Under ASC 606, revenue is recognized when the Company completes the licensing of its intellectual property to its licensees, in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company expects to be entitled to in exchange for licensing its intellectual property.

The Company determines revenue recognition through the following steps:

Revenue disaggregated by source is as follows:

During the three months ended September 30, 2023, the Company had no revenue. During the nine months ended September 30, 2023, the Company entered into settlement agreements with five defendants with respect to patent infringement litigation involving its Remote Power Patent, resulting in aggregate settlements paid of $820,000 which are recognized as revenue and a conditional payment of $150,000 which has not been recognized as revenue as of September 30, 2023 because the terms of the conditional payment have not yet been satisfied.

Revenue from the Company’s patent licensing business is generated from negotiated license agreements. The timing and amount of revenue recognized from each licensee depends upon a variety of factors, including the terms of each agreement and the nature of the obligations of the parties. These license agreements may include, but not be limited to, elements related to past infringement liabilities, non-refundable upfront license fees, and ongoing royalties on licensed products sold by the licensee. Generally, in the event of a litigation settlement related to the Company’s assertion of patent infringement involving its intellectual property, defendants may either pay (i) a non- refundable lump sum payment( if the applicable patent(s) have expired), (ii) a non-refundable lump sum payment for a non-exclusive fully-paid license, or (iii) a non-refundable lump sum payment (license initiation fee) together with an ongoing obligation to pay quarterly or monthly royalties to the Company for the life of the licensed patent.  

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 (timing) 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 forwards. 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. As of September 30, 2023, the Company had total deferred tax assets generated from its activities totaling $1,397,000. The Company’s deferred tax assets were offset by a valuation allowance of $1,397,000 as it was determined that it is more likely than not that certain deferred tax assets will not be realized. As of September 30, 2023, the Company also had a deferred tax liability of $883,000.

The personal holding company (“PHC”) rules under the Internal Revenue Code impose a 20% tax on a PHC’s undistributed personal holding company income (“UPHCI”), which means, in general, taxable income subject to certain adjustments and reduced by certain distributions to shareholders. For a corporation to be classified as a PHC, it must satisfy two tests: (i) that more than 50% in value of its outstanding shares must be owned directly or indirectly by five or fewer individuals at any time during the second half of the year (after applying constructive ownership rules to attribute stock owned by entities to their beneficial owners and among certain family members and other related parties) (the “Ownership Test”) and (ii) at least 60% of its adjusted ordinary gross income for a taxable year consists of dividends, interest, royalties, annuities and rents (the “Income Test”). At September 30, 2023, based on available information concerning the Company’s shareholder ownership, the Company did not satisfy the Ownership Test. However, the Company may subsequently be determined to be a PHC in 2023 or in future years if it satisfies both the Ownership Test and Income Test. If the Company were to become a PHC in 2023 or any future year, it would be subject to the 20% tax on its UPHCI. In such event, the Company may issue a special cash dividend to its shareholders in an amount equal to the UPHCI rather than incur the 20% tax.

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. The Company had no uncertain tax positions as of September 30, 2023.

The Company recognizes interest and penalties related to income tax in the income tax provision in the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss.

U.S. federal, state and local income tax returns prior to 2020 are not subject to examination by any applicable tax authorities, except that tax authorities could challenge returns (only under certain circumstances) for earlier years to the extent they generated loss carry-forwards that are available for those future years.