownership changes”, as defined under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code, in 1991, 1995, 2000, 2003, 2004 and 2011, though the Company has not performed a study to determine the limitation. The Company has reduced its deferred tax assets to zero relating to its federal and state research credits because of such limitations. The Company continues to disclose the tax effect of the net operating loss carryforwards at their original amount in the table above as the actual limitation has not yet been quantified. The Company has also established a full valuation allowance for substantially all deferred tax assets due to uncertainties surrounding its ability to generate future taxable income to realize these assets. Since substantially all deferred tax assets are fully reserved, future changes in tax benefits will not impact the effective tax rate. Management periodically evaluates the recoverability of the deferred tax assets. If it is determined at some time in the future that it is more likely than not that deferred tax assets will be realized, the valuation allowance would be reduced accordingly at that time.
Tax returns for the years 2008 through 2012 are subject to examination by taxing authorities. The Company is currently undergoing a routine sales and use tax audit for the State of Washington.
12. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Employment Agreements
The Company has employment agreements with its Chief Executive Officer and Senior Vice President of Administration and Chief Financial 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: (i) a lump sum cash payment equal to between six months and twenty-four months of base salary, based upon specific agreements; (ii) continuation of the executive’s fringe benefits and medical insurance for a period of three years; and (iii) immediate vesting of 50% of each executive’s outstanding restricted stock awards and stock options. In the event that the executive’s employment is terminated within the six months prior to or the thirteen months following a change of control (as defined in the employment agreements), the executive is entitled to the severance benefits described above, except that 100% of each executive’s restricted stock awards outstanding and stock options will immediately vest. Each executive’s eligibility to receive any severance payments or other benefits upon his termination is conditioned upon him executing a general release of liability.
The Company also has a Change of Control and Severance Benefits Agreement with its Chief Technical Officer and Vice President of Business Development. 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 his employment without cause prior to the closing of any change of control transaction: (i) a lump sum cash payment equal to six months of base salary; and (ii) continuation of the executive’s health insurance benefits until the earlier of six (6) months following the date of termination, the date on which he is no longer entitled to continuation coverage pursuant to COBRA or the date that he obtains comparable health insurance coverage. In the event that the executive’s employment is terminated within the twelve months following a change of control, he is entitled to the severance benefits described above, plus his stock options will immediately vest and become exercisable. The executive’s eligibility to receive severance payments or other benefits upon his termination is conditioned upon him executing a general release of liability.
Litigation
On September 21, 2012, Blue Spike, LLC, a Texas limited liability company (“Blue Spike”), filed claims against the Company in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, alleging that the Company is impermissibly using Blue Spike’s patented technologies in certain Company products, including its Biometric Engine. To date, Blue Spike has filed similar suits asserting claims of patent infringement against a total of approximately eighty-five companies between August 9, 2012 and February 6, 2013. The Company has filed a motion to dismiss the complaint and a motion to transfer Blue Spike’s case against the Company to San Diego. Neither motion has yet been ruled upon. The defendants span a wide range of industries, from Internet search engines to chip manufacturers, digital rights management, video streaming and digital watermarking. Blue Spike is seeking to recover an unspecified amount of compensatory damages from the Company and an injunction to enjoin the Company from further acts of alleged infringement. The Company believes Blue Spike’s claim to be without merit and intends to vigorously defend itself. The Company is unable to estimate a possible range of loss at this time.
Other than as specifically described above, we are currently not involved in any litigation that we believe could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations. Other than described above, 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
In December 2010, we entered into a new lease agreement and relocated our corporate headquarters to Rancho Bernardo Road in San Diego, California. The lease term commenced in December 2010 and ends on December 31, 2013. In April 2012, we extended the term of this lease to October 31, 2014. We are obligated under the lease to pay base rent and certain operating costs and taxes for the building. Future minimum rent payments will be approximately $114,000 in 2013, and $98,000 in 2014. Our rent was abated at a rate of 50% for the first 12 months of the lease. Under the lease, we were required to provide a security deposit in the amount of approximately $9,500.
In April 2012, we entered into an amendment of our corporate headquarters lease whereby we leased an additional 2,560 square feet of space. The lease term commenced in May 2012 and ends on October 31, 2014. Future minimum rent payments will be approximately $50,000 in 2013 and $43,000 in 2014.
In April 2012, we entered into a lease extension of our Portland, Oregon offices whereby we extended the lease term for a period of 36 months commencing November 1, 2012 until October 31, 2015. Future minimum rent payments will be approximately $141,000 in 2013, $146,000 in 2014 and $124,000 in 2015.
In addition to the corporate headquarters lease in San Diego, California, we also lease space in Ottawa, Province of Ontario, Canada; and Mexico City, Mexico.
At December 31, 2012, future minimum lease payments are as follows:
Rental expense incurred under operating leases for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011 was approximately $521,000 and $476,000, respectively.
13. EQUITY
The Company’s Articles of Incorporation, as amended, authorize the issuance of two classes of stock to be designated “Common Stock” and “Preferred Stock”. The Preferred Stock may be divided into such number of series and with the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions as the Board of Directors may determine.
Series B Convertible Redeemable Preferred Stock
The Company had 239,400 shares of Series B Preferred outstanding as of December 31, 2012 and 2011. At December 31, 2012 and 2011, the Company had cumulative undeclared dividends of approximately $8,000 ($0.03 per share) and $187,000 ($0.78 per share), respectively. There were no conversions of Series B Preferred into common stock during the year ended December 31, 2012 or 2011.
Common Stock
The following table summarizes outstanding common stock activity for the following periods:
During the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company issued 24,924 shares of common stock pursuant to the exercise of 24,924 options for cash proceeds of approximately $7,000. During the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company issued 7,052,647 shares of common stock pursuant to the exercise of 7,052,647 warrants for cash proceeds of approximately $3,527,000. During the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company issued 1,573,362 shares of common stock pursuant to the cashless exercise of 2,905,628 warrants.
Warrants
As of December 31, 2012, warrants to purchase 18,788,485 shares of common stock at prices ranging from $0.50 to $1.67 were outstanding. All warrants are exercisable as of December 31, 2012 and expire at various dates through December 2016, with the exception of an aggregate of 250,000 warrants, which become exercisable only upon the attainment of specified events.
The following table summarizes warrant activity for the following periods:
During the year ended December 31, 2012, there were 2,905,628 warrants exercised pursuant to cashless transactions and 12,000 warrants expired. During the year ended December 31, 2012, there were 7,052,647 warrants exercised for cash resulting in cash proceeds to the Company of approximately $3,526,000. The Company issued 1,573,362 shares of its common stock pursuant to cashless warrant exercises and 7,052,647 shares of its common stock pursuant to warrants exercised for cash.
During the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company issued to Vocel a warrant to purchase 150,000 shares of the Company’s common stock (“Purchaser Warrant”). The Purchaser Warrant is exercisable at $0.88 per share and vests 100% at such time as the Company has derived $500,000 of gross revenue from the sale or license of the purchased intellectual property (“Warrant Vesting Date”). The Purchaser Warrant is exercisable for a period of three years from the Warrant Vesting Date. The Purchaser Warrant did not vest during the year ended December 31, 2012 as the $500,000 gross revenue threshold was not met.
During the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company issued to certain consultants warrants to purchase 50,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. Such warrants were issued upon the attainment of certain performance conditions, are exercisable at $1.10 per share and have a three year term. The Company determined the grant date fair value of these warrants using the Black-Scholes valuation model to be approximately $25,000. Such expense is recorded in the Company’s Consolidated Statement of Operations for the year ended December 31, 2012 as a component of general and administrative expense.
During the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company issued to certain consultants warrants to purchase 100,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. Such warrants are exercisable at $0.98 per share and have a two year term from the date of issuance. The warrants will vest 100% at such time as the Company has derived $1.5 million of gross revenue from the consultant’s efforts. These warrants did not vest during the year ended December 31, 2012 as the $1.5 million gross revenue threshold was not met.
During the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company issued to certain consultants warrants to purchase 5,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. Such warrants are exercisable at $1.25 per share and have a two year term from the date of issuance. The Company determined the grant date fair value of these warrants using the Black-Scholes valuation model to be approximately $2,000. Such expense is recorded in the Company’s Consolidated Statement of Operations for the year ended December 31, 2012 as a component of sales and marketing expense.
The following table summarizes information regarding the warrants outstanding as of December 31, 2012:
14. STOCK BASED COMPENSATION
Stock Options
As of December 31, 2012, the Company had two active stock-based compensation plans; the 1999 Stock Option Plan (the “1999 Plan”) and the 2001 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2001 Plan”).
1999 Plan
The 1999 Plan was adopted by the Company’s Board of Directors on December 17, 1999. Under the terms of the 1999 Plan, the Company could, originally, issue up to 350,000 non-qualified or incentive stock options to purchase common stock of the Company. The Company subsequently amended and restated the 1999 Plan whereby it increased the share reserve for issuance by approximately 4.0 million shares of the Company’s common stock. The 1999 Plan prohibits the grant of stock option or stock appreciation right awards with an exercise price less than fair market value of common stock on the date of grant. The 1999 Plan also generally prohibits the “re-pricing” of stock options or stock appreciation rights, although awards may be bought-out for a payment in cash or the Company’s stock. The 1999 Plan permits the grant of stock based awards other than stock options, including the grant of “full value” awards such as restricted stock, stock units and performance shares. The 1999 Plan permits the qualification of awards under the plan (payable in either stock or cash) as “performance-based compensation” within the meaning of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code. The number of options issued and outstanding and the number of options remaining available for future issuance are shown in the table below.
On July 22, 2011, the Company’s Board of Directors approved an amendment to the 1999 Plan, subject to shareholder approval, pursuant to which an additional 2,159,442 shares would be reserved for issuance under the plan. In October 2011, the Company’s shareholders approved this amendment resulting in 2,159,442 shares being added to the 1999 Plan.
2001 Plan
The 2001 Plan was adopted by the Company’s Board of Directors on September 12, 2001. Under the terms of the 2001 Plan, the Company could issue stock awards to employees, directors and consultants of the Company, and such stock awards could be given for non-statutory stock options (options not intended to qualify as an “incentive stock option” within the meaning of Section 422 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended), stock bonuses, and rights to acquire restricted stock. The 2001 Plan is administered by the Board of Directors or a Committee of the Board. The Company originally reserved 1,000,000 shares of its common stock for issuance under the 2001 Plan. Options granted under the 2001 Plan shall not be less than 85% of the market value of the Company’s common stock on the date of the grant, and, in some cases, may not be less than 110% of such fair market value. The term of options granted under the 2001 Plan as well as their vesting are determined by the Board and to date, options have been granted with a ten year term and vesting over a three year period. While the Board may suspend or terminate the 2001 Plan at any time, if not terminated earlier, it will terminate on the day before its tenth anniversary of the date of adoption. As of December 31, 2011, the Company does not anticipate issuing any additional stock awards under this plan. Any shares not issued in connection with the awards outstanding under the 2001 Plan will become available for issuance under the 1999 Plan. The number of options issued and outstanding and the number of options remaining available for future issuance are shown in the table below.
A summary of the activity under the Company’s stock option plans is as follows:
At December 31, 2012, a total of 3,031,221 options were outstanding of which 1,412,803 were exercisable at a weighted average price of $0.72 per share with a remaining weighted average contractual term of approximately 6.5 years. The Company expects that, in addition to the 1,412,803 options that were exercisable as of December 31, 2012, another 1,618,418 will ultimately vest resulting in a combined total of 3,031,221. Those 3,031,221 shares have a weighted average exercise price of $0.82, an aggregate intrinsic value of approximately $423,000 and a weighted average remaining contractual life of 7.9 years as of December 31, 2012.
During the year ended December 31, 2012, there were 24,924 options exercised which resulting in proceeds of approximately $7,000 to the Company. During the year ended December 31, 2011, there were 14,587 options exercised which resulting in proceeds of approximately $4,000 to the Company.
The intrinsic value of options exercised during the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011 was approximately $14,000 and $0, respectively. The intrinsic value of options exercisable at December 31, 2012 and 2011 was approximately $389,000 and $333,000, respectively. The aggregate intrinsic value for all options outstanding as of December 31, 2012 and 2011 was approximately $423,000 and $364,000, respectively.
The following table summarizes information about employee stock options outstanding and exercisable at December 31, 2012:
At December 31, 2011, the total remaining unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested stock options amounted to approximately $381,000, which will be amortized over the weighted-average remaining requisite service period of 1.8 years.
At December 31, 2011, there were 644,435 shares outstanding and un-exercisable as they had not yet met the vesting criteria. Those options had a weighted-average grant-date fair value of approximately $0.85. During the year ended December 31, 2012, 440,566 shares vested with a weighted-average grant-date fair value of approximately $0.81 and approximately 89,068 shares forfeited or expired, of which 45,070 were vested and exercisable, with a weighted-average grant-date fair value of $0.69 resulting in 1,412,803 shares exercisable, with a weighted-average grant-date fair value of approximately $0.61 as of December 31, 2012.
The weighted-average grant-date fair value per share of options granted to employees during the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011 was $0.71 and $1.00, respectively. At December 31, 2012, the total remaining unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested stock options amounted to approximately $803,000, which will be amortized over the weighted-average remaining requisite service period of 1.9 years.
Restricted Stock Awards
In January of 2010, the Company issued 847,258 shares of restricted stock to members of management and the Board. These shares vest quarterly over a three-year period. The restricted shares were issued as compensation for the cancellation of 1,412,096 options held by members of management and the Board. The Company evaluated the exchange in accordance with ASC 718 and determined there was no incremental cost to be recorded in conjunction with the exchange as the fair value of the options surrendered at the modification date exceeded the fair value of the restricted shares issued at the modification date. Stock-based compensation expense related to these restricted stock grants was approximately $37,000 and $39,000 for the year ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively.
Stock Appreciation Rights
During March 2011, the Company granted 880,000 performance units to certain key employees that grant the holder the right to receive compensation based on the appreciation in the Company’s common stock in the event of transfer of control of the Company ("Performance Units"). As the vesting of the Performance Units is contingent upon the sale of the Company, the expense associated with the granting of the Performance Units was not material. The Performance Units issued to such key employees were terminated, and exchanged for options to purchase a total of 435,000 shares of common stock on January 30, 2012.
Common Stock Reserved for Future Issuance
The following table summarizes the common stock reserved for future issuance as of December 31, 2012:
15. EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLAN
During 1995, the Company adopted a defined contribution 401(k) retirement plan (the “Plan”). All U.S. based employees aged 21 years and older are eligible to become participants after the completion of 60 days employment. The Plan provides for annual contributions by the Company of 50% of employee contributions not to exceed 8% of employee compensation. Effective April 1, 2009, the Plan was amended to provide for Company contributions on a discretionary basis. Participants may contribute up to 100% of the annual contribution limitations determined by the Internal Revenue Service.
Employees are fully vested in their share of the Company’s contributions after the completion of five years of service. In 2012, the Company authorized a discretionary contribution of approximately $87,000 for the 2012 plan year. Such contribution was paid in January, 2013. In 2011, the Company made contributions of approximately $88,000 for the 2011 plan year.
16. PENSION PLAN
One of the Company’s foreign subsidiaries maintains a defined benefit pension plan that provides benefits based on length of service and final average earnings. The following table sets forth the benefit obligation, fair value of plan assets, and the funded status of the Company’s plan; amounts recognized in the Company’s consolidated financial statements; and the assumptions used in determining the actuarial present value of the benefit obligations as of December 31:
As of December 31, 2012, the following benefit payments are expected to be paid as follows:
The Company made contributions to the plan of approximately $42,000 and $45,000 during years 2012 and 2011, respectively.
The investment objectives for the plan are the preservation of capital, current income and long-term growth of capital. The Company’s pension assets are classified within Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy, as defined under ASC 820, because they are valued using market prices. The pension assets are primarily comprised of the cash surrender value of insurance contracts. All plan assets are managed in a policyholder pool in Germany by outside investment managers. The measurement date used to determine the benefit information of the plan was January 1, 2013.
17. ACCUMULATED OTHER COMPREHENSIVE LOSS
Accumulated other comprehensive income is the combination of the additional minimum liability related to the Company’s defined benefit pension plan, recognized pursuant to ASC 715-30, “Compensation - Retirement Benefits - Defined Benefit Plans - Pension” and the accumulated gains or losses from foreign currency translation adjustments. The Company translates foreign currencies of its German, Canadian and Mexican subsidiaries into U.S. dollars using the period end exchange rate. Revenue and expenses were translated using the weighted average exchange rates for the reporting period. All items are shown net of tax.
As of December 31, 2012 and 2011, the components of accumulated other comprehensive loss were as follows:
($ in thousands)
18. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
On January 21, 2013, the holders of the Related-Party Convertible Notes agreed to extend the due date on their respective convertible notes to be due and payable not later than June 30, 2014, however, the Related-Party Convertible Notes will be callable at any time, at the option of the note holder, prior to June 30, 2014.
During January 2013, holders of 31,539 warrants exercised such warrants for cash resulting in the issuance of 31,539 shares of common stock and cash proceeds to the Company of approximately $16,000.
During January 2013, holders of 10,000 options exercised such options for cash resulting in the issuance of 10,000 shares of common stock and cash proceeds to the Company of approximately $2,000.
During February and March 2013, holders of 1,867,253 warrants cashless exercised their warrants resulting in the issuance of 959,358 shares of common stock.
In March 2013, the Company issued 410,000 options under existing stock-based compensation plans to certain members of senior management, certain members of the Board of Directors and certain employees. Such options have an exercise price of $0.93 per share.
During the three months ended March 31, 2013, the Company issued to certain consultants warrants to purchase an aggregate of 85,000 common shares of the Company’s common stock. Such warrants have exercise prices ranging from $1.08 to $1.15 per share and have terms ranging from one to two years from the date of issuance.
In March 2013, the Company entered into a new unsecured line of credit agreement with available borrowing of up to $2,500,000. The credit line was extended by an existing shareholder and member of our Board of Directors. Borrowings under the credit facility bear interest of 8% per annum and are due in March 2015. At any time prior to the Maturity Date, the holder shall have the right to convert the outstanding balance owed into shares of the Company’s common stock by dividing the outstanding balance by $0.95.
Advances under the credit facility are made at the Company’s request. The line of credit shall terminate, and no further advances shall be made, upon the earlier of the Maturity Date or such date that the Company consummates a debt and/or equity financing resulting in net proceeds to the Company of at least $2,500,000. In the event of such financing, the outstanding balance due under the terms of the credit facility shall be due and payable upon demand.
As additional consideration for the unsecured line of credit agreement, the Company issued to the holder a warrant exercisable for 1,052,632 shares of the Company’s common stock. The warrant has a term of two years from the date of issuance and an exercise price of $0.95 per share.