RESEARCH FRONTIERS INC - Quarter Report: 2020 March (Form 10-Q)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 or 15(d) of

THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

RESEARCH FRONTIERS INCORPORATED

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code (516) 364-1902

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes [  ] No [X]

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes [  ] No [X]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes [X] No [  ]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes [X] No [  ]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. [  ]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes [  ] No [X]

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date: As of May 6, 2020, there were outstanding 31,411,107 shares of Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share.

RESEARCH FRONTIERS INCORPORATED

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

RESEARCH FRONTIERS INCORPORATED

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

(Unaudited)

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

RESEARCH FRONTIERS INCORPORATED

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Shareholders’ Equity

(Unaudited)

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

RESEARCH FRONTIERS INCORPORATED

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(Unaudited)

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

RESEARCH FRONTIERS INCORPORATED

Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

March 31, 2020

(Unaudited)

Note 1. Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions to Rule 8-03 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. All such adjustments are of a normal recurring nature. Operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2020 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2020. The condensed consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2019 are derived from audited financial statements. For further information, refer to the consolidated financial statements and footnotes thereto included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K relating to Research Frontiers Incorporated for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019.

Note 2. Business

Research Frontiers Incorporated (“Research Frontiers” or the “Company”) operates in a single business segment which is engaged in the development and marketing of technology and devices to control the flow of light. Such devices, often referred to as “light valves” or suspended particle devices (SPDs), use colloidal particles that are either incorporated within a liquid suspension or a film, which is usually enclosed between two sheets of glass or plastic having transparent, electrically conductive coatings on the facing surfaces thereof. At least one of the two sheets is transparent. SPD technology, made possible by a flexible light-control film invented by Research Frontiers, allows the user to instantly and precisely control the shading of glass/plastic manually or automatically. SPD technology has numerous product applications, including SPD-Smart™ windows, sunshades, skylights and interior partitions for homes and buildings; automotive windows, sunroofs, sun-visors, sunshades, rear-view mirrors, instrument panels and navigation systems; aircraft windows; museum display panels, eyewear products; and flat panel displays for electronic products. SPD-Smart light control film is now being developed for, or used in, architectural, automotive, marine, aerospace and appliance applications.

The Company has primarily utilized its cash, cash equivalents, and investments generated from sales of our common stock, proceeds from the exercise of options and warrants, and royalty fees collected to fund its research and development of SPD light valves, for marketing initiatives, and for other working capital purposes. The Company’s working capital and capital requirements depend upon numerous factors, including the results of research and development activities, competitive and technological developments, the timing and cost of patent filings, and the development of new licensees and changes in the Company’s relationships with its existing licensees. The degree of dependence of the Company’s working capital requirements on each of the foregoing factors cannot be quantified; increased research and development activities and related costs would increase such requirements; the addition of new licensees may provide additional working capital or working capital requirements, and changes in relationships with existing licensees would have a favorable or negative impact depending upon the nature of such changes. We have incurred recurring losses since inception and expect to continue to incur losses as a result of costs and expenses related to our research and continued development of our SPD technology and our corporate general and administrative expenses. Our limited capital resources and operations to date have been substantially funded through sales of our common stock, exercise of options and warrants and royalty fees collected. As of March 31, 2020, we had working capital of approximately $6.3 million, cash of approximately $5.8 million, shareholders’ equity of approximately $6.4 million and an accumulated deficit of approximately $116.1 million. Our projected cash flow shortfall based on our current operations adjusted for any non-recurring cash expenses for the next 12 months, is approximately $450,000-500,000 per quarter. Based on our current expectations of our cash flow shortfall for the next 12 months, our working capital would support our activities for the next 34 months.

In the event that we are unable to generate sufficient cash from our operating activities or raise additional funds, we may be required to delay, reduce or severely curtail our operations or otherwise impede our on-going business efforts, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, financial condition and long-term prospects. The Company may seek to obtain additional funding through future equity issuances. There can be no assurance as to the availability or terms upon which such financing and capital might be available. Eventual success of the Company and generation of positive cash flow will be dependent upon the commercialization of products using the Company’s technology by the Company’s licensees and payments of continuing royalties on account thereof. To date, the Company has not generated sufficient revenue from its licensees to fund its operations.

Recent Global Events:

On March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization declared the novel strain of coronavirus (COVID-19) a global pandemic and recommended containment and mitigation measures worldwide. As a result, the Company expects operations at its facility to be affected in some capacity, as the COVID-19 virus continues to proliferate and the federal, state and local governments under which we operate continue to adopt new rules. The Company has put in place enhanced procedures, such as restricting international and domestic travel, adopting a variety of steps designed to ensure social distancing in our facilities, including working remotely where available, and increasing our cleaning and sanitizing procedures in our facilities, in an effort to protect its employees and communities.

The Company currently does not have the ability to assess whether the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have a material impact on our near-term financial results. Most of the products using our technology are manufactured by licensees overseas in Europe and Asia who have been similarly affected by the pandemic. The disruption caused by public health crises, such as COVID-19, could result in lower levels of sale activity for products using our technology resulting in lower level of royalties owed to us from the sale of these products. The duration of the potential business disruptions and related financial impact cannot be reasonably estimated at this time, but could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

Note 3. Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncement

Effective January 1, 2019, the Company adopted the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Standard, Leases (Topic 842), as amended. The standard requires all leases to be recorded on the balance sheet as a right of use asset and a lease liability. The standard provides practical expedients in order to simplify adoption, including the following:

The Company used the above practical expedients as the transition method in the application of the new lease standard at January 1, 2019. The Company applied a policy election to exclude short-term leases from balance sheet recognition and elected certain practical expedients at adoption. As permitted, the Company did not reassess whether existing contracts are or contain leases, the lease classification for any existing leases or the initial direct costs for any existing leases which were not previously accounted for as leases, are or contain a lease. At adoption on January 1, 2019, an operating lease liability of $1,134,000 and an operating lease right of use asset of $941,000 were recorded. The operating lease liability was $193,000 more than the operating lease right of use asset due to unamortized lease incentive from periods prior to the adoption of the new lease standard. There was no cumulative earnings effect adjustment.

Note 4. Patent Costs

The Company expenses costs relating to the development, acquisition or enforcement of patents due to the uncertainty of the recoverability of these items.

Note 5. Revenue Recognition

Company recognizes revenue in accordance with ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606). The standard provides a single comprehensive revenue recognition model for all contracts with customers and supersedes existing revenue recognition guidance. The revenue standard contains principles that an entity will apply to determine the measurement of revenue and timing of when it is recognized. The underlying principle is that an entity will recognize revenue to depict the transfer of goods or services to customers at an amount that the entity expects to be entitled to in exchange for those goods or services.

ASC 606 follows a five-step approach to determining revenue recognition including: 1) Identification of the contract; 2) Identification of the performance obligations; 3) Determination of the transaction price; 4) Allocation of the transaction price and 5) Recognition of revenue.

The Company determined that its license agreements provide for three performance obligations which include: (i) the Grant of Use to its Patent Portfolio (“Grant of Use”), (ii) Stand-Ready Technical Support (“Technical Support”) including the transfer of trade secrets and other know-how, production of materials, scale-up support, analytical testing, etc., and (iii) access to new Intellectual Property (“IP”) that may be developed sometime during the course of the contract period (“New Improvements”). Given the nature of IP development, such New Improvements are on an unspecified basis and can occur and be made available to licensees at any time during the contract period.

When a contract includes more than one performance obligation, the Company needs to allocate the total consideration to each performance obligation based on its relative standalone selling price or estimate the standalone selling price if it is not observable. A standalone selling price is not available for our performance obligations since we do not sell any of the services separately and there is no competitor pricing that is available. As a consequence, the best method for determining standalone selling price of our Grant of Use performance obligation is through a comparison of the average royalty rate for comparable license agreements as compared to our license agreements. Comparable license agreements must consider several factors including: (i) the materials that are being licensed, (ii) the market application for the licensed materials, and (iii) the financial terms in the license agreements that can increase or decrease the risk/reward nature of the agreement.

Based on the royalty rate comparison referred to above, any pricing above and beyond the average royalty rate would relate to the Technical Support and New Improvements performance obligations. The Company focuses a significant portion of its time and resources to provide the Technical Support and New Improvements services to its licensees which further supports the conclusions reached using the royalty rate analysis.

The Technical Support and New Improvements performance obligations are co-terminus over the term of the license agreement. For purposes of determining the transaction price, and recognizing revenue, the Company combined the Technical Support and New Improvements performance obligations because they have the same pattern of transfer and the same term. We maintain a staff of scientists and other professionals whose primary job responsibilities throughout the year are: (i) being available to respond to Technical Support needs of our licensees, and (ii) developing improvements to our technology which are offered to our licensees as New Improvements. Since the costs incurred to satisfy the Technical Support and New Improvements performance obligations are incurred evenly throughout the year, the value of the Technical Support and New Improvements services are recognized throughout the initial contract period as these performance obligations are satisfied. If the agreement is not terminated at the end of the initial contract period, it will renew on the same terms as the initial contract for a one-year period. Consequently, any fees or minimum annual royalty obligations relating to this renewal contract will be allocated similarly to the initial contract over the additional one-year period.

We recognize revenue when or as the performance obligations in the contract are satisfied. For performance obligations that are fulfilled at a point in time, revenue is recognized at the fulfillment of the performance obligation. Since the IP is determined to be a functional license, the value of the Grant of Use is recognized in the first period of the contract term in which the license agreement is in force. The value of the Technical Support and New Improvements obligations is allocated throughout the contract period based on the satisfaction of its performance obligations. If the agreement is not terminated at the end of the contract period, it will renew on the same terms as the original agreement for a one-year period. Consequently, any fees or minimum annual royalties (“MAR”) relating to this renewal contract will be allocated similarly over that additional year.

The Company’s license agreements have a variable royalty fee structure (meaning that royalties are a fixed percentage of sales that vary from period to period) and frequently include a MAR commitment. In instances when sales of licensed products by its licensees exceed the MAR, the Company recognizes fee income as the amounts have been earned. Typically, the royalty rate for such sales is 10%-15% of the selling price. While this is variable consideration, it is subject to the sales/usage royalty exception to recognition of variable consideration in ASC 606 10-55-65 and therefore is not recognized until the subsequent sales or usage occurs or the MAR period commences.

Because of the immediate recognition of the Grant of Use performance obligation: (i) the first period of the contract term will generally have a higher percent allocation of the transaction price under ASC 606 than under the accounting guidance used prior to the adoption of ASC 606, and (ii) the remaining periods in the year will have less of the transaction price recognized under ASC 606 than under the accounting guidance used prior to the adoption of ASC 606. After the initial period in the contract term, the revenue for the remaining periods will be based on the satisfaction of the technical support and New Improvements obligations.

The Company does not have any contract assets under ASC 606 as of March 31, 2020.

Certain of the contract fees are accrued by, or paid to, the Company in advance of the period in which they are earned resulting in deferred revenue. Such excess amounts are recorded as deferred revenue and are recognized into income in future periods as earned.

The Company operates in a single business segment which is engaged in the development and marketing of technology and devices to control the flow of light. Our revenue source comes from the licensing of this technology and all of these license agreements have similar terms and provisions. The majority of the Company’s licensing fee income comes from the activities of several licensees participating in the automotive market. The Company currently believes that the automotive market will be the largest source of its royalty income over the next several years. The Company’s royalty income from this market may be influenced by numerous factors including various trends affecting demand in the automotive industry and the rate of introduction of new technology in OEM product lines. In addition to these macro factors, the Company’s royalty income from the automotive market could also be influenced by specific factors such as whether the Company’s SPD-SmartGlass technology appears as standard equipment or as an option on a particular vehicle, the number of additional vehicle models that SPD-SmartGlass appears on, the size of each window on a vehicle and the number of windows on a vehicle that use SPD-SmartGlass, fluctuations in the total number of vehicles produced by a manufacturer, and in the percentage of cars within each model produced with SPD-SmartGlass, and changes in pricing or exchange rates.

As of March 31, 2020, the Company has four license agreements that are in their initial multiyear term (“Initial Term”) with continuing performance obligations going forward. The Initial Term of one of these agreements will end as of December 31, 2020, one will end as of December 31, 2021, one will end as of December 31, 2022, and one will end as of December 31, 2024. The Company currently expects that all four of these agreements will renew annually at the end of the Initial Term. As of March 31, 2020, the aggregate amount of the revenue to be recognized upon the satisfaction of the remaining performance obligations for the four license agreements is $197,671. The revenue for these remaining performance obligations for each of the four license agreements is expected to be recognized evenly throughout their remaining period of the Initial Term.

Note 6. Fee Income

Fee income represents amounts earned by the Company under various license and other agreements relating to technology developed by the Company. During the first three months of 2020, five licensees accounted for 10% or more of fee income of the Company; these licensees accounted for approximately 28%, 16%, 13%, 12% and 10% of fee income recognized during such period. During the first three months of 2019, five licensees accounted for 10% or more of fee income of the Company; these licensees accounted for approximately 31%, 14%, 13%, 11% and 10%, respectively, of fee income recognized during this period.

Note 7. Stock-Based Compensation

The Company has granted options/warrants to consultants. GAAP requires that all stock-based compensation be recognized as an expense in the financial statements and that such costs be measured at the fair value of the award at the date of grant. These awards generally vest ratably over 12 to 60 months from the date of grant and the Company charges to operations quarterly the current market value of the options using the Black-Scholes method. During the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 there were no options granted to consultants or related charges.

There were no grants of restricted stock or compensation expense recorded relating to restricted stock grants to employees and directors during the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019.

As of March 31, 2020, there were 882,500 shares available for future grant under our 2019 Equity Incentive Plan, which was approved by the Company’s shareholders in June 2019.

Note 8. Income Taxes

Since inception, the Company has incurred losses from operations and as a result has not recorded income tax expense. Benefits related to net operating loss carryforwards and other deferred tax items have been fully reserved since it was not more likely than not that the Company would achieve profitable operations and be able to utilize the benefit of the net operating loss carryforwards.

Note 9. Basic and Diluted Loss Per Common Share

Basic loss per share excludes any dilution. It is based upon the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Dilutive loss per share reflects the potential dilution that would occur if securities or other contracts to issue common stock were exercised or converted into common stock. The Company’s dilutive loss per share equals basic loss per share for the periods ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 respectively because all common stock equivalents (i.e., options and warrants) were antidilutive in those periods. The number of options and warrants that were not included (because their effect is antidilutive) was 2,788,403 and 2,752,766 for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Note 10. Equity

During the three months ended March 31, 2020, the Company issued 156,845 shares of its capital stock in connection with the cashless exercise of 243,091 outstanding options. During the three months ended March 31, 2019, the Company received $1,101,782 in proceeds from the exercise of outstanding warrants and issued 1,001,620 shares of its capital stock in connection with these exercises.

The Company did not sell any equity securities during the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019.

As of March 31, 2020, there were 1,483,143 warrants outstanding.

Note 11. Subsequent Event

On April 17, 2020, the Company borrowed $202,052 under the Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP Loan”). The PPP Loan requires no collateral, has a 1% fixed annual interest rate, has a term of two years, and has no prepayment penalties or fees. All or some of the PPP Loan may be forgiven for the amounts spent by the Company, subject to certain conditions and limitations, on authorized expenses such as payroll, rent and utilities over the eight weeks after receiving the loan.

Note 12. Leases

The Company determines if an arrangement is a lease at its inception. This determination generally depends on whether the arrangement conveys the right to control the use of an identified fixed asset explicitly or implicitly for a period of time in exchange for consideration. Control of an underlying asset is conveyed if the Company obtains the rights to direct the use of, and to obtain substantially all of the economic benefits from the use of, the underlying asset. Lease expense for variable leases and short-term leases is recognized when the obligation is incurred.

The Company has operating leases for certain facilities, vehicles and equipment with a weighted average remaining lease term of 4.9 years as of March 31, 2020. Operating leases are included in right of use lease assets, other current liabilities and long-term lease liabilities on the condensed consolidated balance sheet. Right of use lease assets and liabilities are recognized at each lease’s commencement date based on the present value of its lease payments over its respective lease term. The Company does not have an established incremental borrowing rate as it does not have any debt. The Company uses the stated borrowing rate for a lease when readily determinable. When the interest rates implicit in its lease agreements are not readily determinable, the Company used an interest rate based on the marketplace for public debt. The weighted average discount rate associated with operating leases as of March 31, 2020 is 5.5%.

Operating lease expense for the three months ended March 31, 2020 was approximately $53,000. The Company has no material variable lease costs or sublease income for the three months ended March 31, 2020. Subsequent to the Company’s adoption of the new lease accounting guidance on January 1, 2019, the Company recorded new right of use lease assets of approximately $900 thousand and associated lease liabilities of approximately $1.1 million.

Maturities of operating lease liabilities as of March 31, 2020 were as follows:

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

Critical Accounting Policies:

The following accounting policies are important to understanding our financial condition and results of operations and should be read as an integral part of the discussion and analysis of the results of our operations and financial position. For additional accounting policies, see Note 2 to our December 31, 2019 consolidated financial statements, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies.”

The Company adopted ASC 606, the new revenue recognition standard, beginning January 1, 2018. The Company determined that its license agreements provide for three performance obligations: (i) Grant of Use, (ii) Technical Support, and (iii) New Improvements.

The best method for determining standalone selling price of our Grant of Use performance obligation is through a comparison of the average royalty rate for comparable license agreements as compared to our license agreements. Based on the royalty rate comparison referred to above, any pricing above and beyond the average royalty rate would relate to the Technical Support and New Improvements performance obligations.

We recognize revenue when or as the performance obligations in the contract are satisfied. For performance obligations that are fulfilled at a point in time, revenue is recognized at the fulfillment of the performance obligation. Since the IP is determined to be a functional license, the value of the Grant of Use is recognized in the first period of the contract term in which the license agreement is in force. Since the costs incurred to satisfy the Technical Support and New Improvements performance obligations are incurred evenly throughout the year, the value of the Technical Support and New Improvements services are recognized throughout the contract period as these performance obligations are satisfied.

The Company operates in a single business segment which is engaged in the development and marketing of technology and devices to control the flow of light. Our revenue source comes from the licensing of this technology and all of these license agreements have similar terms and provisions.

The Company has entered into license agreements covering products using the Company’s SPD technology. When royalties from the sales of licensed products by a licensee exceed its contractual minimum annual royalties, the excess amount is recognized by the Company as fee income in the period that it was earned. Certain of the fees are accrued by, or paid to, the Company in advance of the period in which they are earned resulting in deferred revenue.

Royalty receivables are stated less allowance for doubtful accounts. The allowance represents estimated uncollectible receivables usually due to licensees’ potential insolvency. The allowance includes amounts for certain licensees where risk of default has been specifically identified. The Company evaluates the collectability of its receivables on at least a quarterly basis and records appropriate allowances for uncollectible accounts when necessary.

The Company expenses costs relating to the development or acquisition of patents due to the uncertainty of the recoverability of these items. All of our research and development costs are charged to operations as incurred. Our research and development expenses consist of costs incurred for internal and external research and development. These costs include direct and indirect overhead expenses.

The Company has historically used the Black-Scholes option-pricing model to determine the estimated fair value of each option grant. The Black-Scholes model includes assumptions regarding dividend yields, expected volatility, expected lives, and risk-free interest rates. These assumptions reflect our best estimates, but these items involve uncertainties based on market conditions generally outside of our control. As a result, if other assumptions had been used in the current period, stock-based compensation expense could have been materially impacted. Furthermore, if management uses different assumptions in future periods, stock-based compensation expense could be materially impacted in future years.

On occasion, the Company may issue to consultants either options or warrants to purchase shares of common stock of the Company at specified share prices. These options or warrants may vest based upon specific services being performed or performance criteria being met. In accounting for equity instruments that are issued to other than employees for acquiring, or in conjunction with selling, goods or services, the Company is required to record consulting expenses based upon the fair value of such options or warrants on the earlier of the service period or the period that such options or warrants vest as determined using a Black-Scholes option pricing model and are marked to market quarterly using the Black-Scholes option valuation model.

Effective January 1, 2019, the Company adopted the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Standard, Leases (Topic 842), as amended. The standard requires all leases to be recorded on the balance sheet as a right of use asset and a lease liability. The Company used a transition method that applies the new lease standard at January 1, 2019. The Company applied a policy election to exclude short-term leases from balance sheet recognition and also elected certain practical expedients at adoption. As permitted, the Company did not reassess whether existing contracts are or contain leases, the lease classification for any existing leases, initial direct costs for any existing lease, which were not previously accounted for as leases, are or contain a lease. At adoption on January 1, 2019, an operating lease liability of $1,133,821 and an operating lease right of use asset of $941,000 was recorded. The operating lease liability was $192,537 more than the operating lease right of use asset due to unamortized lease incentive from periods prior to the adoption of the new lease standard. There was no cumulative earnings effect adjustment.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results could differ from these estimates. An example of a critical estimate is the full valuation allowance for deferred taxes that was recorded based on the uncertainty that such tax benefits will be realized in future periods.

Results of Operations:

Overview

The majority of the Company’s fee income comes from the activities of several licensees participating in the automotive market. The Company currently believes that the automotive market will be the largest source of its royalty income over the next several years. The Company’s royalty income from this market may be influenced by numerous factors including various trends affecting demand in the automotive industry and the rate of introduction of new technology in OEM product lines. In addition to these macro factors, the Company’s royalty income from the automotive market could also be influenced by specific factors such as whether the Company’s SPD-SmartGlass technology appears as standard equipment or as an option on a particular vehicle, the number of additional vehicle models that SPD-SmartGlass appears on, the size of each window on a vehicle and the number of windows on a vehicle that use SPD-SmartGlass, fluctuations in the total number of vehicles produced by a manufacturer, and in the percentage of cars within model like produced with SPD-SmartGlass, and changes in pricing or exchange rates. Certain license fees, which are paid to the Company in advance of the accounting period in which they are earned resulting in the recognition of deferred revenue for the current accounting period, will be recognized as fee income in future periods. Also, licensees offset some or all of their royalty payments on sales of licensed products for a given period by applying these advance payments towards such earned royalty payments.

In 2020 and 2019, the Company received royalty revenues from sales of the Magic Sky Control option on the S-Class Coupe, Maybach and S-Class Sedan, and SL and SLK/SLC roadsters in excess of the minimum annual royalty levels for the two licensees supplying products using the Company’s technology to Daimler. As such, royalties from these five car models, as well as sales of SPD-SmartGlass products by our licensees to McLaren Automotive, were accretive to the Company’s royalty revenue. Production efficiencies are expected to continue and accelerate with the introduction of the higher vehicle production volumes for various car models going forward, and the Company expects that lower pricing per square foot of the Company’s technology could expand the market opportunities, adoption rates, and revenues for its technology in automotive and non-automotive applications. The Company expects to generate additional royalty income from the near-term introduction of additional new car and aircraft models from other OEM’s (original equipment manufacturers), continued growth of sales of products using the Company’s technology for the marine industry in yachts and other watercraft, in trains, in museums, and in larger architectural projects.

Because the Company’s license agreements typically provide for the payment of royalties by a licensee on product sales within 45 days after the end of the quarter in which a sale of a licensed product occurs (with some of the Company’s more recent license agreements providing for payments on a monthly basis), and because of the time period which typically will elapse between a customer order and the sale of the licensed product and installation in a home, office building, automobile, aircraft, boat or any other product, there could be a delay between when economic activity between a licensee and its customer occurs and when the Company gets paid its royalty resulting from such activity.

As discussed in Note 2, the Company currently does not have the ability to assess whether the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have a material impact on our near-term financial results. Most of the products using the Company’s technology are manufactured by licensees overseas in Europe and Asia who have been similarly affected by the pandemic. The disruption caused by COVID-19 could result in lower levels of sale activity for products using our technology resulting in lower level of royalties owed to us from the sale of these products. The duration of the potential business disruptions and related financial impact cannot be reasonably estimated at this time.

Three months ended March 31, 2020 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2019

The Company’s fee income from licensing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2020 was $356,173 as compared to $418,657 for the three months ended March 31, 2019 representing a $62,484 decrease between these two periods. Lower fees in the automotive, aircraft and architectural markets (believed to be related to temporary customer shutdowns in these industries due to the Covid19 pandemic) was partially offset by higher fee income from licensees in the display markets.

Operating expenses increased by $69,275 for the three months ended March 31, 2020 to $820,441 from $751,166 for the three months ended March 31, 2019. This increase was the result of higher payroll and related costs ($99,000), as well as higher marketing and investor relations cost ($29,000) partially offset by lower patent costs ($25,000), lower legal and professional fees ($11,000), lower allocated facility and office costs ($11,000), as well as lower bad debt and travel costs.

Research and development expenditures decreased by $46,645 to $183,318 for the three months ended March 31, 2020 from $229,963 for the three months ended March 31, 2019. This decrease was primarily the result of lower payroll and related costs ($40,000) as well as lower materials costs, travel costs and lower allocated insurance costs.

In connection with the issuance of certain warrants during the third quarter of 2018, the Company recorded a non-cash expense of $247,590 to mark these warrant liabilities to their market value as of March 31, 2019. The warrant liability was reclassified to equity as of the end of the second quarter of 2019, thus no adjustment in the market value of the warrant liabilities was needed for any period after June 30, 2019.

The Company’s net investment income for the three months ended March 31, 2020 was $22,992 as compared to $6,165 for the three months ended March 31, 2019. The difference was primarily due to higher cash balances available for investment.

As a consequence of the factors discussed above, the Company’s net loss was $624,594 ($0.02 per common share) for the three months ended March 31, 2020 as compared to $803,897 ($0.03 per common share) for the three months ended March 31, 2019.

Financial Condition, Liquidity and Capital Resources:

The Company has primarily utilized its cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments, and the proceeds from its investments to fund its research and development, for marketing initiatives, and for other working capital purposes. The Company’s working capital and capital requirements depend upon numerous factors, including, but not limited to, the results of research and development activities, competitive and technological developments, the timing and costs of patent filings, and the development of new licensees and changes in the Company’s relationship with existing licensees. The degree of dependence of the Company’s working capital requirements on each of the foregoing factors cannot be quantified; increased research and development activities and related costs would increase such requirements; the addition of new licensees may provide additional working capital or working capital requirements, and changes in relationships with existing licensees would have a favorable or negative impact depending upon the nature of such changes.

During the three months ended March 31, 2020, the Company’s cash and cash equivalents balance decreased by $754,565 principally as a result of cash used for operations of $758,223. As of March 31, 2020, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of $5,837,395, working capital of $6,343,149 and total shareholders’ equity of $6,431,514.

Our quarterly projected cash flow shortfall, based on our current operations adjusted for any non-recurring cash expenses for the next 12 months, is approximately $450,000-$500,000 per quarter. We expect to have sufficient working capital for at least the next 34 months of operations. We may seek to eliminate some operating expenses in the future to reduce our cash flow shortfall.

The Company expects to use its cash to fund its research and development of SPD light valves, its expanded marketing initiatives, and for other working capital purposes. The Company believes that its current cash and cash equivalents would fund its operations until early 2023. There can be no assurances that expenditures will not exceed the anticipated amounts or that additional financing, if required, will be available when needed or, if available, that its terms will be favorable or acceptable to the Company. Eventual success of the Company and generation of positive cash flow will be dependent upon the extent of commercialization of products using the Company’s technology by the Company’s licensees and payments of continuing royalties on account thereof. To date the Company has not generated sufficient revenue from its licensees to fully fund its operations.

Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

The information required by Item 3 has been disclosed in Item 7A of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019. There has been no material change in the disclosure regarding market risk.

Item 4. Controls and Procedures

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures:

Our disclosure controls and procedures, as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Exchange Act, are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the SEC. We designed our disclosure controls and procedures to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive and principal financial officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, with assistance from other members of our management, have reviewed the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of March 31, 2020 and, based on their evaluation, have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting:

There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act) during the three months ended March 31, 2020 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Forward-Looking Statements:

The information set forth in this Report and in all publicly disseminated information about the Company, including the narrative contained in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” above, includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and is subject to the safe harbor created by that section. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as they speak only as of the date hereof and are not guaranteed.

PART II. OTHER INFORMATION

Item 6. Exhibits

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunder duly authorized.

Date: May 7, 2020