Note 3 - Significant Transactions | 9 Months Ended |
Sep. 30, 2014 |
Significant Transactions [Abstract] | ' |
Significant Transactions [Text Block] | ' |
3. Significant Transactions |
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2014 Stock Purchase Agreement |
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On August 20, 2014, the Company entered into a common stock purchase agreement (“2014 Purchase Agreement”) with Aspire Capital Fund LLC (“Aspire Capital”), which provides that, upon the terms and subject to the conditions and limitations set forth therein, Aspire Capital is committed to purchase up to an aggregate of $30,000 worth of the Company’s common stock, $0.001 par value, over the 36 month term of the 2014 Purchase Agreement. |
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From time to time over the term of the 2014 Purchase Agreement, the Company may, at its sole discretion, provide Aspire Capital with a regular purchase notice (each a “Regular Purchase Notice”) directing Aspire Capital to purchase up to 1,000,000 shares, but not to exceed $400, of the Company’s common stock per trading day at a price per share equal to the lesser of (i) the lowest sale price of the Company’s common stock on the purchase date; or (ii) the arithmetic average of the three lowest closing sale prices for the Company’s common stock during the twelve consecutive trading days ending on the trading day immediately preceding the purchase date. |
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In addition, on any date on which the Company submits a Regular Purchase Notice to Aspire Capital for the purchase of at least 500,000 shares at a price above $0.30, the Company also has the right, in its sole discretion, to present Aspire Capital with a volume-weighted average price purchase notice (each, a “VWAP Purchase Notice”) directing Aspire Capital to purchase an amount of stock equal to up to 30% of the aggregate shares of the Company’s common stock traded on its principal market on the next trading day (the “VWAP Purchase Date”), subject to a maximum number of shares the Company may determine. The purchase price per share pursuant to such VWAP Purchase Notice is generally 95% of the volume-weighted average price for the Company’s common stock traded on its principal market on the VWAP Purchase Date. |
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The Company may deliver multiple Regular Purchase Notices and VWAP Purchase Notices to Aspire Capital from time to time during the term of the 2014 Purchase Agreement, so long as the most recent purchase has been completed. The 2014 Purchase Agreement provides that the Company and Aspire Capital shall not effect any sales under the 2014 Purchase Agreement on any purchase date where the closing sale price of the Company’s common stock is less than $0.10 per share. There are no trading volume requirements or restrictions under the 2014 Purchase Agreement, and the Company will control the timing and amount of sales of the Company’s common stock to Aspire Capital. |
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On September 9, 2014, an initial registration statement covering 75,000,000 shares issued and issuable pursuant to the 2014 Purchase Agreement was declared effective by the SEC. To date, there have been no transactions under this agreement. |
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2013 Stock Purchase Agreement |
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On November 8, 2013, the Company entered into a Common Stock Purchase Agreement (the “2013 Purchase Agreement”) with Kingsbrook Opportunities Master Fund LP, Tech Opportunities LLC, and Iroquois Master Fund Ltd. (each, a “2013 Investor” and collectively, the “2013 Investors”). The 2013 Purchase Agreement provided that, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth therein, each of the 2013 Investors had committed to purchase such 2013 Investor’s pro rata portion of up to $20,000 (the “Total Commitment”) worth of the Company’s common stock, $0.001 par value (the “Shares”), over the 36-month term of the 2013 Purchase Agreement. In consideration for the execution and delivery of the 2013 Purchase Agreement, on November 8, 2013, the Company issued 2,666,667 shares of common stock (“the Commitment Shares”) to the 2013 Investors. |
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From time to time over the term of the 2013 Purchase Agreement, the Company was able to, at its sole discretion, provide each of the 2013 Investors with draw down notices (each a “Draw Down Notice”) to purchase a specified dollar amount of Shares (the “Draw Down Amount”) over a five (5) consecutive trading day period commencing on the trading day specified in the applicable Draw Down Notice (the “Pricing Period”) with each draw down subject to the limitations discussed below. The maximum amount of Shares requested to be purchased pursuant to any single Draw Down Notice could not exceed a dollar amount equal to the lesser of (i) 300% of the average trading volume of the Company’s common stock during the ten (10) trading days immediately preceding the date the applicable Draw Down Notice was delivered (the “Applicable Draw Down Exercise Date”) multiplied by the lower of (A) the closing trade price of the Company’s common stock on the trading day immediately preceding the Applicable Draw Down Exercise Date and (B) the average of the closing trade prices of our common stock for the three (3) trading days immediately preceding the Applicable Draw Down Exercise Date (such lower price, the “Reference Price”), and (ii) a specified dollar amount set forth in the 2013 Purchase Agreement based on the Reference Price as of the Applicable Draw Down Exercise Date. |
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Once presented with a Draw Down Notice, each of the 2013 Investors was required to purchase such 2013 Investor’s pro rata portion of the applicable Draw Down Amount on each trading day during the applicable Pricing Period on which the daily volume weighted average price for the Company’s common stock (the “VWAP”) equaled or exceeded an applicable floor price equal to the product of (i) 0.775 and (ii) the Reference Price, subject to adjustment (the “Floor Price”), provided that in no event could the Floor Price be less than $0.03875. If the VWAP fell below the applicable Floor Price on any trading day during the applicable Pricing Period, the 2013 Purchase Agreement provided that the 2013 Investors would not be required to purchase their pro rata portions of the applicable Draw Down Amount allocated to that trading day. The per share purchase price for the Shares subject to a Draw Down Notice was equal to 90% of the lowest daily VWAP that equaled or exceeded the applicable Floor Price during the applicable Pricing Period. Each purchase pursuant to a draw down reduced, on a dollar-for-dollar basis, the Total Commitment under the 2013 Purchase Agreement. |
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The Company was prohibited from issuing a Draw Down Notice if (i) the amount requested in such Draw Down Notice exceeded the Maximum Draw Down Amount, (ii) the sale of Shares pursuant to such Draw Down Notice caused the Company to issue or sell or the 2013 Investors to acquire or purchase an aggregate dollar value of Shares that exceeded the Total Commitment, (iii) the sale of Shares pursuant to the Draw Down Notice caused the Company to sell or the 2013 Investors to purchase an aggregate number of shares of the Company’s common stock which resulted in the collective beneficial ownership by the 2013 Investors of more than 9.99% of the Company’s common stock (as calculated pursuant to Section 13(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder), or (iv) the applicable Floor Price was less than $0.03875 on the Applicable Draw Down Exercise Date. The Company could not make more than one draw down in any Pricing Period and must have allowed two (2) trading days to elapse between the completion of the settlement of any one draw down and the commencement of a Pricing Period for any other draw down. |
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On February 11, 2014, an initial registration statement covering 96,555,893 shares issued and issuable pursuant to the 2013 Purchase Agreement was declared effective by the SEC. |
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As of September 30, 2014, the Company had received an aggregate of $16,000 under the 2013 Purchase Agreement through the issuance of 85,355,615 shares of its common stock at a weighted average price of $0.19 per share. On August 22, 2014, the Company voluntarily terminated the 2013 Purchase Agreement, effective August 25, 2014. |
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July 2012 Private Placement |
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On July 2, 2012, the Company entered into a private placement transaction (the “July 2012 Private Placement”) pursuant to which the Company issued $12,000 in principal amount of senior convertible notes that were due on September 1, 2013. The notes were convertible into shares of the Company’s common stock at a conversion price of $0.352 per share. The notes bore interest at 8% per annum and were payable in twelve equal monthly installments of principal and interest beginning on October 1, 2012. Each monthly installment payment was payable in cash, shares of the Company’s common stock, or a combination thereof. If paid in shares, such shares were valued at the lower of (i) the then applicable conversion price or (ii) a price that was 87.5% of the arithmetic average of the ten (or in some cases fewer) lowest weighted average prices of the Company’s common stock during the twenty trading day period ending two trading days before the payment date or the date on which the Company elected to pay in shares, whichever was lower. As of July 17, 2013, the Company had issued 163,641,547 shares of common stock in full satisfaction of the notes (see note 7). |
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As a part of the July 2012 Private Placement, the Company issued warrants to purchase 18,750,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $0.384 per share (reduced to $0.19 per share under the anti-dilution and price reset provisions of the warrants, see note 8), and such warrants first became exercisable on January 2, 2013 which was six months after the issuance date thereof. In the event that the Company issues or sells shares of the Company’s common stock at a price per share that is less than the exercise price then in effect, the exercise price of the warrants will be reduced based on a weighted-average formula. In addition, on the two year anniversary of the issuance date, the then applicable exercise price was reset to equal 87.5% of the arithmetic average of the ten lowest weighted average prices of the common stock during the twenty trading day period ending two trading days immediately preceding the reset date. All of the warrants will expire on July 2, 2017 (see note 8). |
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June 2012 Visser MTA Agreement |
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On June 1, 2012, the Company entered into a Master Transaction Agreement (the “Visser MTA Agreement”) with Visser Precision Cast, LLC (“Visser”) relating to a strategic transaction for manufacturing services and financing. |
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Under the manufacturing and service component of the Visser MTA Agreement, the Company had agreed to engage Visser as a perpetual, exclusive manufacturer of non-consumer electronic products and to not, directly or indirectly, conduct manufacturing operations, subcontract for the manufacture of products or components or grant a license to any other party to conduct manufacturing operations, except for certain limited exceptions. Under the financing component of the Visser MTA Agreement, the Company issued and sold to Visser in a private placement transaction (i) 30,000,000 shares of common stock at a purchase price of $0.10 per share resulting in proceeds of $3,000, (ii) warrants to purchase 15,000,000 shares of common stock at an original exercise price of $0.22 per share which were to expire on June 1, 2017 and (iii) a secured convertible promissory note in the aggregate principal amount of up to $2,000. No borrowings were made by the Company under the promissory note, and the deadline for making borrowings under the facility expired on November 15, 2012. |
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In November 2013, the Company and Visser entered into arbitration proceedings to resolve disputes associated with the Visser MTA Agreement. |
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On May 20, 2014, the Company and Visser entered into a settlement under which they agreed to terminate the existing arbitration proceedings, release each other from all claims they may have had against each other and substantially change the business relationship that had been reflected in the original Visser MTA Agreement. As part of the settlement, the parties have amended and restated the sublicense and financing components of the Visser MTA Agreement. Additionally, the manufacturing services component and remaining considerations of the Visser MTA Agreement were terminated. |
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Under the amended and restated sublicense agreement, the Company has granted to Visser a fully paid-up, royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, non-transferable, nonexclusive sublicense to all of the Company’s intellectual property developed on or prior to May 20, 2014 (the “Effective Date”), for all fields of use other than certain excluded fields as set forth therein. Visser does not have any rights, now or in the future, to intellectual property of the Company developed after the Effective Date of the agreement. The license to the Company’s intellectual property developed on or prior to the Effective Date does not include the right to use the “Liquidmetal” trademark or any of the Company’s other trademarks, except in certain defined situations, as set forth in the amended and restated agreement. |
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With the foregoing revised arrangements, the Company is no longer required to use Visser as its exclusive manufacturer and is free to license other manufacturers on a non-exclusive basis in any industry or geographic market as to which the Company has not previously granted an exclusive license to a third party. Any such manufacturers licensed by the Company in the future will be able both to manufacture parts for the Company and the Company’s customers, and manufacture and sell products for their own account for such industries or markets as the Company may agree, subject to whatever royalty arrangements the Company may negotiate. The Company has not yet licensed any manufacturers other than Visser. Visser will also have the right to manufacture and sell products under the amended and restated sublicense agreement. |
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The settlement amends and restates two warrants the Company issued to Visser in June 2012 to purchase 15,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $0.22 per share. Those warrants contained anti-dilution mechanisms under which the number of shares issuable upon exercise of those warrants would be increased, and the exercise price for such shares would be reduced if the Company issued shares of its common stock at prices less than the warrants’ exercise price. The amended and restated warrant agreement includes the effect of such anti-dilution adjustments and is exercisable for 18,611,079 shares of common stock (increased further to 18,706,235 shares under the anti-dilution provisions of the warrants, see note 8) at an exercise price of $0.18 per share. The amended and restated warrant agreement continues to contain comparable anti-dilution adjustment mechanisms. The amended and restated warrant agreement also removes certain lock-up provisions that were included in the original warrants. |
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Apple License Transaction |
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On August 5, 2010, the Company entered into a license transaction with Apple Inc. (“Apple”) pursuant to which (i) the Company contributed substantially all of its intellectual property assets to a newly organized special-purpose, wholly-owned subsidiary, called Crucible Intellectual Property, LLC (“CIP”), (ii) CIP granted to Apple a perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license to commercialize such intellectual property in the field of consumer electronic products, as defined in the license agreement, in exchange for a license fee, and (iii) CIP granted back to the Company a perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license to commercialize such intellectual property in all other fields of use. Additionally, in connection with the license transaction, Apple required the Company to complete a statement of work related to the exchange of Liquidmetal intellectual property information. The Company recognized a portion of the one-time license fee upon receipt of the initial payment and completion of the foregoing requirements under the license transaction. The remaining portion of the one-time license fee was recognized at the completion of the required statement of work. |
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Under the agreements relating to the license transaction with Apple, the Company was obligated to contribute, to CIP, all intellectual property that it developed through February 2012. Subsequently, this obligation has been extended to apply to all intellectual property developed through February 2015. The Company is also obligated to maintain certain limited liability company formalities with respect to CIP at all times after the closing of the license transaction. |
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Other License Transactions |
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On January 31, 2012, the Company entered into a Supply and License Agreement for a five year term with Engel Austria Gmbh (“Engel”) whereby Engel was granted a non-exclusive license to manufacture and sell injection molding machines to the Company’s licensees. Since that time, the Company and Engel have agreed on an injection molding machine configuration that can be commercially supplied and supported by Engel. On December 6, 2013, the companies entered into an Exclusive License Agreement for a 10 year term whereby Engel was granted an exclusive license to manufacture and sell injection molding machines to the Company’s licensees in exchange for certain royalties to be paid by Engel to the Company based on a percentage of the net sales price of such injection molding machines. |
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The Company’s Liquidmetal Golf subsidiary has the exclusive right and license to utilize the Company’s Liquidmetal alloy technology for purposes of golf equipment applications. This right and license is set forth in an intercompany license agreement between Liquidmetal Technologies and Liquidmetal Golf. This license agreement provides that Liquidmetal Golf has a perpetual and exclusive license to use Liquidmetal alloy technology for the purpose of manufacturing, marketing, and selling golf club components and other products used in the sport of golf. The Company owns 79% of the outstanding common stock of Liquidmetal Golf. |
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In June 2003, the Company entered into an exclusive license agreement with LLPG, Inc. (“LLPG”). Under the terms of the agreement, LLPG has the right to commercialize Liquidmetal alloys, particularly precious-metal based compositions, in jewelry and high-end luxury product markets. The Company, in turn, will receive royalty payments over the life of the contract on all Liquidmetal products produced and sold by LLPG. The exclusive license agreement with LLPG expires on December 31, 2021. |
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In March 2009, the Company entered into a license agreement with Swatch Group, Ltd. (“Swatch”) under which Swatch was granted a perpetual non-exclusive license to the Company’s technology to produce and market watches and certain other luxury products. In March 2011, this license agreement was amended to grant Swatch exclusive rights as to watches, and the Company’s license agreement with LLPG was simultaneously amended to exclude watches from LLPG’s rights. The Company will receive royalty payments over the life of the contract on all Liquidmetal products produced and sold by Swatch. The license agreement with Swatch will expire on the expiration date of the last licensed patent. |