Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)

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SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies Policies  
Use of Estimates and Assumptions

The preparation of the consolidated financial statements in conformity with 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 financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. The significant estimates and assumptions made in the preparation of the Company's consolidated financial statements include the valuation of warrants and stock-based payments, deferred income taxes, valuation of other investments, valuation of patents, accrued expenses and valuation of marketable securities.  Actual results could be materially different from those estimates, upon which the carrying values were based.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company places cash investments in high quality financial institutions insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC").  At December 31, 2015, the Company maintained cash balance of $19,956,000 in excess of FDIC limits.

 

The Company considers all highly liquid short-term investments purchased with an original maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents.

 

Cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 are composed of: 

 

    December 31,
2015
    December 31,
2014
 
             
Cash   $ 6,283,000     $ 2,984,000  
Money market fund     14,325,000       14,678,000  
Total   $ 20,608,000     $ 17,662,000  
Marketable Securities

Marketable securities are classified as available-for-sale and are recorded at fair market value. Unrealized gain and losses are reported as other comprehensive income or loss.  Realized gains and losses are reclassified from other comprehensive income or loss to net income or loss in the period they are realized.  At December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, the Company's marketable securities consist of two corporate bonds (face value $1,000,000) with a 3.9% and 4.5% coupon and term of greater than three months when purchased.  The Company's marketable securities mature in 2021 and it is not the intention of the Company to hold such securities until maturity.

Patents

The Company owns patents that relate to various technologies. The Company capitalizes the costs associated with acquisition, registration and maintenance of its acquired patents and amortizes these assets over their remaining useful lives on a straight-line basis. Any further payments made to maintain or develop the patents would be capitalized and amortized over the balance of the useful life for the patents.

Impairment of long-lived assets

Intangible assets with finite lives are tested for impairment whenever events or circumstances indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable. Accordingly, the Company records impairment losses on long-lived assets used in operations or expected to be disposed of when indicators of impairment exist and the undiscounted cash flows expected to be derived from those assets are less than carrying amounts of these assets.  At December 31, 2015 and December 31 2014, there was no impairment to the Company's patents.  At December 31, 2015, the Company wrote-off in full its investment of $576,000 in Lifestreams Technologies Corporation (see Note D hereof).

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

The Company uses estimates to determine the amount of the allowance for doubtful accounts necessary to reduce accounts receivable to their expected net realizable value. There was no allowance for doubtful accounts at December 31, 2015 and 2014.

Revenue Recognition

The Company recognizes revenue received from the licensing of its intellectual property in accordance with Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 104, "Revenue Recognition" ("SAB No. 104") and related authoritative pronouncements. Revenue is recognized when (i) persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, (ii) all obligations have been performed pursuant to the terms of the applicable license agreement, (iii) amounts are fixed or determinable, and (iv) collectability of amounts is reasonably assured.  The Company relies on royalty reports received from third party licensees to record its revenue.  From time to time the Company may audit royalties reported from licensees as the Company did with respect to Cisco Systems, Inc. (see Note L). Any adjusted royalty revenue as a result of such audits is recorded by the Company in the period in which such adjustment is agreed to by the Company and the licensee or otherwise determined.

Income Taxes

The Company accounts for income taxes in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 740, "Income Taxes" (ASC 740), which requires the Company to use the assets and liability method of accounting for income taxes. Under the assets and liability method, deferred income taxes are recognized for the tax consequences of temporary differences by applying enacted statutory tax rates applicable to future years to differences between financial statement carrying amounts and the tax bases of existing assets and liabilities and operating loss and tax credit carry forward. Under this accounting standard, the effect on deferred income taxes of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date. A valuation allowance is recognized if it is more likely than not that some portion, or all of, a deferred tax asset will not be realized.

 

ASC 740-10, "Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes," defines uncertainty in income taxes and the evaluation of a tax position as a two-step process. The first step is to determine whether it is more likely than not that a tax position will be sustained upon examination, including the resolution of any related appeals or litigation based on the technical merits of that position. The second step is to measure a tax position that meets the more-likely-than-not threshold to determine the amount of benefit to be recognized in the financial statements. A tax position is measured at the largest amount of benefit that is greater than 50 percent likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement. Tax positions that previously failed to meet the more-likely-than-not recognition threshold should be recognized in the first subsequent period in which the threshold is met. Previously recognized tax positions that no longer meet the more-likely-than-not criteria should be de-recognized in the first subsequent financial reporting period in which the threshold is no longer met.

 

United States federal, state and local income tax returns prior to 2012 are not subject to examination by any applicable tax authorities.

Stock-based compensation

The Company accounts for its stock-based compensation at fair value estimated on the grant date using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. See Note G[1] for further discussion of the Company's stock-based compensation.

Earnings/Loss per Share

The Company reports earnings (loss) per share in accordance with U.S. GAAP, which requires presentation of basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share in conjunction with the disclosure of the methodology used in computing such earnings per share. Basic earnings (loss) per share excludes dilution and is computed by dividing income (loss) available to common shareholders by the weighted average common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted earnings per share takes into account the potential dilution that could occur if securities or other contracts, such as warrants and options to purchase common stock were exercised. Common stock equivalents having an anti-dilutive effect on earnings per share are excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per share.

Financial Instruments

U.S. GAAP regarding fair value of financial instruments and related fair value measurements define fair value, establish a three-level valuation hierarchy that requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value.

 

The three levels of inputs are defined as follows:

 

Level 1 inputs to the valuation methodology are quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical assets or liabilities in active markets.

 

Level 2 inputs to the valuation methodology include quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets, and inputs that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly, for substantially the full term of the financial instrument.

 

Level 3 inputs to the valuation methodology are unobservable.

 

The Company's financial assets subject to fair value measurements and the necessary disclosures are as follows:

 

          Fair Value Measurements at December 31, 2015 Using Fair Value Hierarchy  
    Fair Value as of December 31, 2015     Level 1     Level 2     Level 3  
Cash and cash equivalents   $ 20,608,000     $ 20,608,000     $     $  
Corporate bonds     1,061,000       1,061,000              
Total   $ 21,669,000     $ 21,669,000     $     $  

 

          Fair Value Measurements at December 31, 2014 Using Fair Value Hierarchy  
    Fair Value as of December 31, 2014     Level 1     Level 2     Level 3  
Cash and cash equivalents   $ 17,662,000     $ 17,662,000     $     $  
Corporate bonds     1,079,000       1,079,000              
Total   $ 18,741,000     $ 18,741,000     $     $  

 

The carrying value of cash, marketable securities, royalty receivable, other assets, accounts payable, and accrued expenses approximates fair value because of the short period of time between the origination of such instruments and their expected realization and their current market rates of interest.  Marketable securities available for sale are measured at fair value on recurring basis based on Level 1 inputs (see Note B[3]).

 

The Company also measures the fair value of certain assets on a non-recurring basis, when events or circumstances indicate the carrying amount of the assets may be impaired.  These assets consist of the Company's investments in Lifestreams Technologies Corporation ("Lifestreams") and are reflected as "Other Investments" in the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheets (see Note D).  These assets have been written-off in full as of December 31, 2015.

 

The Company has no significant influence or control over Lifestreams and holds less than 20% ownership of Lifestreams.  These investments were reviewed on a periodic basis for impairment.  The Company reviewed several factors to make its determination to write-off the entire investment at December 31, 2015.  These factors included but were not limited to: (i) the financial condition and prospects of the issuer; (ii) the failure of the issuer to make required principal and interest payments; (iii) the issuer's difficulty in raising sufficient financing to effectuate its business plan; (iv) the extent to which fair value is less than cost; and (v) the length of time the investment is in an unrealized loss position.

Reclassification

The Company has reclassified certain amounts in prior period consolidated financial statements to conform to the current period's presentation.

Recently issued accounting standards

In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842).  ASU No. 2016-02 is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018, and requires a lessee to recognize assets and liabilities for leases with a maximum possible term of more than 12 months.  A lessee would recognize a liability to make lease payments (the lease liability) and a right-of-use asset representing its right to use the leased asset (the underlying asset) for the lease term.  Early application is permitted.  The Company is currently evaluating the impact the adoption of the accounting standard will have on its consolidated financial statements.

 

In November 2015, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2015-17, Income Taxes (Topic 740); Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes (ASU 2015-17), which simplifies the presentation of deferred income taxes by requiring deferred tax assets and liabilities be classified as noncurrent on the balance sheet.   The updated standard is effective for the Company beginning on January 1, 2017 with early application permitted as of the beginning of any interim or annual reporting period.  Management is evaluating the impact, if any, the adoption of the standard will have on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

 

In February 2015, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2015-02, Consolidation (Topic 810):  Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis, which is intended to improve targeted areas of consolidation guidance for legal entities such as limited partnerships, limited liability corporations, and securitization structures.  This ASU will be effective for periods beginning after December 15, 2015 for public companies.  Management is evaluating the potential impact, if any, on the Company's financial position and results of operations.

 

In May 2014, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606).  ASU No. 2014-09 provides for a single comprehensive model for use in accounting for revenue arising from contracts with customers and supersedes most current revenue recognition guidance.  The accounting standard is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016 with no early adoption permitted.  In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-14, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606); Deferral of the Effective Date, which deferred the effective date of ASU No. 2014-09 to annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, along with an option to permit early adoption as of the original effective date.  The Company is required to adopt the amendments in ASU No. 2014-09 using one of two acceptable methods.  The Company's management is currently in the process of determining which adoption method will apply and evaluating the impact of the guidance on the Company's consolidated financial statements.