Commitments and Contingencies | 6 Months Ended |
Dec. 31, 2013 |
Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract] | ' |
Commitments and Contingencies | ' |
Note 6. Commitments and Contingencies |
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Contingency |
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Certain default clauses related to the various agreements discussed in Item 2 (Management’s Plan of Operation) would result in a change of control of the board of directors. Certain debt holders would have the option to appoint independent members to the board under such default. |
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License Agreement - Work-Study Arrangements |
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License Agreement with Rice University |
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On August 20, 2008, Solterra entered into a License Agreement with Rice University. In August 2013, Solterra entered into an amended License Agreement and Quantum Materials entered into a new License Agreement with Rice. Rice is the owner of certain inventions and patent applications, know-how and rights pertaining to the synthesis of uniform nanoparticle shapes with high selectivity. We have obtained the exclusive rights to license and sublicense (subject to Rice’s consent, which shall not be unreasonably withheld), develop, manufacture, market and exploit Rice’s inventions, patent applications and any issued patents in the case of Solterra, for the manufacture and sale of photovoltaic cells and photovoltaic applications and in the case of Quantum Materials for the manufacture and sale of quantum dots for electronic and medical applications (excluding photovoltaic applications). With respect to Rice’s patent applications, Rice made a provisional filing for an invention disclosure titled “synthesis of uniform nanoparticle shapes with high selectivity” with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on April 13, 2007 and a subsequent utility filing on April 11, 2008 under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (“PCT”). PCT enables the U.S. applicant to file one application, "an international application," in a standardized format in English in the U.S. Receiving Office (the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office), and have that application acknowledged as a regular national or regional filing in any State or region that is party to the PCT. Dr. Michael Wong is a director of our company and is the inventor of Rice’s patent application licensed by Solterra. |
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Our initial agreement with Rice requires the payment of certain patent fees to Rice and for us to acquire additional funding and to meet certain milestones by specific dates. Rice and the Company recently established new milestones for the Company to achieve in the months and years ahead, the failure of which could lead to the termination of the license agreement. |
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Rice is entitled to receive during the term of each License Agreement certain royalties under the License Agreement of adjusted gross sales (as defined) ranging from 2% to 4% for photovoltaic cells and 7.5% of adjusted gross sales for quantum dots sold in electronic and medical applications. Minimum royalties payable under the License Agreement include $29,450 due January 1, 2015, $217,000 due January 1, 2016, $648,750 due January 1, 2017, $2,038,500 due January 1, 2018 and $3,738,600 due January 1, 2019 and each January 1 of every year thereafter, subject to adjustments for changes in the consumer pricing index. The term of the License Agreement is to expire on the expiration date of Rice’s rights in its intellectual property and the Licensee’s rights are worldwide. Our Agreement, as amended, with Rice provides for termination of each Agreement in the event that we are determined to be insolvent as defined in the Agreements. |
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Agreement with Arizona State University |
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Solterra had an agreement with Arizona State University (“ASU”) pursuant to which ASU at a cost of $835,000 will assist Solterra under the direction of Dr. Ghassan Jabbour in scaling up or optimizing the solar cells so that they can be printed. As of June 30, 2010, $630,000 of these costs in this agreement have been incurred and a further $205,000 were to accrue before the end of the fiscal year ended June 30, 2010. During February 2010, Dr. Jabbour accepted a Directorship at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), in Saudi Arabia, as a result of Dr. Jabbour now being located in Saudi Arabia it is no longer logistically feasible for him to conduct the development work at ASU. We have paid ASU $175,000 under our contract with ASU. Dr. Jabbour is continuing his development work at the KAUST facilities and we have attempted to negotiate a substantially reduced fee payable to ASU. Dr. Jabbour is also our Chief Science Officer and is an employee of QMC/Solterra. |
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Agreement with University of Arizona |
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Solterra has entered into an exclusive Patent License Agreement with the University of Arizona ("UA") to license US Patent # 7,015,052, which was issued on March 21, 2006, entitled “Screen Printing Techniques for the Fabrication of Organic Light - Emitting Diodes”. Pursuant to the License Agreement, Solterra has an exclusive license to market, sell and distribute licensed products within its field of use which is defined as organic light emitting diodes in printed electronic displays and all other printed electronic components. Solterra has the right to grant sublicenses with respect to the licensed product and the license method (as defined in the agreement). Pursuant to said agreement, as amended, we are obligated to pay minimum annual royalties of $5,000 by June 30, 2012, $25,000 by December 31, 2013, $50,000 by December 31, 2014, $125,000 by June 30, 2015 and $200,000 on each June 30th thereafter, subject to adjustments for increases in the Consumer Price Index. Royalties based on net sales are 2% of net sales of licensed products for non-display electronic component applications and 2.5% of net sales of licensed products for printed electronic displays. Our Agreement with UA may be terminated by UA in the event that we are in breach of any provision of this Agreement and said breach continues for 60 days after receiving written notice. Our Agreement with UA will also automatically terminate if Solterra becomes insolvent or unable to pay its debts as they become due. We can provide no assurances that we will be able to meet our obligations under our Agreement with UA. Termination of our Agreement with UA could materially adversely affect our operations. |
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Employment agreements |
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The Company has two employment agreements in effect. The CEO and Vice President of Research and Development each has a five year agreement which started in January 2013. In August 2013, Robert Glass resigned from the Board of Directors and terminated his employment agreement. The Company intends to request that Dr. Glass return his 5,000,000 share signing bonus and agree to cancel his 5,000,000 options signing bonus. The Company will consider legal redress if necessary to accomplish the foregoing. No assurances can be given that the Company’s efforts to have the aforementioned securities cancelled will be successful. |